A fossilized segment or skeletal piece from an actinocrinid, especially the crystalline plates that made up their bodies.
From actinocrin- + -ite (from Greek lithos, 'stone'). The -ite suffix is standard in paleontology and mineralogy for naming fossils and minerals that are fragments or specimens of larger organisms.
Actinocrinites found in fossil beds are like ancient LEGO pieces—scientists can sometimes reconstruct entire creatures by finding dozens of these calcite plates scattered in rock layers, revealing how these animals were actually built and held together.
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