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Hi all,

 

I found this fossil oyster (Ostrea edulis) two days ago on the Zandmotor (Netherlands). It's from the Eemian stage of the Pleistocene (120'000 years old). 

 

What made me pick up this oyster was its really weird feature. In the inside, this looks like a normal oyster:

IMG_0837.thumb.JPG.497855ea0aca7d49087b8dd652fcc9c4.JPG

 

But when you turn it around, you can see that this oyster had a really rough time!

IMG_0838.thumb.JPG.95b1601077533c3fbf8b56f8f34db410.JPG

 

Part of it is completely crushed, pushed in. And there are weird lines on it too. Now of course, the first idea that came onto my mind was that this oyster got crushed when it got pumped out of the sea and thrown onto the beach. But this wouldn't really work, because if you apply just a bit of force anywhere on a fossil oyster, it will easily break/snap. It won't get a new shape. And I have no clue what might have made those weird lines on it.

 

Therefore, I ask your opinion: what do you think happened to this oyster for it to become crushed (but not break), and have those weird lines? :headscratch:

 

Looking forward to some interesting theories!

 

Max

 

 

More photos:

 

IMG_0839.JPG

IMG_0840.JPG

Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

Instagram: @world_of_fossils

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Probably not crushed. It looks like the oyster spat settled on something with that shape and has grown over it causing the shell to take on that shape. Most oyster spat need a hard substrate to settle on. 

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I second Al Dente. What you have is what I like to call a "double fossil": the mark of one (formerly) living thing preserved in the shape of another. Look up "bioimmuration" for more details.

 

Very cool piece! :D

 

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42 minutes ago, Al Dente said:

Probably not crushed. It looks like the oyster spat settled on something with that shape and has grown over it causing the shell to take on that shape. Most oyster spat need a hard substrate to settle on. 

 

12 minutes ago, Mediospirifer said:

I second Al Dente. What you have is what I like to call a "double fossil": the mark of one (formerly) living thing preserved in the shape of another. Look up "bioimmuration" for more details.

 

Very cool piece! :D

 

 

Whoa, that's really fascinating! I learnt something new today :D

 

Thanks guys!

Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

Instagram: @world_of_fossils

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I third it! On the bay oysters still end up looking like this after attaching to the rip rap.

“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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You'll see this with barnacles frequently. Groups of barnacles grow with flat sides instead of being regular (rough) cones; they'll also retain an impression of their substrate. If the critter lived attached to a mollusk shell, the bottom plate will show that.

 

Corals and bryozoans will also show their neighbors' influence. :D

 

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shells in oyster beds grow all over one another.

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen

No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go.

" I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes

"can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks

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15 hours ago, WhodamanHD said:

I third it! On the bay oysters still end up looking like this after attaching to the rip rap.

 

14 hours ago, Mediospirifer said:

You'll see this with barnacles frequently. Groups of barnacles grow with flat sides instead of being regular (rough) cones; they'll also retain an impression of their substrate. If the critter lived attached to a mollusk shell, the bottom plate will show that.

 

Corals and bryozoans will also show their neighbors' influence. :D

 

 

13 hours ago, Foozil said:

This is very cool! :dinothumb:

 

12 hours ago, Herb said:

shells in oyster beds grow all over one another.

Really cool to learn more about this! It's awesome all that Mother Nature can imagine.

 

Thanks for the discussion!

 

Max

Max Derème

 

"I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day."

   - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier

 

Instagram: @world_of_fossils

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