Sep 11, 2024
#2497 - Pholadidea sp. - Piddock
AKA Angelwings.
As the sign under the fossil says, not every shell in the cliffs along the fossil coast are actually fossils, although some have certainly been there a good while, because they dug their way into the soft rock before the entire area got pushed back up above sealevel.
Pholadidea and the other genera in the family twist their shells back and forth to excavate tubular burrows in clay, peat or soft rock. Despite the hard work involved, the shells are actually quite fragile, and difficult to collect intact. Pholas dactylus, the common piddock, can not only manage the same trick in harder rock, but is also bioluminescent.
Whanganui Regional Museum, New Zealand