1.4" Ecphora Gardnerae Gastropod Fossil Shell Lee Creek Miocene Epoch North Carolina

Location: Lee Creek, North Carolina

Weight: 0.3 Ounces 

Dimensions: 1.4 Inches Long, 1.3 Inches Wide, 1.2 Inches Thick

The item pictured is the one you will receive. 

Miocene Epoch, 5.3 million to 23.3 million years old.

Ecphora gardnerae is an extinct predatory sea snail (gastropod) belonging to the family Muricidae. It was designated the official state fossil of Maryland in 1994.

These snails were carnivorous predators, using their radula to bore holes into the shells of other mollusks, typically bivalves, to feed on their soft tissues.

Geological Range: Ecphora gardnerae lived during the Miocene epoch (approximately 23 to 5.3 million years ago). Fossils are primarily found in Miocene marine strata along the East Coast of the United States.

Taxonomic History: The classification of Ecphora has been complex. Maryland specimens were initially identified as Ecphora quadricostata, a Pliocene species now restricted to regions from Virginia to Florida. In 1987, Druid Wilson reclassified the Maryland fossils as Ecphora gardnerae, with further subdivision into subspecies by Ward and Gilinsky in 1988.