Happy National Fossil Day!
Here’s a recent fossil sent in by Rockwatcher, Ronnie for identification which is likely to be a part of a bivalve shell, Trigonia costata, named by chemist and palaeontologist James Parkinson whose name lives on in Parkinson’s disease.
It is a species that appeared first in the Toarcian Stage (end of the Early Jurassic), but persisted into the Middle Jurassic – which is probably the age of this example, assuming it is from the Inferior Oolite Formation, given where it was found, meaning it was living some 170 million years ago. A representative of the Trigoniidea family is still around today, living in the Sea of Japan.
Do you have a fossil you want to find out more about?
