Virginia state fossil Virginia state fossil By Paulina Brajer Virginia's state fossil is a Chesapectan jeffersonius , which is a scallop. It is a bivalve meaning it has two valves or shells. The valves have few but heavy ridges or ribs. These make the shells stronger, which in turn help to protect scallops from enemies. The eyes can be seen on the edge of the shells when they are open.
Scallops are able to move and swim through water by clapping their shells together.
Bivalves provide evidence of animal life in the Paleozoic era, way before the dinosaurs evolved, and they were fossilized before the Appalachian mountains formed. Our own Chesapectan jeffersonius lived during the Cenozoic Era in the area stretching from New Jersey to Florida. Many scallops which names began with Chesapectan occupied this particular region. The Virginia state fossil lived in the Chesapeake Bay region of Virginia and Maryland, which originated about five million years ago. They lived in shallow waters along the continental shell and went extinct about four million years ago here in Virginia.