Echinoderm Fossils in Kentucky . A sampling of fossil echinoderms from Kentucky. Introduction to the Echinodermata . University of California at Berkeley Museum of Paleontology. A great introduction to the living and fossil Echinodermata with sections on the fossil record, life history and ecology, systematics, and morphology.
Crinoids have a remarkable resemblance to flowers, but are filter-feeding echinoderms.
The body consists of a calyx with arms attached by a stalk composed of calcite disks called columnals to the ocean floor. A few crinoids swim and are not attached. Crinoids range from the Ordovician to the Present. Crinoids are abundant in the fossil record, but are particularly common in some Paleozoic deposits. A short introduction to the crinoids.