Thursday, March 9, 2023

Cleiocrinus tessellatus Crinoid Calyx Fossil


Cleiocrinus tessellatus
(Troost, 1850) crinoid calyx fossil Plate 7 figures 11 drawn by Major Adolphus Heiman (1809-1862) from A Critical Summary of Troost's Unpublished Manuscript on the Crinoids of Tennessee by Elvira Wood 1909. This crinoid was found in the Lebanon limestone (Silurian Period) division of the Stones River Formation of Duck River, near Columbia, Maury County Tennessee USA. It was assigned U.S. National Museum number 39910 and identified as a holotype.

Pictures of the actual Troost fossil at the Smithsonian shown below. 

Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Specimen Catalog Number:  USNM PAL 39910 Specimen GUID:         http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/33b065c2b-0ba1-423d-bcbc-2f7ec78c0007 Specimen housed in the collections of the Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

 

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Cyathocrinites tiaraeformis Crinoid Fossil


Cyathocrinites tiaraeformis (Troost, 1850) crinoid calyx fossil Plate 7 figures 15-17 drawn by Major Adolphus Heiman (1809-1862) from A Critical Summary of Troost's Unpublished Manuscript on the Crinoids of Tennessee by Elvira Wood 1909. This crinoid was found in the Carboniferous Period Keokuk horizon of the Tullahoma Formation of White's Creek Springs, Davidson County Tennessee USA. It was assigned U.S. National Museum number 54236 and identified as a holotype. Elvira Wood lists it as Ichthyocrinus tiaraeformis (Troost) Hall.

Pictures of the actual Troost fossil at the Smithsonian shown below.

Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Specimen Catalog Number:  USNM PAL 54236 Specimen GUID:         http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/390e41ca3-405f-4e83-91c9-5e494bfd3e5b Specimen housed in the collections of the Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution 
 
 
Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Specimen Catalog Number:  USNM PAL 54236 Specimen GUID:         http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/390e41ca3-405f-4e83-91c9-5e494bfd3e5b Specimen housed in the collections of the Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
 

Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Specimen Catalog Number:  USNM PAL 54236 Specimen GUID:         http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/390e41ca3-405f-4e83-91c9-5e494bfd3e5b Specimen housed in the collections of the Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution


Tuesday, March 7, 2023

Cyathocrinites roemerii Crinoid Fossil

 

Cyathocrinites roemerii (Troost, 1850) crinoid calyx fossil Plate 6 figure 11 drawn by Major Adolphus Heiman (1809-1862) from A Critical Summary of Troost's Unpublished Manuscript on the Crinoids of Tennessee by Elvira Wood 1909. This crinoid was found in the Carboniferous Period aged in the St. Louis Limestone of  Duck River, Maury County Tennessee USA. It was assigned U.S. National Museum number 39944 and identified as a holotype. Elvira Wood refers to as Scaphiocrinus huntsvillae  (Worthen).

Gerard Troost (1776-1850) does not list who the species is named after but it appears was one of two geologist brothers Friedrich Adolph Roemer (1809-1869) or Carl Ferdinand von Roemer (1818-1891).

UPDATE [December 2024]: The fossil was named after the younger Ferdinand Roemer. I found his 1860 book Die silurische Fauna des westlichen Tennessee / Eine palaeontologische Monographie in which he visited Troost in 1847 in Nashville. He writes (translated from German to English): "When I returned from Texas in the summer of 1847 to Nashville, the capital of the state of Tennessee, and found a very friendly welcome and valuable instruction on the geological conditions of the country from Dr. G. Troost, who has made a great contribution to the natural history of the western states, my attention was particularly drawn to the beautifully preserved Silurian fossils in the excellent man's rich paleontological collection..."

Picture of the real fossil is below which is stored at the Smithsonian. Their database shows it is a holotype called Dinotocrinus roemeri (Troost in Wood, 1909).

Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Specimen Catalog Number:  USNM PAL 39944 Specimen GUID:         http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/39ac4d2dd-9845-4878-8d40-90204c177ae3 Specimen housed in the collections of the Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution