Photograph courtesy of the Governor's Press Office, State of Maryland In 1984 the shell of the Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae, an extinct snail, was named the State fossil shell. The Ecphora inhabited the Chesapeake Bay 5 to 12 million years ago.
An Ecphora shell found in St. Mary's County about 1685, was one of the first North American fossils illustrated in European scientific works.
- Find out more about Maryland's State Fossil Shell
- Look for fossils at Calvert Cliffs State Park
- Fossils of Calvert Cliffs