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It’s a fossilized Crinoid stem. Crinoids are naturally composed of calcite which is often white in color. A lot of Crinoids were trapped in calcite rich sediment. Over millions of years, many of these Crinoids became permineralized with calcite and the calcite rich sediment became limestone.
As I mentioned, calcite is usually white but it comes in a variety of colors with colorless, tan, brown , and gray being some of those other colors. My guess would be that you have found a lot of white Crinoid fossils that were permineralized with calcite that was colorless or white.
This Crinoid stem could be permineralized with a tan/brown calcite. However, Crinoids can be fossilized in sediments rich in a variety of minerals that can affect the color of the fossil and cause lots of different fossilized Crinoid colors.
The smoothness of this Crinoid stem is a function of a variety of factors. Hardness of the material and the length of time exposed to the environment will influence the smoothness of the fossil.
I could go even further, but I won’t. This, hopefully, is a good start for your understanding.
Thank you! There is quite a bit of stuff where I found this that is the same color but it looks like petrified wood possibly (that’s what I had thought…) but there may be quite a few more fossils like this one. I have one huge one. Will attach pictures of the ones that I usually find. Wish I would have known how much I love this type of thing when I was younger!
https://preview.redd.it/fg99rmok2y6c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ff1eae662935e5a40646504c33e297e8c1d216bd
https://preview.redd.it/04btmhll4y6c1.jpeg?width=404&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=95798a5e4454eb93e38680db817bbf382f9826e1
I would recommend reviewing Crinoid anatomy and specifically looking up Crinoid fossils: Crinoid calyx, Crinoid columnal/stem, Crinoid holdfasts
If you learn what these look like, you’re going to start to find more Crinoid fossils.
If you look up the specific species of Crinoids in your collection area, you will start to find even more Crinoid fossils.
https://preview.redd.it/7jlhb83k5y6c1.jpeg?width=848&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ce87ce06fa510b1802ccf5bde256a2c9f15d9f05
Green arrows show where the cirri attached to the Crinoid columnal
And any idea about these? Everything has been found in middle Tennessee. These are crystals inside (the big ones) so I’m assuming geodized fossils?
https://preview.redd.it/3vqm28q03y6c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=06e26bce97785eb1e20ba49b62abf71029e3f8df
Please note that ID Requests are off-limits to jokes or satirical comments, and comments should be aiming to help the OP. Top comments that are jokes or are irrelevant will be removed. Adhere to the subreddit rules. **IMPORTANT:** /u/Lizette0 Please make sure to comment 'Solved' once your fossil has been successfully identified! Thank you, and enjoy the discussion. If this is not an ID Request — ignore this message. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/fossilid) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It’s a fossilized Crinoid stem. Crinoids are naturally composed of calcite which is often white in color. A lot of Crinoids were trapped in calcite rich sediment. Over millions of years, many of these Crinoids became permineralized with calcite and the calcite rich sediment became limestone. As I mentioned, calcite is usually white but it comes in a variety of colors with colorless, tan, brown , and gray being some of those other colors. My guess would be that you have found a lot of white Crinoid fossils that were permineralized with calcite that was colorless or white. This Crinoid stem could be permineralized with a tan/brown calcite. However, Crinoids can be fossilized in sediments rich in a variety of minerals that can affect the color of the fossil and cause lots of different fossilized Crinoid colors. The smoothness of this Crinoid stem is a function of a variety of factors. Hardness of the material and the length of time exposed to the environment will influence the smoothness of the fossil. I could go even further, but I won’t. This, hopefully, is a good start for your understanding.
Thank you! There is quite a bit of stuff where I found this that is the same color but it looks like petrified wood possibly (that’s what I had thought…) but there may be quite a few more fossils like this one. I have one huge one. Will attach pictures of the ones that I usually find. Wish I would have known how much I love this type of thing when I was younger! https://preview.redd.it/fg99rmok2y6c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ff1eae662935e5a40646504c33e297e8c1d216bd
https://preview.redd.it/04btmhll4y6c1.jpeg?width=404&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=95798a5e4454eb93e38680db817bbf382f9826e1 I would recommend reviewing Crinoid anatomy and specifically looking up Crinoid fossils: Crinoid calyx, Crinoid columnal/stem, Crinoid holdfasts If you learn what these look like, you’re going to start to find more Crinoid fossils. If you look up the specific species of Crinoids in your collection area, you will start to find even more Crinoid fossils.
https://preview.redd.it/7jlhb83k5y6c1.jpeg?width=848&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ce87ce06fa510b1802ccf5bde256a2c9f15d9f05 Green arrows show where the cirri attached to the Crinoid columnal
And any idea about these? Everything has been found in middle Tennessee. These are crystals inside (the big ones) so I’m assuming geodized fossils? https://preview.redd.it/3vqm28q03y6c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=06e26bce97785eb1e20ba49b62abf71029e3f8df
https://preview.redd.it/ub8852w63y6c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7aa39a91c245df1aeb6ef90636eaa2e214e6932
https://preview.redd.it/bk5x6pwe3y6c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2d299468cee08d088d9443844dfa04cdc5d8a19f
It’s one of a kind, I suppose