Dear Paul....I'd love to examine the photo...but, alas, I get a display
saying "cannot find server"....I'll keep trying, but perhaps something's
amiss on your end....

The Philippines is FULL of sedimentary rock of many ages (that's one reason
why the land snail diversity is sooooo high) ....  although there are
numerous references on the fossil marine fauna, I know of no fossil land
snail literature whatsoever..... although I've collected brecchia-like
deposits (cemented shells in hard matrix in crevasses in limestone cliffs,
etc.) full of land snails in several places over there.  This may be what
your fellow has, but the beach locality is a little bothersome....

Kurt


At 12:00 AM 8/30/01 -0400, you wrote:
>Hello Conch-L, especially you Fossilers . . .
>
>Someone asked if he could send me a picture of a shell he found on the
>beach in the Philippines.  The shell was "in a bigger rock that had
>shells in it".  So, I assume it is a fossil.  It doesn't look like any
>living Philippine marine shell that I know of, though it does look
>rather like a Helicostyla land snail.  The specimen is solid (not
>hollow) and "feels like a mineral".  He has another one that is
>identical, but has a hollow interior, and also feels "like mineral".  I
>am curious about this because you don't hear much about Philippine
>fossils.  Is there much sedimentary rock in the Philippines?  If anyone
>has any ideas about this, please reply.  The pictures are not great, but
>can be viewed at:
>
>http://members.home.net/paulcyp/FOSSIL.JPG
>
>Thanks.
>
>Paul Monfils
>
Mr. Kurt Auffenberg
Senior Biological Scientist
Exhibits & Public Programs
University of Florida
Hull Road & SW 34th Street
Powell Hall, P.O. Box 112710
Gainesville, Florida 32611-2710

Telephone: 352-846-2000, ext. 253
Fax:  352-846-0253