GPeach129 Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 I found this fossilized crab on the beach this weekend near NYC. Can anyone tell me about it? Attached is a pic. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenixflood Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 Someone here should be able to give it a go. It's not my area of expertise though. Welcome to the forum BTW The soul of a Fossil Hunter is one that is seeking, always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 Pretty cool. It is a male. That's all I have. Was it Long Island or New Jersey? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 Yeah, it's a male, showing its 8th sternite so Portunoidea, Portunidae, I can't say more because don't shos its dorsal view with more details. http://www.mbfossilcrabs.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPeach129 Posted May 6, 2010 Author Share Posted May 6, 2010 (edited) I actually found at Rockaway Beach in Brooklyn. Do you know about how old it is? Here is another picture. It is hard as a rock and almost looks like cement. Thanks! This is my first forum/blog ever Edited May 6, 2010 by GPeach129 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 Nice specimen! You have a carapace of a male Callinectes. It's (at least) the same genus as the modern blue crab. I prefer the aged-based definition of "fossil" which requires organismal remains to be at least 10,000 years old. That said, this may or may not yet be a fossil: The Rockaway Beach (Queens rather than Brooklyn) specimens are roughly from 7-12 thousand years old. I don't know of any way to test how old they are, especially since they are always found loose on the beach, out of context. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluejay Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Hello Fossils People.....I was poking around on the Internet because this past weekend I purchased some Rockaway Beach "Fossils" at an Antique Show in East Meadow....LOL....I agree with Carl that the definition of what exactly constitutes a fossil comes into play in this case. (But perhaps the bottom line for Long Islanders is that since our island is a big pile of sand barely old enough to really have fossils.....these Rockaway Beach finds are the closest we'll get for a few millions of years so we should count our blessings and get all excited over them !!.....LOL) So anyway, I wanted to ask you folks....Does anyone know if anyone out there is studying these Rockaway Beach "Fossils" ? How can I get more information about them? PS: The items I purchased were an oyster, some scallops, some small spiral shells and a clam. (I kinda bought "one of each") PPS: I've purchased similar looking specimens from New Jersey and Florida, in the sense that they don't appear to be "that old"....I have no problem loosely calling them "fossils" as long as they were naturally embedded....although I'd also like to agree with Carl and abide by an age minimum of 10,000 years in the strictest sense....Kathy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Hi Kathy, By "naturally embedded", do you mean that these shells are in a matrix? If so, that would argue for some degree of antiquity, at least. Can you post some pictures? "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 My link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Welcome to this forum. Um, one of the rules that it seems no one has told you about, is that every frist time poster is supposed to send me their crab fossils or subfossils. A fossil crab from NYC... that is so cool. I didn't know they existed. I'll be sending oyu the address to send it to... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Get in line, bub! "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Hey Bluejay. There ARE Cretaceous fossils to be collected on Long Island. Never been there myself but a friend showed me cool leaf fossils from the some where along the north shore. There are just a few places where the old bedrock (clay I think) pokes out from under the glacial gravel. Sorry I can't be more help as to exactly where, but do some googling and maybe even get the Long Island geo map to check this out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluejay Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 It might take a couple of weeks, but I will get to work on the pictures of the Rockaway Beach stuff.....Kathy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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