[Rockhounds] This 'wandering meatloaf' chiton has a rare mineral in its teeth

[Drew]

"The hardness was not measured but the measured density of the type
material is 2.42 g/cm3."

https://www.schweizerbart.de/papers/ejm/detail/15/54934/Santabarbaraite_a_new_amorphous_phosphate_mineral?af=crossref

On Tue, Jun 1, 2021 at 9:37 AM THE HAMMER <hammerron at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Santabarbaraite is new to me.  I did several internet searches for more
> information and one thing that I found odd is that I could find no mention
> to its hardness.
>
> Ron
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Rockhounds <rockhounds-bounces at rockhounds.drizzle.com> on behalf of
> Kreigh Tomaszewski <kreigh at gmail.com>
> Sent: Monday, May 31, 2021 4:16 PM
> To: Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem collectors <
> rockhounds at rockhounds.drizzle.com>
> Subject: [Rockhounds] This 'wandering meatloaf' chiton has a rare mineral
> in its teeth
>
> A rare iron mineral has been discovered in the teeth of a living organism
> for the first time -- one that bears the pet name "wandering meatloaf."
> While it sounds like a tour update for the musician Meat Loaf, this
> research concerns a large mollusk called a chiton (not a "bat out of
> hell"). The mollusk, also known as Cryptochiton stelleri, got its nickname
> because it's large, reddish-brown and, well, shaped a bit like a meatloaf
> escaping the pan. It lives along rocky coastlines. The largest chiton in
> the world, it can reach 13 inches in length.
> Researchers were surprised to find santabarbaraite in the mollusk's tooth
> because it's previously been found only in rocks.
>
>
> Chiton need tough teeth because they essentially chew on rocks to scrape
> off algae and other food substances. Their teeth are one of the hardest
> materials in nature and are attached to a flexible tongue-like structure
> called a radula.
>
> https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/31/world/rare-mineral-chiton-mollusk-teeth-scn/index.html
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