Crinoids

February 2, 2019 - Mississippian, Franklin County, Al.

Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019 was an absolutely PERFECT day for a field trip! There were 14 BPS members and guests who got together to spend a much-needed day in the great outdoors looking for fossils. The general area was a lakeshore in Franklin County (lower Bangor limestone formation) and our leaders selected 3 sites from which to collect. The first site, a public boat launch, was fairly void of fossils (except for a nice shark tooth in limestone matrix) but we had heard that the area had been over-collected recently so it was not unexpected. Even with slim fossil findings, the beautiful very spring-like weather had everyone enjoying the hunt.

It was decided to relocate to the site we collected last year so we all packed up and headed over. Thanks to expert navigation by Bob, we made it to the next site quickly and without a hitch – good job, Bob!! And this site proved to be as productive as it was last year. The shore consists of fossil slabs and loose fossils that had washed out of the matrix. Copious crinoid components, bryozoan components, horn corals, bivalves, brachiopods, and blastoids were all found while at this site. A non-fossil but interesting find was a pharyngeal dental plate from a freshwater drum fish. It was very pleasant to sit in the warm sun, with the fresh breeze, sifting and searching the washed-out fossils along the shoreline.

Some called it a great day after this but the remainder of the group ventured on to a road cut several miles away. Still in the Mississippian strata, we found a few blastoids, a brachiopods and even a couple of trilobites or, rather, the infamous “trilo-butts”. One specimen was very nice, being in pristine shape as if newly exposed. By this time, the sun was beginning to set so the remainder of the group wrapped up the hunt and bid the fossil hunt good day. There’s a great Mexican restaurant on Hwy 157 that is convenient to the interstate so the last of the Mohicans stopped there for good food and conversation before heading the rest of the way home. What a great day!

January 25, 2014, St. Clair County, AL - Site 1

In spite of the freezing cold weather and strong wind, a good group showed up to hunt fossils in an old quarry area, with lots of chert rubble containing mostly brachiopods and crinoids. Sam found a large, quite rare, crinoid head at the site.

March 3-4, 2012 Colbert, Franklin Co., AL

What a wonderful two day trip we had in March. The weather was sunny; light jacket weather, just right for being outside. Saturday we were at a quarry in Colbert County, and Sunday we were at a lake in Franklin County. The spoil pods were massive and extremely steep making them difficult to navigate. But being the adventureous spirits that we are, we conquered the spires and were greatly rewarded for our efforts. Among the spoils we found, Crinoids, blastoids, burrows, a few very tiny shark teeth, fenestra, hound coral, calcite crystals, stigmaria and whole rocks covered with brachiapods.

April 11, 2009 - Mississippian Fossils, Morgan Co, AL, Part 2

Part 1 - Trip Report
Part 2 - Trip Photos (this page)

This Mississippian limestone quarry yielded a variety of fossils, including crinoids, blastoids, a very ancient shark tooth by the name Petalodus, archimedes, bryozoans, brachiopods, Rugosa and other corals, and even part of a trilobite.

(Photos courtesy Ron Beerman, Becky Guthrie, and Vicki Lais)

Horn coral

trilobite

Relatively large portion of a trilobite pygidium (rear end), an unusual find at this site.

crinoid, blastoid

Slab containing several blastoids and crinoid stems.

trilobite

Leisa

Bob searching for the elusive whole crinoid.

Petalodus

Petalodus from the Permian

shark tooth, Petalodus

Petalodus shark tooth

shark tooth, Petalodus

Lea has brought a cake for the whole group, and dinosaur eggs in honor of Easter, which is the next day.

quarry

blastoid

Some fossils are very hard to spot. There is a blastoid lying in this gravel wash.

brachiopod

shark tooth, Petalodus

Petalodus shark tooth

Limestone slab

crinoid

Slab of limestone totally filled with crinoid stems.

February 7 and 8, 2009 Mississippian Fossils, NW Alabama, various sites

BPS members gathered in NW Alabama for a full weekend field-trip February 7 and 8. We couldn't have begged, pleaded or prayed for better weather! Since we were slogging through a great deal of mud culling for Mississippian fossils, the unseasonal warmth was a treat! Lots of conglomerate "collections" were found, featuring the remains of archimedes, brachiopods and crinoids. Some blastoids were found, and Bob found a beautiful starfish on the scouting trip last week. We visited several sites, met some nice folks who were curious about what all those adults were doing, crawling around on their hands and knees etc.

Saturday night brought camping in the Cane Creek Canyon Preserve. This entire area is owned and beautifully-maintained by Jim and Fay Lacefield. They welcome guests and keep clean (and welcome) rest-areas and picnic areas featuring well-stocked little privies and fresh drinking-water. On Sunday, we were treated to a guided tour by Jim and heart-stopping rides around the trails on a six-wheeler with Fay. Makes the biggest roller-coaster you've ever been on seem tame! There are several overhanging caves in the area and Jim gave us a great overview of the tribes who made them their living-areas at various times of the year. We then went on to the creek where Jim talked about the geology of the rocks all around, how they came to be there and discussed the flora that was starting to bloom. At least one variety manages to survive the deers' grazing by appearing on the tops of some of the boulders that the animals cannot reach.

BPS owes a HUGE THANK-YOU to Jim and Fay for a fascinating day in a beautiful setting. IF you wish to visit, be sure and call ahead and check in with the Lacefields and PLEASE clean up behind yourselves, making sure that campfires are completely out and pack OUT anything you packed IN!

Sunday photos taken at Cane Creek Canyon Preserve.

Saturday photos of fossil trip are below.

Photos courtesy Claire Smith, Jaimie Hill and Vicki Lais.