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Upper Carboniferous crinoids: an extraordinary collection by late 19th Century amateur palaeontologists, Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A.

Amateur palaeontologists Edward Butts, a civil engineer, and Sidney J. Hare, a landscape architect are responsible for bringing to the attention of professional palaeontologists the discovery in 1889 of a bed of exceptionally well-preserved Upper Carboniferous crinoids in the excavation for the basement of a large building in downtown Kansas City. Over 450 crinoid specimens, many of them embedded in slabs of shale were prepared by Butts, Hare and, assisted by several additional amateur fossil enthusiasts. The specimens they collected and prepared are housed in museum, departmental and private collections throughout the United States and Europe. The discovery led to 8 new species of crinoids. Three of these were named in honour of Butts and Hare and include the inadunate dicyclic crinoids Aesiocrinus harii Miller and Gurley, Ethelocrinus harii (Miller) and Ulocrinus buttsi Miller and Gurley. Ed Butts and Sid Hare emphasize the important contributions that amateur fossil enthusiasts can make to the advancement of palaeontology.