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Crinoids much like this covered the ancient seafloor
of southern Arizona.
Found in abundance throughout
the paleozoic, these particular animals were found in the naco
formation of Arizona. Naco is a grey to white limestone containing
a wide variety of average to decent quality. The image on the
right is a life reconstruction of the animal and on the left
you will see a drawing of a section of the "stem" which
attached the animal to the sea floor.
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"Solitary Horn Corals"
These animals also graced the
depths of Arizona shallow seas during the Pennsylvanian period.
Found often in the naco formation and in many cases well preserved,
these solitary corals floated freely at birth but spent the rest
of their lives attached to the sea floor (as shown on the left
of the drawing)
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Brachiopods
Brachiopods found at Kartchners
Caverns include the articulate brachiopods Atrypa and Rhynchonella. Both of these genus are common in the naco
formation. Brachiopods were fastened to the sea floor by a fleshy
stalk called the pedicle
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Gastropods(snails) found in
the Naco.
Although commissioned, these
drawings were not used in the display because not enough material
was collected to verify their locality in the cavern. They are
however typical of the gastropods in this area. The drawings
are (from left to right) Viviparus,
Turritella and Straparollus
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