Free Georgia Fossils
For
Georgia's Science Teachers
For
Georgia's Science Teachers
Cretaceous Oyster
Exogyra ponderosa
*Sorry*
Supplies
are currently exhausted.
Supplies
are currently exhausted.
The idea is simple;
Free, properly identified fossils to GA's Science Teachers.
Free, properly identified fossils to GA's Science Teachers.
Exogyra ponderosa
Hank Josey & I have collected Exogyra ponderosa oyster fossils from a creek bed in Stewart County, Georgia; about 17 miles from Columbus.
Hank Josey & I have collected Exogyra ponderosa oyster fossils from a creek bed in Stewart County, Georgia; about 17 miles from Columbus.
Long extinct, 78 million year old oyster fossils which had lived in a tropical marine environment, salt water, 153 miles from the nearest modern coastline.
They are specifically for classroom use. They will be available free to Georgia Science Teachers while supplies last.
They are specifically for classroom use. They will be available free to Georgia Science Teachers while supplies last.
This isn't just about paleontology; but Earth Science. As tools in the classroom they can be used to discuss;
- Climate change
- Sea level change
- Geologic time
- Evolution
- The processes of deposition & sedimentation
- How the health of a past environment can be read in the fossil record
Here is the explanation sheet which accompanies every shipment.
Exogyra ponderosa
An extinct marine bivalve mollusk
Of the family, gryphaeidae.
It possesses a horn shaped upper shell
and a flat or concave lower shell.
Stewart County, Georgia
Blufftown Formation
A fine, sandy, compacted mica-rich sediment.
Often as hard as concrete.
The mica gives the sandy matrix its color.
Late Cretaceous Period oyster
Roughly 78 million years old.
These lived while dinosaurs roamed Georgia.
Usually found in dense beds with ample individuals, often articulated. Well documented in the geological literature since at least 1911.
Exogyra ponderosa lived while while the Earth was much warmer and sea levels were high. Beaches stood on or north of the modern Fall Line. The Chattahoochee River drained into the tropical sea bringing rich nutrients.
Large turtles, huge crocodiles, many varieties of sawfish, sharks and even goblin sharks knew these waters. There were giant coelacanths, mosasaurs and plesiosaurs. Pterosaurs flew overhead; duckbilled dinosaurs (hadrosaurs) and Appalachiosaurus, a tyrannosaurid, roamed the coastlines while these oysters lived quietly in the tropical waters just off the beach.
Specimens
Sections which may also be of interest on GeorgiasFossils.com
Exogyra ponderosa
An extinct marine bivalve mollusk
Of the family, gryphaeidae.
It possesses a horn shaped upper shell
and a flat or concave lower shell.
Stewart County, Georgia
Blufftown Formation
A fine, sandy, compacted mica-rich sediment.
Often as hard as concrete.
The mica gives the sandy matrix its color.
Late Cretaceous Period oyster
Roughly 78 million years old.
These lived while dinosaurs roamed Georgia.
Usually found in dense beds with ample individuals, often articulated. Well documented in the geological literature since at least 1911.
Exogyra ponderosa lived while while the Earth was much warmer and sea levels were high. Beaches stood on or north of the modern Fall Line. The Chattahoochee River drained into the tropical sea bringing rich nutrients.
Large turtles, huge crocodiles, many varieties of sawfish, sharks and even goblin sharks knew these waters. There were giant coelacanths, mosasaurs and plesiosaurs. Pterosaurs flew overhead; duckbilled dinosaurs (hadrosaurs) and Appalachiosaurus, a tyrannosaurid, roamed the coastlines while these oysters lived quietly in the tropical waters just off the beach.
Specimens
- Complete, articulated individuals
- Separate upper shells shaped like a horn
- Separate lower shells flat to concave
- Specimens bored by sponges
- Heavily water worn/smoothed/polished shells long in a modern creek bed.
Sections which may also be of interest on GeorgiasFossils.com
- SW GA RESA 2016 Presentation
- Public Fossil Locations (Houston County)
- 6: Cretaceous Georgia
- 8: The Georgia Turtle
- 10: A Whale For Georgia
- 13E: Oaky Woods Report
Email Thomas Thurman at GeorgiasFossils@aol.com