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Sunday, March 5, 2017

Cladochonus Coral Overgrown by Crinoid


UPDATE (Jan 2023): This coral growth on the crinoid stem appears to be Cladochonus crassus (McCoy, 1847).

The image is of a tabulate coral Cladochonus beecheri? (Grabau, 1899 aka Monilopora) that grew on a crinoid column. The crinoid responded by growing over the coral leaving just the corallite openings. Some of the images show a root like structure that might be a crinoid holdfast or some sort of bryozoan.

Fossil found in the New Providence formation in Clark County, Indiana, USA. These creatures existed in the Mississippian Period.



Thanks to Kenny for the images and Bill for the identification.