A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Ecphora tricostata
Fossil marine gastropod mollusk shell (Ecphora tricostata), approximately three inches (3") in length, collected at an undisclosed location along the Potomac River, Westmoreland County, Virginia USA. The word "costa" means "rib," derived from the Latin word "costae." Notice that the shell of Ecphora tricostata has three costae (ribs). Photo 1 of 4 was annotated to highlight the three costae; Photo 3 of 4 is the original photograph, cropped to highlight the specimen. Photo 2 of 4 shows the relative size of the specimen (a quarter is ~1" in diameter). Compare and contrast Ecphora tricostata with Ecphora quadricostata: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/748...
A relatively "shallow" sea that existed along the east coast of the United States an estimated 10- to 15 million years ago, during the Miocene Epoch. Related Resource: Miocene Marine Life http://paleobiology.si.edu/geotime/main/...
© Copyright 2011 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved. www.wsanford.com
Spotted on Nov 20, 2011
Submitted on Nov 21, 2011
1 Comment
I just added another photo to this post (Photo 3 of 4). Are you a keen observer with eagle eyes? Did you notice I used "Virginia" quarters to show the relative size of a fossil from Virginia? That's a subtle detail you may have overlooked.