This bouquet of sea lilies is more than what it seems. Despite their misleading nickname “sea lily,” crinoids are filter feeder animals, not plants. They were most abundant during the Paleozoic Era when these animals would have grown from the sea floor, creating an aquatic forest and forming an important ecosystem. Some species of crinoid survived into the Mesozoic Era, and today a few live in the deep ocean depths. Several modern forms no long anchor themselves with a stalk but instead move along the sea floor searching for food. Two crinoids can be seen in this slab, their arms reaching out from their calyx, or main body and forming shapes resembling flowers. As seen on each Crinoid, the stems resembles stacked beads. Found in Morocco, the slab is dated to be from the late Silurian age around 400 million years ago and measures to be 19 inches wide by 13 inches tall. When on its stand, the total height is 14 inches tall.

Due to the size and weight of the fossil, the Crinoid Fossil is Pickup Only from the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Hermann Park location.