>Mr. Grebneff,
>
>Would you explain the term "subfossil?"  My father had a strange
>Cypraea talpa that he found on Manus Is. in the '40s.  It was white,
>except for an orange band around the margin.  Someone told him that
>it was a "prefossil."  Could he have meant "subfossil?"
>
>Thank you.
>
>Kay

Hi Kay

There is really no strict definition but...

A subfossil is a shell which has been lying around in a natural
environment for a long time; for instance, the Pleistocene shells
lying on the shelf off SE New Zealand (and other parts of the world,
relict from times of lower sealevels). We also have a lot of raised
beaches with shells in the gravels, several meters above sealevel.
Moas in cave deposits. Placostylus buried in sanddunes where there is
no sign of suitable habitat today.

Ages will range from zero to hundreds of thousands of years.

Subfossils will generally be species still living (or very recently
extinct). Such shells may or may not retain their color pattern in
full. Those which have been buried in anoxic (sulfide-rich muds etc,
where there's no free oxygen) are often stained black.

I would think that your father's shell was subfossil, or even just a
beach specimen. I known noddings about Manus' geology, and whether
fossils or subfossils occur there.

Here, in Dunedin's harbor, we have crabs becoming encased in
concretions within their burrows. These may be only a few hundreds of
years old (if that)... yet we would call these fossils. Realistically
there's no clear cutoff point between fossil & subfossil...
--
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin, New Zealand
64 (3) 473-8863
<[log in to unmask]>
Fossil preparator
Seashell, Macintosh & VW/Toyota van nut
I want your sinistral gastropods!
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