Changing it up briefly tonight! I collected these crinoid stems in northern Kentucky a few weeks ago

Changing it up briefly tonight! I collected these crinoid stems in northern Kentucky a few weeks ago. And while they are aquatic invertebrates like everything else on this blog, they are 450 million years old… unlike everything else on this blog.

Adults in the class Crinoidea, or sea lilies, attach to the ocean bottom with these stems. The stems are quite common to find in high densities; sometimes they make up entire limestone beds. The arms and calyx of the lilies are much more difficult to find.

The fossil beds in Kentucky can be found along most road cuts and behind recent developments. It is solidly in the Ordovician period.