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This is an incomplete shell of a kind of murex snail. The length is 2.8 cm. Ecphora is a famous fossil. It was one of the first fossils from America to be illustrated in a scientific work. This specimen is identified as Ecphora tricostata because it has 3 strong ribs and one weak, barely visible, rib below the others. Another species, Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae Wilson (formerly known as Ecphora quadicostata), is Maryland's official state fossil shell. (The second garnerae designates the subspecies.) The Maryland Geological Survey has an interesting Fact Sheet about Ecphora. Shells of Ecphora commonly look brown, unlike other shells in the same formation, which are bleached white. The logo of the Paleontological Research Institution in Ithaca, New York has a picture of an Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae. (See below)
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