There seems to be a lot of misinformation about fossils being spread in
this recent thread.  As David Campell stated earlier, any trace of a
living organism that is more than 10,000 years old is considered a
fossil.  This would include molds, casts, tracks and footprints and, of
course, shells.   More recent shells would be considered subfossil.   I
guess that there is a point when a shell is just considered beach
collected.  So, a question-

When does a shell change in status from beached to subfossil? Does it
have to be embedded in sediment to be subfossil?  Is that change in
status similar to the shift from "old junk" to "antique"?
--
Phil Liff-Grieff
La Crescenta, CA
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