Isognomon Nursery?

[I_gotta_rock]

I brought home a limb of matrix that had fallen out of the cliff the other week. It dried out and chunks started falling off, revealing a teardrop-shaped shell and a pair of scallops. I carved through it, gluing the heck out of the tear-drop shaped shell the keep it from crumbling, and working all the way around the exposed shells so as not to break them. I found maybe a dozen 1/2-inch or smaller molds and lots of paper-thin bits of broken shell. When I finally dug out the exposed shells, I realized what the rest was-- broken bits of Isognomon maxillata, baby ones, a whole bed of them!

 

I talked to my friend at the Delaware Museum of Natural History, who was also intrigued. He's going to take the remaining lump and examine it carefully under the dissecting scope to see what else might be in there. Lots of things predated the oysters, so could be some interesting micros in there!

 

[Miocene_Mason]

Cool find! The density of shelled critters there always amazes me!

[I_gotta_rock]

Update: Not I. maxilla, but a Mytilus, which is smaller, thinner, and rarely seen because it is so fragile. Finally got some pictures of it the other week. this is the big one that survived. It is about 3 inches long.

[I_gotta_rock]

On 10/23/2017 at 6:15 PM, WhodamanHD said:

Cool find! The density of shelled critters there always amazes me!

 Yep. I just finished digitizing the mollusk shells I collected in one day and donated to our local museum. 50 lots, 47 species, 392 individual specimens.  That is JUST the mollusks.

[Miocene_Mason]

21 hours ago, I_gotta_rock said:

 Yep. I just finished digitizing the mollusk shells I collected in one day and donated to our local museum. 50 lots, 47 species, 392 individual specimens.  That is JUST the mollusks.

Wow, that’s an amazing feat! Sometimes I’m to lazy to photograph any fossils from a trip!