Discover and Preserve Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 (edited) Hello All, We recently took our kids to the Aurora fossil festival to "fossil hunt" though piles of material from the local Nutrien Phosphate mine in North Carolina. We brought a small amount of material home to look though and one of the kids found the attached tiny hermit crab. It looks so delicate that I have a hard time believing this is a fossil. That said, if it is a modern specimen I have no clue how it ended up in our sample of gravel? Any thoughts or help with the id would be appreciated! Brent Edited June 22, 2022 by Discover and Preserve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyw Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 I don’t know how it got in there but it appears modern to me….. but lets wait for other opinions… 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Hunter Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 Someone's discarded once pet crab that died perhaps. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 I had the same sense from the photo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 I have the impression that the shell is recent. Coco 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... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 (edited) It is very rare for hermit crabs to be preserved in situ but this could be a fossil. I'd put the specimen in a shot glass of water and leave at room temp for a day or two. If if stinks after that time it's modern. If it is fossil it is a significant fossil from the James city. Perhaps one of out mollusk experts can determine if this is a James city gastropod. thinking of MikeR Edited June 22, 2022 by Plax corrected formation name 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 I would most definitely go with Plax's idea but it does look modern to me too. RB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagurus Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 It does look recent to me, but please let us know how it does in the smell test. It would be wonderful if it truly turns out to be a fossil. I hope so. People often pick up modern snail shells, though, believing them to be empty, and later find a hermit crab inside, often deceased. Perhaps it fell out of someone's pocket. (I was about to suggest the pocket of a young child but remembered I often have a pocket full of beach shells myself .) 1 Start the day with a smile and get it over with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FB003 Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 I have to ask but did you at least poke it to make sure it was dead? lol *Frank* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discover and Preserve Posted June 23, 2022 Author Share Posted June 23, 2022 Thanks everyone for the responses! We will try the water method and report back in a few days... Brent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discover and Preserve Posted June 24, 2022 Author Share Posted June 24, 2022 So we tried the water method and it definitely started to smell within 24 hrs. I guess somehow a modern specimen made its way into our sample of gravel from the phosphate mine... Super bummed it wasn't a fossil, but a fun learning experience for the kids none the less. Thanks everyone for your help! Brent 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuckMucus Posted June 24, 2022 Share Posted June 24, 2022 10k years from now, paleontologists and archaeologists (if they exist) will be finding stuff in locations that will no longer perplex them. The standard will be an assumption that some hominid dragged it around the planet to where it was found. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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