the fossils
brachiopod
not a clam · its two shells do not match
The tell
A brachiopod is symmetrical down the middle of EACH shell, and the two shells are different sizes. A clam is the other way round: each shell is lopsided, and the pair mirror each other.
Once you see that rule you cannot unsee it, and it settles almost every argument in the comments.
What it gets mistaken for
- gastropod
- clam
- cockle
The facts
- also callednot a clam · its two shells do not match
- age~385 million yrs
- where it turns upAlpena to Traverse · statewide in gravel
- the field marktwo lids of unequal size · symmetry down the middle
10% of every order goes to northern Michigan animal shelters.