Rough, Turritella agate, elimia tenera

Description

The rough Turritella agate is from Wyoming, although the proper name of the fossilized snail was thought to be Goniobasis, (pronounced gone-e-o-basis). Further study from paleontologists discovered it is actually elimia tenera.  Turritella are common snails of a marine nature, but southwest WY at the time was fresh water.  The agatized fossil rough was misnamed many years ago, but the name turritella is still commonly used. The petrified agate or fossilized snails of turritella agate are colored amber, golds or bluish in a gray black to dark brown matrix with the size of the fossil spiral snails up to 1 1/2″ long. As you”ll note in the image shown of turritella agate, the small round cross sections of the snails is not nearly as dramatic as slicing across the length of the snail. So slab your rough across the flat lay of these ancient gastropods preserved by silica replacement. Size of the rough are from 1-15 pounds each. There may be some waste in this Eocene era (38-58 million years old) agate with areas not highly agatized. Turritella agate will make some great, interesting cabochons or try tumbling broken slabs, or preforms for unique tumbled stones. We found some rough that fluoresced with green and orange. Enjoy!