Astarte Clam

By I_gotta_rock

• August 15, 2017

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalva
Order: Cardita
Family: Astartidae
Genus: Astarte
Species: Astarte tisphila
Author Citation Glenn, 1904

Geological Time Scale

Eon: Phanerozoic
Era: Cenozoic
Period: Neogene
Sub Period: None
Epoch: Miocene

Stratigraphy

Choptank Formation
Drumcliff Member

Provenance

Collector: Heather Siple
Date Collected: 07/03/2017
Acquired by: Field Collection

Dimensions

Length: 28 mm
Width: 24 mm
Height: 4 mm
Thickness: 4 mm

Location

St Leonard
Calvert County
Maryland
United States

• astarte
• calvert cliffs
• chesapeake bay
• choptank
• clam
• formation
• fossil
• leonard
• maryland
• miocene
• saint
• shell
• st

Comments

This specimen and dozens like it were collected from matrix material deposited in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay by a landslide. It is one of only a few species that consistently survived intact in the matrix samples I collected. Most specimens were single, unbroken valves, but several had both valves together and intact. A. tisphila is considered the most abundant find in the Choptank Formation. It is an index fossil for the Drum Cliff Member.

This specimen was donated to the Delaware Museum of Natural History.