: any of a large class (Crinoidea) of echinoderms usually having a somewhat cup-shaped body with five or more feathery arms compare feather star, sea lily
crinoidadjective
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This squat lobster is often found on the bodies of crinoids, or feather stars, and is known to mimic the coloring and patterns of their hosts, researchers said.—Lauren Liebhaber, Miami Herald, 31 July 2025 Genevieve Formation, dating back approximately 340 to 335 million years to when Mammoth Cave was submerged in a warm, shallow sea teeming with life including crinoids and corals, according to the National Park Service.—Jon Haworth, ABC News, 24 July 2025 These aquatic, plant-like animals related to sea stars and sea urchins are formally called crinoids.—Margherita Bassi, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Jan. 2025 Both crinoids and moss animals would be common in that area at the bottom of the sea at the time.—James Doubek, NPR, 29 Jan. 2025 The same fossil bed yielded ancient sponges, crinoids, and ammonite coprolites and beaks.—Isaac Schultz / Gizmodo, Quartz, 18 May 2024
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