Claw? Tooth? Horn?....and the answer is?

[Lee Hixson]

None of the above.

Finally found out yesterday, from Professor Dick Hilton at Sierra College. The specimen that I found in the hills near Crockett last November is the stienkern of a crepidula. Or, for us lay people, an internal mold of a slipper snail.

Seems that, after the snail dissolved, sediment collected inside the shell and fossilized. Then the shell fell off, leaving the internal mold.

Not as captivating as a claw or tooth, but still a nice find. Estimated age of between 5 million and 10 million years old.

(My find on the left; a slipper snail on the right.)

[7702]

Lee,

That's good stuff.

Thanks for sharing.

[Stephen Johnson]

Interesting

[Dhanrion]

Glad it wasn't fossilized Neandrathal ear wax! :)