Interesting. The same man was telling me he found dinosaur footprints from a 'saur about the size of a horse (like the really mean critters in 'Jurassic Park') nearby. Perhaps Gryphaea could live in brackish marsh waters? Can you tell me more? Our collection of fossils is scanty, and I have not collected nor studied any fossil shells. You could reply to my email address <[log in to unmask]>. Thanks.

I'm sort of disappointed this isn't a snail. The outside of what we thought was an operculum is lammelate. It looks like the horny operculum of a murex that has dried with the layers separating a little. The original photos show this nicely, but the compressed  version doesn't show it well.

---- Allen Aigen <[log in to unmask]> wrote: 

=============
Gryphaea is marine.  
Allen 

      From: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
 To: [log in to unmask] 
 Sent: Friday, January 8, 2016 10:52 AM
 Subject: Re: [CONCH-L] Fossil snail with operculum-link to photos
   
Perhaps they are related. Was G. arcuata a terrestrial, fresh water, or marine critter?

---- John Wolff <[log in to unmask]> wrote: 

=============
They look like Gryphaea arcuata (Lamarck, 1801) I have from England's 
Lower Sinemurian, Jurassic (200-150Ma).  I believe they are called 
"Devils' toenails"

John

At 08:33 PM 1/07/16, you wrote:
>ASU has just received this lovely fossil snail from Fred Skillman, 
>an amateur entomologist who found it in a wash on private land near 
>Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah. It is such a treasure for 
>me because it actually has what appears to be fossilized animal and 
>an operculum which became separated when he was cleaning off 
>caked-on dirt. I just had to share with all of you. We think it may 
>date back to the Jurassic.
>
>To see 5 photos just copy and paste the following link onto your 
>search engine.
>
>https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B-Vz8pRKgeC8M1NLa1k4U2VZNDg=============
>
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