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

Location: Lee Creek, North Carolina

Weight: 0.7 Ounces 

Dimensions: 1.8 Inches Long, 1.7 Inches Wide, 1.3 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 species of predatory sea snail from the family Muricidae, recognized as the state fossil of Maryland since 1994.

These gastropods were carnivorous, preying on bivalves and other mollusks by drilling holes in their shells using a specialized feeding organ called a radula.

Time Period and Fossil Record: E. gardnerae lived during the Miocene epoch (about 23–5.3 million years ago). Fossils of this species are primarily found in Miocene marine deposits along the East Coast of the United States, with Maryland being a key location.

Taxonomy: Maryland specimens were once misidentified as Ecphora quadricostata, which is now known only from Pliocene strata in Virginia and Florida. In 1987, Druid Wilson correctly classified them as Ecphora gardnerae, and Ward and Gilinsky later recognized several subspecies in 1988.