F0160 Fossil Crinoid Scaphocrinites sp.

This Scaphocrinites sp. crinoid specimen is a large crown with part of the proximal column (stem) attached. Above the tips of the arms there are many short column sections (pleuricolumnals). Scaphocrinites crinoids are unusual in their life habit, because rather than attaching to the sea floor, like most stalked crinoids, they were suspended from the surface of the sea by a float at the end of their column. Scaphocrinites would likely have lived in tangled floating masses, much like present-day Sargassum mats. This specimen is on a reddish matrix that measures approximately 8.5 x 10 inches and varies between 0.5 and 1.5 inches in thickness.