Turritella agate
This is a Turritella agate pendant. It is attached to a 18" brown leather cord and fitted with a sterling silver magnetic clasp.
Known for its snail fossils entombed within the agate, the stone is brown,
translucent to semi-transparent, and found in the Green River formation
in Wyoming. It is the most popular stone from that formation. The white
snail fossils sharply contrast the dark brown background. This is where
the person who discovered the stone made the mistake in the naming of
the stone. The discoverer thought the fossils were from the Turritella genus,
when in fact they are from the freshwater snail Elimia tenera, which is a
member of the Pleuroceridae family.
Misnamed Agate
Unfortunately, by the time the error was discovered, the name Turritella
had already been printed in magazines, journals and stuck in geologist’s
minds. Today, there are only a few that know and refer to the stone
by its appropriate name.