Shell

[_pearlie_e]

I found this fossilized shell during early summer while wading in Little Cottonwood Creek, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah. The river was starting to slow after all the spring runoff.  What type of shell is it? What period do you think it’s from? Do you have any recommendations for me to start learning how to figure out these things on my own?

[ynot]

This one is a gastropod (snail).

It takes time to learn all of the different things that maybe fossils. Look at the galleries on TFF to get an idea of what some can look like. 

You can also look at museum displays and (if any are in Your area) good rock shops.

There are also rock clubs that You can join where a lot of people are willing to share knowledge.

[andreas]

Most probably a gastropod(snail) like ynot say, though it look somewhat similar to the upper Triassic heteromorph ammonoid Cochloceras.

 

What you can do easy from home.

I recommend you to do some research in net. Start with simple public works about geology and stratigraphy of your region. Then narrow it down to the therein mentioned names of geologic Formations. Google it with Formation name, fossils and location. Ther will appear a bunch of works for you to read and learn about.

 

This is the way I normally do to learn about new areas.

 

[Rockwood]

I'm not at all certain, but it seems likely that this could be a fresh water snail from Eocene lake Uinta.

[Max-fossils]

It's definitely a gastropod (snail). 

 

What species, I won't be able to say. But it looks old, and from what I know the older shells get the more tricky they can get to narrow down to species. Mainly because many are still undescribed (= don't even have a species name yet). 

 

A quick Google search brings me to this website , which says this:

Quote

A massive limestone ridge is peppered with oceanic fossils, only 5.5 miles above the fee station near the mouth of Mill Creek Canyon. The fossils include shells and bits of coral from an ocean that washed Utah during the Triassic period, 248 million to 206 million years ago. At that time, on land, the earliest dinosaurs appeared.

 

 

Now I'm not sure if that is the same creek/area as where you found your fossil, but if it is then your shell is most likely also Triassic. 

 

There are also many mentions online of early Paleozoic (and older) sediments from the area, but seeing that gastropods only first appeared 490 million years ago (plus this one seems readily evolved already, so it must be considerably younger still), your shell shouldn't be that old. I guess Triassic is the best guess for the age. 

 

Hope this helps a bit  

 

[_pearlie_e]

Thank you so much! That definitely helps! 

[minnbuckeye]

Interesting website, Max.