Meg Pilot

[Frank Menser]

Pilot of course is an old slang term for something that indicates something else is near (like rattlesnake pilot).

This shell I am told (and found to be the case) is often found in the same strata as Megs) But what is it?

Its larger than a quarter, flat and very fragile-but I think attractive in its own right.

[Auspex]

It's a pectin (scallop); I don't know the species.

[Guest Smilodon]

Pilot of course is an old slang term for something that indicates something else is near (like rattlesnake pilot).

This shell I am told (and found to be the case) is often found in the same strata as Megs) But what is it?

Its larger than a quarter, flat and very fragile-but I think attractive in its own right.

Frank,

Classic indicator that megs may be "thar," at least in the Lee Creek Mine, is chunks of whale bone and a type of pectin called Placopectin. Placopectin has extremely narrow ribs.

[Frank Menser]

I have collected that Pectin, but that's not it. If you look at the edges of the one I posted, it is very uneven. All of these I found have the same distinct waffling. Also the ribbing is wider.

For some fool reason this will not allow me to post pics so I apoligise, you'll have to scroll back to see it.

[Guest Smilodon]

I have collected that Pectin, but that's not it. If you look at the edges of the one I posted, it is very uneven. All of these I found have the same distinct waffling. Also the ribbing is wider.

For some fool reason this will not allow me to post pics so I apoligise, you'll have to scroll back to see it.

The wider ribbed guys are Chesapectin and all over the place but not an indicator, at least as told to me by some experienced collectors at Lee Creek over the years. But the key is Placopectin AND chunks of whale bone together - not either one alone. Things may have changed over the years, but I'd tend to doubt that. (as we pm'd, I lost interest in shark teeth years ago)

Any experienced Lee Creekers here? What say you?

[Auspex]

Chesapectin jeffersonius (which was, interestingly, the first fossil described from the new world) is indeed widely distributed in the mid-atlantic Pliocene deposits. I'm not sure that Frank's scallop is that species, though, since his has much flatter ribs than I am used to seeing.

[Frank Menser]

I am going to collect more in the next couple days. These are very flat (no visable curve)and the ribs are flat as well. Hopefully, I will be able to post more pics soon.

[Shellseeker]

We have flat scallops on Sanibel. Common name is Zigzag. The other edge is much thinner and weaker than the rest of the shell, especially in the gaps of rays. Note the rays emanating from the center and the cross bands. Maybe an ancestor of the Zigzag.