Asturian-American Migration Forum

Hola:

¿Álguien me podría decir qué tipo de fósil es éste que ha sido hallado en un muro de piedra de una casería de Bustio, cerca de Lluanco? Gracias.

Do any of you know what is type of fossil this is? It came from the wall of stone of a country house in Bustio, near Lluanco.

It's clearly a gastropod of some sort, with a shell that grows into a turban shape. Since it was found in stone in the wall of a house, we can ony guess what local rock layer it came from. If it is from a Middle Ordovician through Lower Devonian level, it may represent a species of the genus Trochonema. If it is Trochonema, there are no living descendants of the organism (according to the one book on fossils that I own, which is simply a field guide for interested persons). There are, however, several other groups of organisms (again, from North America) that look quite similar to me (again, I'm looking at only one book).

And Asturias and Connecticut both have dinosaur footprints, so we should look at plate tectonics in relation to the time period in question - which could be and probably is very different from that of the dinosaurs - to see what physical continuity may have existed between New England and Asturias. Marine gastropods and dinosaurs didn't live in the same place at the same time.

The fossil appears somewhat degraded and it may be hard for even an expert to identify it based on the photos alone. I would suggest trying to identify the type of rock in which it was embedded, the sources of that rock, and then contacting a fossil expert at the closest university.

However, I know almost nothing about fossils from sources other than North America, and very little about even North American fossils. Although I teach evolution, I concentrate on evolutionary mechanisms, which has little to do with fossils. When I was in Asturias, I photographed some fossils in rocks near La Peñona (close to my grandparents birthplaces). They fascinate me, but I still have no idea what they are. It I can find the photo, I'll post it on the website.

Thank you very much, Bob:

Really, is a gastropod. The only certain thing. It is impossible to know of where proceed. The one and only possible hypothesis is than originate from of a little stone pit that existed near to the farm. But the stone pit was covered it does several decades. Now I realize that the owners of the farm also preserve an ancient mortar that was useful for separating the grain, similar stone to the fossil.

Of child, I collected fossils ( unfortunately, my mother threw them), and never saw nothing equal at this zone (Luanco and Antromero). I send two news photos with a best reference.
(excuse my english)

Our ancestors were unlikely to have collected stone from any great distance away to use for housing construction, millstones, etc. It might be good to look into the geology of the local area, and to use that as a basis for exploring fossil remains.

I think your best bet is to take the actual fossil to a local (i.e., Spanish) expert at a university and ask for his or her opinion.

Actually, your English is quite good, but feel free to write to me in either English or Spanish. I almost always write in English for the simple reason that it is much faster for me and my time is limited.

Bob