herb
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 444
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Post by herb on May 20, 2023 14:35:28 GMT -5
I was just looking thru some boxes of rocks etc that I got from an estate years ago and found these guys. They were together in one of those cardboard specimen boxes so I assume they belong together. The shell on the left is quite flat, the shell on the right has the standard bowl shape like on a clam shell. Unfortunately it looks to have a bit missing on its right side. The shells are pictured wet to better show the details. I was wondering if anyone can give me info on them. I'm not sure if it is a shell or a fossil, but from the smoothness of the interiors, I'm guessing shells. Where they are from, who lived in them, and any other info would be great to know. Also if anyone has an idea of what they are worth, I'd appreciate it. I was thinking of putting them out for our club's sale next month. Exterior: IMG_0029 by Shiny Objects, on Flickr Interior: IMG_0030 by Shiny Objects, on Flickr Closeup of the flat one on the left: IMG_0031 by Shiny Objects, on Flickr Closeup of the one on the right: IMG_0032 by Shiny Objects, on Flickr
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
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Post by Mark K on May 20, 2023 15:50:26 GMT -5
It is a type of oyster.
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herb
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 444
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Post by herb on May 21, 2023 9:32:18 GMT -5
Ok, thanks! Kind of a bummer though, I was hoping it was something more exotic!
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
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Post by Mark K on May 21, 2023 15:58:08 GMT -5
It is. It is one of the cool oysters. Not one of the boring dime a trillion ones.
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Post by aDave on May 21, 2023 16:17:17 GMT -5
Ok, thanks! Kind of a bummer though, I was hoping it was something more exotic! I am certainly no expert, so I'm simply relying on Google. I did an image search with your photos, and many of the "similars" are fossils. Go ahead and take a look. You might actually have something there, and I think the biggest hint is they were preserved in specimen boxes. They could still be an oyster, but they might be a bit older than you were expecting.
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Mark K
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Post by Mark K on May 21, 2023 18:04:33 GMT -5
I would not be surprised at all if they were fossils. There is a spot down in the Keys where there are semi-fossilized shells like that in a semi fossilized matrix. I carefully removed some spectacular fossils from it including a complete worm shell, spiral and worm and all.
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Post by vegasjames on May 21, 2023 18:29:50 GMT -5
I agree with oyster, but modern, not fossilzed. If fossilized then the inside would have been filled with hardened sediment rock.
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Mark K
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Post by Mark K on May 21, 2023 18:47:38 GMT -5
Depends on the strata they came out of. The stuff I was digging in the Keys was fossil but soft enough to get out of the crevices. I have also removed fossils out of the limestone of the Dakorah Shale quite a few times.
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Post by HankRocks on May 21, 2023 20:06:30 GMT -5
Depends on the strata they came out of. The stuff I was digging in the Keys was fossil but soft enough to get out of the crevices. I have also removed fossils out of the limestone of the Dakorah Shale quite a few times. Agree, I have collected some neat fossil shells around the Needle Peak area of West Texas and they were laying on the ground already weathered out of the soft sandstone formation they fossilized in. If I could get to that part of the garage I would pull some out and get a picture. (In the middle of a major upheaval here at the house as most everything is downstairs for new carpet and painting upstairs. 33 years of accumulation is not going quietly into the night!!) Henry
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Post by vegasjames on May 21, 2023 22:52:32 GMT -5
And what about this hole in the outer shell? Why wouldn't it have been filled in after being buried in sediment and fossilizing over millions of years?
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wpotterw
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2016
Posts: 422
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Post by wpotterw on May 22, 2023 12:58:07 GMT -5
And what about this hole in the outer shell? Why wouldn't it have been filled in after being buried in sediment and fossilizing over millions of years? I have seen spiny oyster shells with similar patterning. I think the holes are likely the basal portion of broken spines - I think they would have to be hollowfor the spines to grow.
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Post by vegasjames on May 22, 2023 19:13:11 GMT -5
And what about this hole in the outer shell? Why wouldn't it have been filled in after being buried in sediment and fossilizing over millions of years? I have seen spiny oyster shells with similar patterning. I think the holes are likely the basal portion of broken spines - I think they would have to be hollowfor the spines to grow. I am referring to if this were fossilized. Over millions of years in sediment and dissolved minerals, any holes like this should have been filled in with minerals if this shell was fossilized. So, it looks to me like a modern oyster shell.
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Mark K
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Post by Mark K on May 22, 2023 21:44:12 GMT -5
Could be or it could not be. I see lots of strange things with fossils. Really, the only way we will really know is if someone who knows about this stuff looks at in person.
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wpotterw
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2016
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Post by wpotterw on May 23, 2023 6:56:00 GMT -5
I am referring to if this were fossilized. Over millions of years in sediment and dissolved minerals, any holes like this should have been filled in with minerals if this shell was fossilized. So, it looks to me like a modern oyster shell. It would depend on the depositional environment. The spines could have remained intactin the sediment that covered the shell and then broke when the shell eroded from the matrix.
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on May 23, 2023 10:54:41 GMT -5
Scallop family - if fossil, looks like a "Scabrotrigonia" shell. AGE - Middle Jurassic through Upper Cretaceous...
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