Cambrian Gogia Dawn Crinoid

Description: Apparently, upon the initial posting of this Gogia, I had miss-identified it as Gogia spirilas. One of our eagle eyed viewers pointed out my error. I am not 100% sure of the location, but, it would appear to have come from the Spence Shale. There is a good probability that it is a G. guntheri.

Eocrinoids (“dawn crinoids”) were among the earliest groups of Echinoderms. They had a vase-shaped body (calyx), covered by plates that were symmetrical and had a bifurcated brachiole, a slender arm-like structure for food gathering that closely resembled those in cystoids. The early Eocrinoids were attached to the bottom by a thick holdfast. Later members had an elongated stalk much like the true crinoids that evolved later. Gogia displayed an interesting ontogenic feature related to its arms. Once Gogia matured past the 4-armed stage (the species derives its name from the spiraled arms), they added arms in such a way as to have an odd-numbered total.