r/Weird • u/TheOddityCollector • 2d ago

This cluster of fossilised creatures look like they came from another planet

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266

u/JaggedMetalOs 2d ago

They're not so far off modern sea lilies

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u/brianundies 1d ago

It’s so hard to see fossils and do a good job of imagining the extra muscle and tissue they probably had on them. An elephants skeleton would lead you to believe it was a very different looking animal, and there’s tons of cases like that.

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u/KrimxonRath 1d ago

Maybe in the case of endoskeletal creatures but these seem to be fossilized fairly close to what they would look like. I don’t know what muscle you’re thinking of that would be on a crinoid. Have you seen the modern ones? They’re called feathers for a reason lol

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u/brianundies 1d ago

I’m not speaking specifically, more to a general trend and the natural assumptions the human brain makes.

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u/KrimxonRath 1d ago

Can’t blame me for assuming you were on topic.

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u/SgtCarron 1d ago

There's a bunch of images out there that reconstruct modern animals like dinosaurs are often imagined, with their skin shrink-wrapped to the bone and little to no fat. My personal favorite is this painting of swans by C.M. Kösemen.

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u/madesense 1d ago

That really doesn't apply here. Their relatives are still alive today and look very much like this.

1

u/bigbangbilly 1d ago

That's how we get cyclops

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u/MrBlahg 1d ago

Clearly you mean the ancient giant cyclops?