Finally, I have acquired a
Troosticrinus reinwardti (Troost, 1835) blastoid fossil. While I did not personally collect it I am thankful to kind collector who shared it with me. The fossil was found in the Brownsport Group of Decatur County, Tennessee. The genus is named for Dr. Gerard Troost, Tennessee's first geologist and science professor at University of Nashville (1826-1850). The genus
Troosticrinus was named in 1866 by
Dr. Benjamin Franklin Shumard (1820-1869). He wrote "If, from a more thorough study of such species, it shall be deemed advisable to separate them from the Genus
Pentremites, I would propose the name
TROOSTICRINUS for the group, in honor of the late lamented Dr. Gerard Troost, of Tennessee, one among the earliest of pioneers in American Geology and Palaeontology." Species originally named by Gerard Troost in 1835 as
Pentremites reinwardti.
The fossil is about 1.3 cm long and 6 mm wide.
One day I hope to make it to the Silurian formations of western Tennessee for a chance to find one of these fossils personally. Thanks to Ron for the fossil.
