New Members Ksbartlette Posted June 2, 2015 New Members Posted June 2, 2015 Hey there! I don't know much about fossils, but I want to know what I've got and how old they are, also if they have any monetary value. I live in myrtle beach South Carolina, they have a set up a levy and have been digging from shore line to about the wave break to lay new drainage mains for streat runoff. I was told that they have reached a depth of about 45ft. I snuck up on to the pile of dirt they have removed and was able to do some searching for about an hour before I was caught and told to leave the area. This is what I found, any info would be apriciated
New Members Ksbartlette Posted June 2, 2015 Author New Members Posted June 2, 2015 Also found some fossilized coral that was imbedded in the large cluster tithe left, looks like there may be more
Diceros Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 They're Late Cretaceous oyster valves. In your top photo, the top part shows the right (upper) valve of the oyster Exogyra cancellata, probably from the e. Maastchtian (very late Cretaceous) lower Peedee Fm. The larger valve (with the "curly-cue", the juvenile part of the valve) below it is the left (lower) valve. Exogyra is a useful index fossil of certain Late Cretaceous marine beds (a bit later you get E. costata, and earlier E. ponderosa). They sat on the sea floor with the heavy lower valve partly buried in the bottom mud, and the flat upper valve acting as a lid. They often lived in low-oxygen deep-water conditions - they weren't picky about where they lived. We try to stick to the value of fossils, rather than their price. I will say that where they're found, they're usually common. We also try to get permission to collect on the sites we collect. 3
Plax Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 These all look like Exogyra costata to me. I was initially fooled by the bumpiness instead of the ribbing on the ones from Myrtle Beach but RJ in NJ straightened me out. While the forum doesn't do monetary value one only needs to google or look on ebay to find such things.
New Members Ksbartlette Posted June 2, 2015 Author New Members Posted June 2, 2015 Thanks guys, sorry for the rule violations, I'll be more professional with my digs and questions from now on
Herb Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 the oysters are very common, but nice, "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks
Diceros Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 I had an email from Don about these oysters, where he explained Ralph's view of them. ... he does know his stuff, so I have to concede that this is an atypical form of the late Maastrichtian Exogyra costata, and not an e. Maastr. E. cancellata, as I'd thought.
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