Wrangellian Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 Anybody recognize these clams? As with my other unknowns I acquired them from some old rockhounds who could not remember where they got them. I think most Vancouver Island rock-/fossilhounds if they traveled off-Island to collect, would either go east in Canada (Alberta, Ontario) or South to the US West Coast or Southwest, so that should be taken into consideration. Otherwise I know it's a crapshoot, but at least if I get an idea of the taxonomy and age I have a chance to narrow down the possible locations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ordovician_Odyssey Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 i have some of those! there from the leda clay, its starting in ottawa and runs up in to quebec. as for the things them selves....i dont know exact species..just label them pelecypods(sounds more confusing than clam ) -Shamus The Ordovician enthusiast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ordovician_Odyssey Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 (edited) heres a picture...there a bit thinner and smaller though, and there prepped up a bit. Edited November 27, 2010 by trilobite guy -Shamus The Ordovician enthusiast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted November 28, 2010 Author Share Posted November 28, 2010 Are you sure? I'd like to see some of your specimens if you have any. What age is that formation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palaeopix Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 They do look similar to clams found in the Bear Paw Shale of Alberta. Can't say much more than that though. Not really my can of w...., I mean clams! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted November 28, 2010 Author Share Posted November 28, 2010 They do look similar to clams found in the Bear Paw Shale of Alberta. Can't say much more than that though. Not really my can of w...., I mean clams! Good idea, I'll write that down as a possibility. I do have some similar but smaller clam fossils from Kananaskis country, but there was no age/fmtn info that came with them.. does the Bearpaw occur in that region, do you know? (he said, hoping to kill 2 birds w/ 1 stone, tho I can take pics of them to post as well if I need to) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ordovician_Odyssey Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 Are you sure? I'd like to see some of your specimens if you have any. What age is that formation? pleistocene-holocene....and i posted the specimenes -Shamus The Ordovician enthusiast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 Wrangellian: Your clams closely resemble a specimen of Arctica ovata (Meek & Hayden) I have from the Bearpaw Shale near Lethbridge Alberta. Both the shell and the mode of preservation are a close match. My camera is out of commission for the time being, but I will post a picture when I can. Trilobite guy: Your clams are Macoma balthica Linneus. They are desmodont bivalves, and so belong to a different order than Arctica, which is a heterodont. These orders are based on hinge tooth structures. You should see if the Geological Survey bookstore still has copies of "Faunas of the Pleistocene Champlain Sea" by Francis Wagner. You might also consider looking online for a copy of a good basic invertebrate paleontology textbook. I like "Invertebrate Fossils" by Moore, Lalicker, and Fisher. It is old and some of the names are out of date, but it does a good job of covering the field. I'm sure there are newer texts available too. If you are at all serious about an interest in paleontology, every new fossil can be an impetus to explore a whole new group of organisms. Calling a fossil "pelecypod" is only the most basic first step towards a proper identification. Don 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ordovician_Odyssey Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 Wrangellian: Trilobite guy: Your clams are Macoma balthica Linneus. They are desmodont bivalves, and so belong to a different order than Arctica, which is a heterodont. These orders are based on hinge tooth structures. You should see if the Geological Survey bookstore still has copies of "Faunas of the Pleistocene Champlain Sea" by Francis Wagner. You might also consider looking online for a copy of a good basic invertebrate paleontology textbook. I like "Invertebrate Fossils" by Moore, Lalicker, and Fisher. It is old and some of the names are out of date, but it does a good job of covering the field. I'm sure there are newer texts available too. If you are at all serious about an interest in paleontology, every new fossil can be an impetus to explore a whole new group of organisms. Calling a fossil "pelecypod" is only the most basic first step towards a proper identification. Don thanks don for the ID! , i'll be sure to try and find those books..........and ya im not to advanced in vocab yet...only into about 14 months of fossiling now, but i guess im doing good so far -shamus -Shamus The Ordovician enthusiast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted November 28, 2010 Author Share Posted November 28, 2010 (edited) Wrangellian: Your clams closely resemble a specimen of Arctica ovata (Meek & Hayden) I have from the Bearpaw Shale near Lethbridge Alberta. Both the shell and the mode of preservation are a close match. My camera is out of commission for the time being, but I will post a picture when I can. Don Thanks Don, I'll wait for your pics and for now at least I have a tentative ID/loc/age for them! Eric EDIT: I just noticed the Bearpaw is mostly shale, while my clams are filled in with a reddish sandy matrix.. does that still work? Edited November 29, 2010 by Wrangellian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 That's them! Thanks for finding this old thread, I was thinking about taking new pics for the other one but now I don't have to. Did I post that Gervillia somewhere? My pics aren't always very good either, so it might need redoing. The Gervillia contains the same reddish matrix as the other things. When you say Lake Diefenbaker, that's a pretty long lake, I gather. Do you mean somewhere near the Swift Current Creek as with the others, or somewhere else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenmaster6 Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 I currently have these clams from the Puget sound (Vancouver island is close by) . They are called Butter Clams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 7 hours ago, Zenmaster6 said: I currently have these clams from the Puget sound (Vancouver island is close by) . They are called Butter Clams. Are you talking about the living species? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 8 hours ago, Norki said: Without getting too specific (I could in PMs, I suppose), these were collected from the shore opposite from Swift Current Creek and maybe 10km east. So they're not from the exact locality, but they are from the same unit. For all we know, the original collectors could have taken your clams from any point along the shore in the general area, since the Matador Sand seems to appear at several localities (I can think of two or three that I've personally seen). They could have just been referring to the town of Swift Current itself, since there aren't really any other notable towns nearby they could use as a recognisable landmark - it's fairly wild country out there. edit: yeah I wanna see the Gervillia. I don't think I have one on hand (I mean, don't think I'm currently holding one in HM's trust of course)... but I'll take a look. OK thx. I'll get pics as soon as I can. About the Arcticas, it's curious that both my specimens and yours are missing pieces around the outer edge. Do you ever find them fully intact? If you're bashing them out of concretions, can you not recover the broken bits and glue them back in place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenmaster6 Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 4 hours ago, Wrangellian said: Are you talking about the living species? Yes, I have found living butter clams and what I believe is fossilized butterclams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted February 27, 2019 Author Share Posted February 27, 2019 Yeah, the poor bivalves never get much love... Specimens like the ones you showed (and mine) look like they didn't break into hundreds of pieces and it might have been feasible to put them back together. If you can find more like this, send them to me and I'll reassemble them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted March 1, 2019 Author Share Posted March 1, 2019 Here's the Gervillia. As you can see, one valve is mostly gone (maybe a thin layer left), revealing the internal negative with the muscle scar. The other side has seen better days, too! but the hinge line appears to be intact. The matrix inside is that same reddish sandy stuff as some of the others we've discussed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoons Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 Ive got quite a few of those in my collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoons Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 I find them all the time here in the bluffs and slides on our river banks. These were found at Centerville Beach, CA 3 Days ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 Those are probably different taxa, but related. Do you know the age/formation those come from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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