Walking crinoid

In Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, a special volume to celebrate the retirement of Prof. Tomasz Baumiller was published. Among published articles is a paper on ichnology of stalked crinoids.

The paper presents the results of analyses of time-lapse movies recording a previously unknown mode of crinoid locomotion. The traces produced by Recent crinoids on the sediment surface were documented using 3D digitization techniques (laser scanning and photogrammetry). It was stressed that the moment of key evolutionary changes in crinoids (transition from sessile to mobile lifestyle) may be identified in the fossil record with the aid of crinoid trace fossils.