Accokeek / Ft. Washington Park, Maryland
Aquia Formation: Paleocene Epoch
Donated by Dave Thorndill, Ph.d.
Specimen 63-1 / Turritella mortoni
Turritella is a genus of medium-sized sea snails in the family Turritellidae.
They have tightly coiled shells, whose overall shape is basically that of an elongated cone. The name Turritella comes from the Latin word turritus meaning "turreted" or "towered" and the diminutive suffix -ella The genus is known from the Cretaceous to the Recent periods. The shells are quite frequently found as fossils. |
Specimen 63-2 / Turritella mortoni
Specimen 63-5 / Shell Hash (view 1)
Specimen 63-5 / Shell Hash (view 2)
Fort Washington Park
"Most of the park is situated over the Aquia Formation. The Severn Formation and Patapsco Formation are also found in the park. Three paleo surveys have been done at the park, in 2009, 2015 and 2016. The surveys were in ravine areas where fossils are found. Other areas surveyed have been along the Potomac Shoreline. Invertebrate fossils in the museum collection consist of Ostrea oysters, Cucullaea gigantea clam molds, and molds of the marine snail Kapalmerella mortoni. Vertebrate fossils consist of shark teeth from a mako species, other small shark teeth from a sand shark species, tooth plates from the cownose ray Rhinoptera sp., a scute from the sea turtle Catapleura ruhoffi, and an upper leg bone from an unidentified crocodile. The fossils date to about 55 million years ago. All of the invertebrates were affected by the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum extinction event." https://www.nps.gov/articles/park-paleo-spring-2018-antonioni-nace-b.htm
"Most of the park is situated over the Aquia Formation. The Severn Formation and Patapsco Formation are also found in the park. Three paleo surveys have been done at the park, in 2009, 2015 and 2016. The surveys were in ravine areas where fossils are found. Other areas surveyed have been along the Potomac Shoreline. Invertebrate fossils in the museum collection consist of Ostrea oysters, Cucullaea gigantea clam molds, and molds of the marine snail Kapalmerella mortoni. Vertebrate fossils consist of shark teeth from a mako species, other small shark teeth from a sand shark species, tooth plates from the cownose ray Rhinoptera sp., a scute from the sea turtle Catapleura ruhoffi, and an upper leg bone from an unidentified crocodile. The fossils date to about 55 million years ago. All of the invertebrates were affected by the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum extinction event." https://www.nps.gov/articles/park-paleo-spring-2018-antonioni-nace-b.htm