fossil

Crinoid Stem Fossil

Crinoid columnal (Echinodermata)

Mohs hardness 3-4; color varies from white and grey to tan; vitreous to dull luster; hexagonal or circular crystal-like symmetry composed of calcite.

Identified October 22, 2026More fossil →

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Physical properties

Mohs hardness 3-4; color varies from white and grey to tan; vitreous to dull luster; hexagonal or circular crystal-like symmetry composed of calcite.

Formed through the fossilization of marine invertebrate stem segments over hundreds of millions of years in ancient shallow seas.

Used primarily in educational displays, fossil collecting, and occasionally as lapidary material or jewelry.

Often referred to locally as Indian beads or St. Cuthbert's beads, crinoid stems frequently weather out of limestone formations intact.

Identify by their distinct cylindrical shape, central axial canal, and coin-like segments; commonly found in Paleozoic limestone worldwide.

Probable fossil-bearing rock or mineral concretion

Unidentified carbonate-rich concretion with a possible fossil inclusion

Likely fossil oyster shell

Fossilized bivalve shell; exact species cannot be identified from the image

Crinoid Stem Fossil in Matrix

Phylum Echinodermata, Class Crinoidea

Fossiliferous limestone (likely a crinoidal or shell-fragment limestone)

Bioclastic limestone, composed chiefly of calcite (CaCO₃)

Porous limestone pebble

Calcite-rich limestone (primarily CaCO₃); exact identification is uncertain from the image

Weathered fossil bone fragment (identification uncertain)

Fossilized bone; exact taxon and mineral composition cannot be determined from the image