New Members BogIron Posted January 22, 2013 New Members Share Posted January 22, 2013 Found in CA on the beach, chipped out of a barely formed (still very soft) sandstone boulder that had recently fallen off the bluffs. Just wondering, is it rare to find one with both shells intact, and still joined? Unfortunately (maybe?) I did separate the shells and cleaned the sand out from between them. The hinge is still visible and intact, as is the cartilage that attaches the muscle to each shell half. The mother of pearl is shimmery and dark grey to black. The shell is about 4 inches across. Curious about any info you can provide. Thanks, Alex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cris Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 You probably won't be able to get much more information on it unless you can provide photos. Although I don't have experience with this kind of thing, I doubt it's a rare find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THobern Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 I'm going to say that it's pretty common, but I can't speak to the rareness within the formation itself. However, as closed shells are taken to indicate that the area was rapidly buried, I'd guess there are more out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 (edited) I think that will be strictly a locality issue. In my experience both bivalves and brachiopods can be commonly found articulated, or not, but it depends on the conditions of burial. One fossil bed will only have loose shells and in the next one down the road they will be all intact. Vagaries of ocean-bottom currents and degrees of bioturbation. But for some species, articulated ones are rare and always sought after. Even if it turns out not to be rare for your area it is still a very good specimen, meeting the criteria of being complete and well preserved. Something that you can probably get a serious identification of. A keeper. Edited January 22, 2013 by erose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members BogIron Posted January 22, 2013 Author New Members Share Posted January 22, 2013 Ya I was very excited to find it, rare or not. I was just reading around the net last night and came across a page talking about a slightly larger specimen that was considered so rare and valuable articulated that it wasn't going to be opened to check for a pearl. I kind of freaked out wondering if I'd made a huge mistake. I was thinking exactly what you said though, Hobern and erose, that if one was buried quickly, surely more would have been too, and it can't be that uncommon of an occurrence for a few dozen (if not a few thousand) bivalves along a coast to be buried. Well thanks for the help, I love this place already.... I'll try to put up a pic later today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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