Official State Fossil of Virginia
Virginia designated Chesapecten jeffersonius as the official state fossil in 1993. All State Fossils
Chesapecten jeffersonius lived in the shallow seas along the Mid-Atlantic during the Miocene to Pliocene epochs (approximately 8 to 3 million years ago). The fossils of this long-extinct scallop are commonly found in exposed strata along Coastal Plain cliffs of major rivers in southeastern Virginia.