FunkyMonkey Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Hi all, This has bugged me for over 30 years and I'd love to know what I might have found all those years ago. HINT: Its the thingy on the right, not the quid! In 1987, I was lucky enough to go and see my extended family in Perth, Western Australia. On one day we went to Scarborough Beach, near Perth, and not being one for sunbathing I went foraging on the shoreline. I found this, put it in my pocket and forgot about it until I got home. My geology teacher at school thought it might be Nummulites Laevigatus, but was he right? I've seen nothing like it since. From the photographs you can see that the 'lumpy' side is asymmetrical however what is harder to see is that the 'whorl' side is very slightly concave, moving in as it follows the curve to the centre. Is it fossil? Was my teacher correct? Could it even be man made? Any help would be greatly appreciated, Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWGeoFan Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Very very interesting, I will look into it mpre and get back to you. "I am going to dig up dinosaurs whether they are liquid or solid" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-AnThOnY- Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Not a fossil, it is the 'doorway' of a marine snail. I can't remember what they are called but basically, it protects the snail from trouble when it closes itself back in its shell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 I agree, Snail (gastropod) Operculum. Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Unfortunately, your teacher was wrong in the ID. It's definitely not Nummulites laevigatus, but , as it was said, a gastropod operculum, probably modern. " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 and maybe a pomatiid one,at that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 In my opinion, it could be from a marine gastropod, possibly Turbo sp., not a terrestrial gastropod. It looks close to Turbo intercostalis. The bumpy surface is the external side, the spiraling one is the internal side of the operculum. picture from here " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 I was thinking of just the first pic for the pomatiid,actually. I know what opercula look like,but not that the Turbo would be a dead ringer for the bumpy one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyMonkey Posted May 30, 2017 Author Share Posted May 30, 2017 Thanks everyone for the information. Thirty years of wondering and solved by this board in minutes! Wow. I had never heard of these, which makes it all the more fascinating. Thanks for making an interesting object even more worthy of a place on the shelf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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