Jump to content

Fossilized Snails?


Dubs

Recommended Posts

This is my very first post on The Fossil Forum.  I was hoping for some experts to weigh in on what exactly are these fossils.  I picked them from a lake shore in Central Texas.  


Can you please tell me the species?

What are the approximate ages for these?

Why did they go extinct?

 

Thank you for all of your help.


Dubs

IMG_8423.jpg

IMG_8422.jpg

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice finds!

These are gastropods or snails. This is only a steinkern which means that there is no shell left and that we only see the rock that filled in what was inside.

This might make a definitive ID quite difficult.

As for the second question I myself am not very familiar with texas fossils but I have seen gastropods like this which were all from the Cretaceous so yours might be too.

The last question I don't know what to say too. Did this group even go extinct?

There are many factors that make something extinct. It may be a rapid change in the environment that the animal could not adapt to, it could be because some new predator appeared that quickly wiped out populations, it could be all sorts of other things.

 

Edit:

I did a bit of research and Lunatia is quite a common fossil in texas, they are Cretaceous in age and look pretty similar. They are also not extinct.

I may be wrong and I am sure someone here on the forum will correct me

  • I found this Informative 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cretaceous gastropod steinkerns. Guessing Glen Rose formation. Always nice to find the big ones. 

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow.  Thank you Misha and facehugger for your quick response.  I have really learned something from the both of you.  I'm going to google "Cretaceous" to get a sense of how old they are.  Thanks again.  I look forward to posting some additional finds.

 

Respectfully,

 

Dubs 

 

Cretaceous Period  - 145 to 66 million years ago

Edited by Dubs
Update
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Planko said:

Nice find. Those are in good shape and larger than normal. 

You know what they say about everything in Texas!

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, Dubs said:

You know what they say about everything in Texas!

No Illinois accent? :D Nice finds. Keep your eyes open for a left-handed one. (Google it.)

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

 

I confirm that the genus Lunatia isn't extinct :

 

http://www.nmr-pics.nl/Naticidae/album/slides/Lunatia grossularia.html

 

Coco

  • I found this Informative 1

----------------------
OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici

Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici
Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici
Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici
Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici
Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici
Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici

Un Greg...

Badges-IPFOTH.jpg.f4a8635cda47a3cc506743a8aabce700.jpg Badges-MOTM.jpg.461001e1a9db5dc29ca1c07a041a1a86.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...