Sunday, December 9, 2012

Eucalyptocrinus elrodi Crinoid

Eucalyptocrinus elrodi (Miller, 1891) crinoid calyx fossil found in Clark County Indiana USA. Not the best of specimens but you can see in the above picture the small raised dots that make up the distinct texture of this species. It is from the Middle Silurian Period. It is listed as a new species in the Indiana Department of Geology and Natural History Seventeenth Annual Report S.S. Gorby State Geologist 1891 on pages 650-651. It is listed as similar to the Eucalyptocrinus cælatus.

The illustrations listed below are from Plate VII Figures 9-10. They are described by S. A. Miller on page 651 as:
"Found in the Nigara Group, at Hartsville, Indiana, and now in the collection of Prof. S.S. Gorby. The specific name is in honor of Dr. Moses N. Elrod, a prominent physician, ardent collector and well known palæontologist of Hartsville, who was the first to discover this species and point out the fact that it is distinct from all others and undescribed. "



See a previous blog post for additional images of this species.