Vietnam’s largest sea snail fossil discovered

The Vietnam Museum of Nature has assessed and verified the fossil of a big sea snail dating back 247.2 to 242 million years. It was discovered in the central province of Nghe An.

According to the museum, seven years ago Mr. Truong Van Dai, 27, a worker of the Hoang Mai quarry, residing in Quynh Loc Commune, Hoang Mai Town, Nghe An Province, found a piece of stone which looked like a sea snail.

Thinking that it was just a normal rock, Dai did not pay attention to the item until his friends urged him to investigate.

Dai brought the rock to the Vietnam Museum of Nature for scientists’ consideration.

The Museum’s final assessment confirmed that it was the largest sea snail fossil found in Vietnam.

The fossil dated back 247.2 to 242 million years. The fossil, 145 mm tall; 130 mm wide, and 7 mm thick, belongs to the Naticopsis genus.

Dr. Nguyen Huu Hung from the Vietnam Nature Museum said it was the largest snail fossil in Vietnam.

So far, the fossils of 85 species of sea snails of the genus Naticopsis, date back 449.5 million years (Ordovician) to 66.043 million years (late Cretaceous) in Australia, South America, Asia, Europe and North America, according to the Vietnam Museum of Nature.