MINER44 Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 Hi, new to the forum so please bear with me ! My Dad was a coal miner and he had several fossils which I “inherited” when he passed away 17 years ago. Among them is what seems to me to be a small, heavy petrified mussel (photo attached). It’s about an inch and a half across, very heavy and looks to be completely intact. I’m just after an explanation of how it cane to be and a rough idea of age ? It was found in amongst a seam of coal around 2000 feet below an estuary. Any info would be gratefully received ! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 You will have to give some information as to where this coal mine is for anyone to figure a date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MINER44 Posted October 19, 2019 Author Share Posted October 19, 2019 Sorry ! North Wales, UK beneath the river Dee estuary which basically separates North Wales from Merseyside. So offshore just off a town called Prestatyn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted October 19, 2019 Share Posted October 19, 2019 It's an Upper Carboniferous Coal Measures bivalve, probably non-marine - there are quite a few and I'm bad at telling them apart but likely to be Anthraconaia or Carbonicola. These are sometimes very common in beds between coal seams. (Approximate age 310-320 million years) 4 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MINER44 Posted October 19, 2019 Author Share Posted October 19, 2019 Thank you so much ! Think I’ll keep hold of it ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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