Fossil Crinoid Star Stems

An interesting fossil, most people wouldn't believe these if you handed them to them!

The stem of the Crinoid sometimes forms into an almost perfect star shape. Some are round, some are star shaped - this listing is purely for star shaped pieces.

These fossils are essentially made up of thin segments, which can break apart quite easily - think of them like vertebrae in a spine - because of that, it is hard to give an accurate size. Some pieces will be a single segment, around 1MM thick, others will be a whole stem, measuring 10-30MM. That's why we sell these pieces by weight, so you get a mix.

The star shapes themselves tend to measure around 5-8MM across.

Image credits:

• Diagram showing the anatomy of a Crinoid courtesy of William I. Ausich via Wikimedia Commons.
• Photo showing a modern Crinoid courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the USA, via Wikimedia Commons.