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(Click Photo to Enlarge)
Name:
Chesapecten Jeffersonius (Giant Sea Scallop)
Geologic Age: Pliocene (2 Million Years Old)
Stratigraphic detail: Eastover Formation
Location: Williamsburg, Virginia
Chesapecten Jeffersonius is the state
fossil of the U.S. state of Virginia. It is the fossilized form of an extinct
scallop, which lived in the early Pliocene epoch between four and five million
years ago on Virginia's coastal plain. In 1687, Martin Lister published a
drawing of the fossil and then it became the first fossil to be described from
North America.
In 1824, geologist John Finch gathered a large collection of mollusk fossils,
including Chesapecten jeffersonius, from the vicinity of Yorktown, Virginia, and
gave them to scientists at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (ANSP).
In 1993, the General Assembly adopted the Chesapecten jeffersonius as the state
fossil. This fossil was the first discovered in North America. It was named for
Thomas Jefferson because of his interest in natural history. The fossil also
celebrates the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the world.
Last Modified
01/14/2010
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(Click Photo to Enlarge)
Name: Chesapecten Jeffersonius (Giant Sea Scallop)
Geologic Age: Pliocene (2 Million Years Old)
Stratigraphic detail: Eastover Formation
Location: Williamsburg, Virginia
Virginia Chesapecten 1 $50.00
(Click Photo to Enlarge)
Name: Chesapecten Jeffersonius (Giant Sea Scallop)
Geologic Age: Pliocene (2 Million Years Old)
Stratigraphic detail: Eastover Formation
Location: Williamsburg, Virginia
Virginia Chesapecten 2 $50.00
(Click Photo to Enlarge)
Name: Chesapecten Jeffersonius (Giant Sea Scallop)
Geologic Age: Pliocene (2 Million Years Old)
Stratigraphic detail: Eastover Formation
Location: Williamsburg, Virginia
Virginia Chesapecten 3 $50.00
(Click Photo to Enlarge)
Name: Chesapecten Jeffersonius (Giant Sea Scallop)
Geologic Age: Pliocene (2 Million Years Old)
Stratigraphic detail: Eastover Formation
Location: Williamsburg, Virginia
Virginia Chesapecten 4 $50.00
(Click Photo to Enlarge)
Name: Chesapecten Jeffersonius (Giant Sea Scallop)
Geologic Age: Pliocene (2 Million Years Old)
Stratigraphic detail: Eastover Formation
Location: Williamsburg, Virginia
Virginia Chesapecten 5 $50.00
(Click Photo to Enlarge)
Name: Chesapecten Jeffersonius (Giant Sea Scallop)
Geologic Age: Pliocene (2 Million Years Old)
Stratigraphic detail: Eastover Formation
Location: Williamsburg, Virginia
Virginia Chesapecten 6 $75.00
(Click Photo to Enlarge)
Name: Chesapecten Jeffersonius (Giant Sea Scallop)
Geologic Age: Pliocene (2 Million Years Old)
Stratigraphic detail: Eastover Formation
Location: Williamsburg, Virginia
Virginia Chesapecten 7 $50.00
(Click Photo to Enlarge)
Name: Chesapecten Jeffersonius (Giant Sea Scallop)
Geologic Age: Pliocene (2 Million Years Old)
Stratigraphic detail: Eastover Formation
Location: Williamsburg, Virginia
Virginia Chesapecten 8 $50.00
(Click Photo to Enlarge)
Name: Chesapecten Jeffersonius (Giant Sea Scallop)
Geologic Age: Pliocene (2 Million Years Old)
Stratigraphic detail: Eastover Formation
Location: Williamsburg, Virginia
Virginia Chesapecten 9 $50.00
(Click Photo to Enlarge)
Name: Chesapecten Jeffersonius (Giant Sea Scallop)
Geologic Age: Pliocene (2 Million Years Old)
Stratigraphic detail: Eastover Formation
Location: Williamsburg, Virginia
Virginia Chesapecten 10 $50.00
(Click Photo to Enlarge)
Name: Chesapecten Jeffersonius (Giant Sea Scallop)
Geologic Age: Pliocene (2 Million Years Old)
Stratigraphic detail: Eastover Formation
Location: Williamsburg, Virginia
Virginia Chesapecten 11 $50.00
