Crinoid: Missouri’s Fossil

1. Crinoid:Missouri’s Fossil Mrs. Hicks

2. What is a crinoid?? Attached firmly to the ocean floor and swaying gently in the ocean currents, crinoids resemble plants. They are, however, animals, commonly known as “Sea Lilies.” Crinoid or Sea Lily

3. Why is it Missouri’s Fossil? Prehistoric Missouri was once covered by an ocean. The crinoid, or Sea Lily, was one of the most common animals found in this ocean. When the ocean was gone, the crinoids became fossils, buried in the muddy ocean floor.

4. A Rare Find You can see how long these animals could grow. But we don’t often find this type of fossil.

5. Missouri’s Fossil Most of the time when we find crinoid fossils, the fossil of this long animal has broken into pieces, like those shown here.

6. Now You Know!! So the next time you see or hear about Missouri’s state fossil, the crinoid, you will know that a crinoid was once a prehistoric sea animal from Missouri!