Giant Inoceramus clam?

[KimTexan]

15 hours ago, Plantguy said:

That ribbing looks very likely so you got my interest. I've seen pictures of huge ones (seems like people sized at I recall) but all I have is a very small one. ...How much time are you willing to invest in picking at it to expose more ....Have fun if you go down that path...Be interested in hearing what the local collectors say...

 

Regards, Chris 

I’m not really interested in picking away at it. My interest in the clam extended to the curiosity of how large they get. From fragments I’d come across I was sure they got over 5 feet.  If someone would be interested in it for scientific purposes I’d hate to damage it out of my own curiosity. So I left it. 

The creek looks rarely if ever traversed. That said a new housing development is going in right next to it. I was fossil hunting, but found nothing of interest there.

 

[KimTexan]

4 minutes ago, Rockwood said:

In your situation I think you nailed it. 

Yes, but who would be interested? Who would I contact? Like I said I’ll contact a couple paleontologist I know and let them take it from there, but if anyone knows of someone specific who may have interests in it I’m more than happy to take them to it.

[Innocentx]

This is way cool, Kim. I look forward to what may happen next!

[DPS Ammonite]

5 hours ago, caldigger said:

A couple of those would make one heck of a clam bake!

I've read that some researchers think that many Inoceramus lived in near anoxic conditions and possibly had symbiotic chemosynthetic microorganisms living with them to help produce energy. In other words, there were probably lots of sulphur compounds in their flesh, yuk. I've also heard that the clams that live near the black smokers are also inedible for similiar reasons.

[KimTexan]

34 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said:

I've read that some researchers think that many Inoceramus lived in near anoxic conditions and possibly had symbiotic chemosynthetic microorganisms living with them to help produce energy. In other words, there were probably lots of sulphur compounds in their flesh, yuk. I've also heard that the clams that live near the black smokers are also inedible for similiar reasons.

I am sure that is true.

The giant clams we know of today have a symbiotic relationship with algae wiring on their soft tissue. They live in shallow water and open their valves during the day so the algae can grow. They obtain nutrients from the algae.

 

Pic taken from Giant clam wiki 

[Rockwood]

2 hours ago, KimTexan said:

Yes, but who would be interested? Who would I contact? Like I said I’ll contact a couple paleontologist I know and let them take it from there, but if anyone knows of someone specific who may have interests in it I’m more than happy to take them to it.

You might try posting it on a public forum hoping stays up long enough to get viewed by some big clam experts. 

[fifbrindacier]

7 hours ago, caldigger said:

A couple of those would make one heck of a clam bake!

 

6 hours ago, RJB said:

Ive seen some really big clams in my time and those look like big clams.  The thing is, what do you do with them? 

 

RB

 

5 hours ago, caldigger said:

Clam chowder for the entire county.

I woud do a big ecclade.

When i lived near Bordeaux i was i  a region covered by sylvester pines forests.

Every summer we made an eclade : clams on a barbecue covered by a big heap of the dried pine leafs we found on the ground.

5 hours ago, GeschWhat said:

Even if it breaks apart, I would try to expose as much as I could just to see how big it is. So cool, Kim! 

 

 

4 hours ago, KimTexan said:

My question is would anyone who studies clam fossils or a museum be interested in it? I have zero interest in the thing other than it confirms my suspicions that they get enormous. My belief was that they got to be over 5 feet from fragments I’d seen in other creeks.

 

I don’t know for sure, but from the looks of what I can see, I know it sounds preposterous, but it looks to be about 8 feet from where I can see what I believe would be the front edge of the clam to the bank, where I think the hinge would be. I believe the hinge may still be under 8-10 feet of the soil in the creek bank. I didn’t have a measuring tape with me. I can’t tell how wide it was or how much of the width remains. It looks like quite a bit may have eroded away or it was broken before being fossilized.

There are a few other quite large clams near it, but nothing the size of it.

 

2 hours ago, KimTexan said:

Yes, but who would be interested? Who would I contact? Like I said I’ll contact a couple paleontologist I know and let them take it from there, but if anyone knows of someone specific who may have interests in it I’m more than happy to take them to it.

That's what i'd do, they'll know better how and better means to hammer it out without breaking it. Also, it would find a better place in a museum for more people will be able to see it and discover how the past life in this area could look.

[KimTexan]

Update:

I did email 2 paleontologist mentioned earlier and Tom Dill replied and said my pics and description got him curious. He asked to go see it a week from today. So we will see what he said. I’m a novice looking at it with novice eyes. I’m sure he will educate me a little about assumption I may have made. Regardless it has to be a very large clam just from the width of the ridges.

[Rockwood]

1 hour ago, KimTexan said:

Update:

I did email 2 paleontologist mentioned earlier and Tom Dill replied and said my pics and description got him curious. He asked to go see it a week from today. So we will see what he said. I’m a novice looking at it with novice eyes. I’m sure he will educate me a little about assumption I may have made. Regardless it has to be a very large clam just from the width of the ridges.

[BobWill]

Good call. Tom Dill gave a mini-talk a while back on Inoceramus clams at a Dallas Paleo Society meeting so that explains his curiosity.

[KimTexan]

Good to know. I must have missed that meeting.

I’m half doubting myself about the calcite being a fault on at least one side of it, but I’m still thinking with the ridge width it has to be pretty big. Whatever the case I’m sure he can help educate me on clams.

[abyssunder]

Large inoceramids might have very thin shells compared to their size, and that might be the reason why they are often poorly preserved (fragmented) in situ, or preserved as molds.

 

 

[KCMOfossil]

On 6/17/2018 at 11:07 AM, KimTexan said:

I wish the preservation were better

Where there's one there may be more.  

[KimTexan]

3 hours ago, abyssunder said:

Large inoceramids might have very thin shells compared to their size, and that might be the reason why they are often poorly preserved (fragmented) in situ, or preserved as molds.

 

 

So how big is that one in the image?

 

Anyone happen to know where the largest Inoceramus was found? I read it was just over 3 meters.