Placopecten clintonius pelecypod from the Yorktown formation of Virginia

This shell was among a number of Chesapectin jeffersonius specimens and it caught my eye due to the difference. A little research leads me to believe that this is a Placopecten clintonius pelecypod as it exists within the Yorktown formation at the same horizon as C. jeffersonius. The shell is smaller than C. jeffersonius and the radial ribs are both more numerous and finer.

This specimen came from the Yorktown Formation, which is Neogene in age (Pliocene epoch, Zanclean stage), along the James River in Virginia.

Chesapectin jeffersonius pelecypod from the Yorktown formation of Virginia

I acquired this shell at a rock/fossil/mineral show this past spring from someone who collected it themselves. It's a Chesapectin jeffersonius pelecypod from the Yorktown formation (Neogene, Pliocene epoch, Zanclean stage) of Virginia and was found along the James River.  The shell is enormous and I can just imagine what the scallops would have tasted like! It's only a single valve, I'm not sure if it is the left or the right but was a host to some epibionts. There are large barnacles (Balanus concavus), barnacles spats and some corals (Septastrea marylandica). All in all it's a terrific specimen that gives evidence of the environment that it lived in.

Shell exterior

Shell interior

I think these small holes are the traces from the boring sponge Cliona sp.

A better view of the huge barnacles

and some shots of the corals.

Corals with Cliona sp. boring sponge traces

Three Cenozoic gastropods from France

These first two shells come from the Neogene (Miocene series) age sediments in the Gironde state of France (near Bordeaux). First is Cerithium margaritaceum

Next is Turritells terebralis

Then its Clavilithes noae from the Paleogene (Eocene series, Lutetian stage) which was collected near Paris, France.

Thanks to Gery for sending me these fossils!

Chesapecten nefrens pelecypod from Maryland

Another group of pictures from my folder clean up feature this Chesapecten nefrens pelecypod from the Calvert formation of Maryland. I collected this 25 years ago while on a trip to Calvert Cliffs in Maryland. It was found in the Choptank formation while staying at Matoaka Cottages.

Left valve

Right valve

Right profile

Posterior

Interior of both valves. The white paint and ink lettering were a short lived attempt by my younger self to catalog my fossil collection at the time. In this case the "CC" stood for Calvert Cliffs and the number indicates that this was the first numbered specimen (but not necessarily the first specimen I found).

The Choptank formation dates to the Miocene epoch (Langhian to Serravallian stages) of the Neogene period.