Merry Christmas - Fossil Style

Merry Christmas to all! This years fossil greeting was made with a Silurian horn coral, snail and crinoid stem fossil, along with a microfossil star crinoid shape from the Ordovician and an Eocene foraminifera for an ornament.

Thanks to Dave for the foraminifera and Kenny for the star crinoid image.

Peace and prosperity to you in the new year of 2013!

Eucalyptocrinus Stem

Here is a Silurian fossil crinoid stem section of the Eucalyptocrinus. Fossil was found in the Waldron Shale of Clark County, Indiana, USA. It will be the trunk section of my fossil Christmas tree for this year. Visit the December 25 post to see it. Section is about 1.5 cm in length.
The subrings still have matrix on them but I liked the limestone patterns on the larger rings that showed up after I polished it. I wonder the alternating sized discs evolved that way? Maybe helped with water flow around the stem or increased flexibility of the stem in the water currents.

Crushed Crinoid Calyx with Stem Section

Picture of a crushed crinoid fossil calyx with a long section of stem in Mississippian age rock found in southern Indiana, USA.