Baby Eucalyptocrinus Crinoid

This crinoid calyx was almost found intact. One side of it is chipped off.  A small ring is at the top where the arms folded together.  Found in the Waldron Shale of Clark County, Indiana which dated to the Silurian Period.  As can be seen with the included scale, this calyx is quite small.  It is an Eucalyptocrinus crassus (Hall, 1863).

National Museum Day - Sept. 24, 2011

Saturday, September 24, 2011 is National Museum Day with participating museums allowing free admission.  In the Louisville, Kentucky area, seven museums are participating:

Carnegie Center for Art and History (named for a patron of paleontology)

Historic Locust Grove (home of Louisville's founder George Rogers Clark)

Kentucky Derby Museum (go, baby go!)

Louisville Slugger Museum (batter, batter, batter... SWING!)

Speed Art Museum (named for the same guy as a famous local fossil quarry)

Howard Steamboat Museum and Mansion (200th anniversary of the Ohio River New Orleans steamboat)

Frazier History Museum (lock and load)

So many great places to visit and only so many hours in one day, decisions, decisions.

Check out the Smithsonian web site for museums in your area that are participating and print out an admissions ticket: CLICK HERE

Project Mini-Calymene

My new project is to clean this small Calymene trilobite found in the Silurian Period Waldron Shale. Since it is so small ( < 2 cm), I am using a dissecting needle.  My cousin advised using the microscope and that has been a great idea.  The needle is too large for removing matrix in the thorax grooves so I need to find a smaller cleaning needle.

I was happy that the trilobite is intact.  The spots where the eyes were are worn away but otherwise the trilobite looks to be in good shape.

After the first prep session that used a needle, toothbrush, water, and a microscope.