Mystery Fossil

Data: Hello, I found your site while trying to find information or images of 'Devils Claws'. My son found the 'Claw' in a garden border at his local nursery school, he was told by his teacher that it was known as a 'Devils Claw' and was a fossilized sea shell from long long ago. We, my son and I, were wondering if you could tell us anything about this wonderful find. We've tried our best to take some good images to help with any identification.

Yours, with great hopes,Hello, I found your site while trying to find information or images of 'Devils Claws'. My son found the 'Claw' in a garden border at his local nursery school, he was told by his teacher that it was known as a 'Devils Claw' and was a fossilized sea shell from long long ago. We, my son and I, were wondering if you could tell us anything about this wonderful find. We've tried our best to take some good images to help with any identification.

Yours, with great hopes,

Darren and Thomas

PS: Oct. 27th:
"thank you for your replies, sorry to have not responded sooner, I am very slow at doing anything. My son has not seen the page you have set up for us but I will be showing him it when he returns from school today. He will be delighted and thanks again for your work in doing this. I think the misnaming of the fossil is down to me, as when we saw the reference to a 'Devils Toenail' and the accompanying images we searched for on the internet, we saw how similar they were to our fossil. Personally I think 'Devils Claw' sounds cooler although it is very misleading. We live in a little town called Stony Stratford on the North West edge and part of Milton Keynes, a larger town, in the county of Buckinghamshire in England. The ground where Thomas found our 'Toenail' had gravel on or in it which might have been sourced locally in Buckinghamshire or elsewhere. I cannot say for certain where it originated but there are Gravel pits and Quarries local to us at present. I will try and contact his Nursery teacher to find out if the 'Toenail' originated naturally in the Nursery grounds. Thomas will be excited to hear that it is possibly 100's of millions of years old, but may be disappointed to hear that it is not a dinosaur fossil. Thank you again for your help, we shall try and send a good image of the apex/hinge area soon. Should this be sent to you or is there a way for ourselves to add the image to the page you set up for us?"

Send Ideas to: Darren and Thomas


Identified: Fossil oyster probably from the family Gryphaea

 

Discussions:

  • It is a fossil oyster. Most of the oysters with this general morphology are gryphaeid oysters such as Gryphaea itself, and are Jurassic or Cretaceous in age. However, there are occasional other oysters of a similar appearance. Is it possible to tell where the rocks in the garden border came from? Are they local, and if so, where is local?
    The "devil's claw" name is not specifically related to ideas about the Flood or fossils being planted by the Devil, but rather given to a mysterious large claw-like thing, not corresponding to any familiar living animal.--Dr. David C

  • Looks like Gryphaea (Devil's toenail); a separate family from true oysters. ...Tim W.

  • The "devils claw" is a fossil oyster. The name, however, reflects the conflict between science and religion. Anything that comes out of the ground that is not near an ocean but looks like a shell can be considered as having been left from the Noachian Flood. If not, it was placed in the ground (by the Devil?) to fool people into believing that there are extinct fossils. ...Allen A.

  • It looks to me like a fossil oyster. Something very close to Pycnodonta....Henk M

  • Or Exogyra. Would be nice to see a close-up of the apex/hinge area. ...csturmjr

PS Comments

  • There's a fair amount of Jurassic rock in Buckinghamshire, so there's a good chance it is genuine Gryphaea.... Dr. David C.


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