Ancient Creatures of Crystal Cave

Many ancient animals have been fossilized in the limestone of the Crystal Cave. Taking a look at the fossils is like taking a look into the past.

Trilobites were benthic and lived in shallow waters where they walked in the bottom of their water environment. Trilobites fed on detritus which they stirred up with their legs and then passed the food to their mouths. During the Ordovician era many trilobite groups went extinct, and the remaining trilobites moved to deeper waters. Prior to moving to the Ordovician era and during the Cambrian era the trilobites developed the ability to roll up.

A gastropod is a radulate organism with a torted body, meaning that the anus is rotated over the head. Gastropods typically have a helical coiled univalved shell which opening may be closed by an operculum. Most of the gastropods are classified on the characteristics of gill structures and of other soft-bodied features. Gastropods are typically herbivores.

Cephalopods are bilaterally symmetrical with a prominent head, and a foot which was modified from the form of a tentacle. The cephalopod's shell resembles that of the gastropod, however, cephalopods are coiled in a plane and gastropods are not.

Crinoids are carbonate producing organisms that live in both shallow and deep water. Crinoids are typically identified by their tubular bodies and outstretched pinwheel arms. During the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras carbonate shelves became composed entirely of crinoidal remains.

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