(Camarocrinus)
Name - Scyphocrinites elegans
Location - Erfoud, Morocco
Age - Silurian - Devonian
420 million years ago
Size - 114x107x64mm max.
Weight - 868grams.
A lobolith, or crinoid "float", is the bulbous root of a crinoid that served to some extent as a swimming apparatus, holding the crinoid stem and calyx in an upside down position. The lobolith was chambered and likely filled with a gas produced by the crinoid to regulate its position within the water. This allowed the animal to float with the currents and move up and down in the water column. Considering most crinoids were held in place by a root-like system (holdfast), these loboliths are unique to a specific type of crinoid.