Chalcedony replacing a gastropod, from Morocco

[Ed Clopton]

I'm a mineral collector rather than a fossil collector, but this gastropod replaced by chalcedony has one foot in each camp.  It was labeled (by a mineral dealer) "Turritela fossil snail" with a locality given only as Morocco.  It'd like to come a little closer taxonomically if I can.  Any ideas?  Thanks in advance.

 

Edit:  Forgot to include its dimensions:  24 mm tall x 15 mm diameter

 

[Fossildude19]

It's an internal mold, so it's a bit more difficult to identify.

I see some online listed as Cerithium sp.

Looks like these are Eocene in age.

LINK

[Thomas.Dodson]

2 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

It's an internal mold, so it's a bit more difficult to identify.

I see some online listed as Cerithium sp.

Looks like these are Eocene in age.

LINK

The flat shoulders with the traces of the ornamental nodes are pretty characteristic of Cerithium internal molds I've seen (in the U.S.).

[Ed Clopton]

Thanks!  I'll say "internal mold, probably Cerithiuim sp." in my documentation.  I know it's not a show-stopper, but if nothing else it's an interesting specimen of chalcedony.

 

Thanks again.

[MikeR]

These Chalcedony mollusks have been on the market for almost 10 years and I have yet to see a serious monograph discussing either the geology of the site or descriptions of the species within.  The gastropod fauna as a whole suggests Eocene and is dominated by Potamididae and Cerithiidae, but I would say that the specimen you show belongs in Columbellidae.  Also it is an external cast as opposed to an internal mold. 

 

 Mike

Edited March 8 by MikeR

[Ed Clopton]

A tardy thank-you for this response.  I will include Columbellidae sp. as a possibility in my labeling.

[siteseer]

On 3/8/2024 at 5:38 AM, MikeR said:

These Chalcedony mollusks have been on the market for almost 10 years and I have yet to see a serious monograph discussing either the geology of the site or descriptions of the species within.  The gastropod fauna as a whole suggests Eocene and is dominated by Potamididae and Cerithiidae, but I would say that the specimen you show belongs in Columbellidae.  Also it is an external cast as opposed to an internal mold. 

 

 Mike

 

The first time I saw those gastropods was at a Tucson show in 2012.  They were in a little box labeled as "Undetermined sp.  Agatised gastropod.  300km inland from Dhakla, W. Sahara, Morocco"  You could pick one you wanted and it was a certain price or you could get several just pouring them out at a better price.  I just bought one good one.  Mine looks more like the one in the thread linked below.  You can see my comment then.  I have since found my notes on when I bought mine and it was in 2012.

 

 

[Mark Kmiecik]

On 3/3/2024 at 7:36 PM, Ed Clopton said:

but this gastropod replaced by chalcedony has one foot in each camp

 

That's gotta hurt! Gastropods have one foot.