POSSIBLE NEW OCCURRENCE OF PHOLAS SP. BIVALVE TO THE FAUNAL BIOTA OF THE COLERAINE FORMATION, LATE CRETACEOUS; HILL ANNEX MINE STATE PARK, CALUMET, MINNESOTA

The Hill Annex Paleontology Project is a citizen science effort researching the Cretaceous soils of Minnesota, and is administered by the Minnesota Discovery Center. Primary deposits along the Mesabi Iron Range of northern Minnesota labeled as the Coleraine Formation are represented by conglomerates, shales and sandstones that were deposited Cenomanian to Turonian in age. These layers were deposited during the transgressions and regressions of the Western Interior Sea with units at Hill Annex Mine State Park representing marine to estuarine systems. Field collection of new specimens has yielded a possible first occurrence of a previously undescribed Pholas sp.of bivalve mollusc for this formation. Evidence will be shown in association with behavioral morphological features preserved in fossil wood substrate.