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Calvert County, MD beaches, Matoaka Lodges, Miocene diversity, September 2020
Chris Carpenter posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Here is a brief report from one of our latest forays into Calvert County, MD. The well-known stretch of shoreline along the western Chesapeake Bay is loaded with Miocene fossils, with the Calvert, St. Mary's, and Choptank formations progressively exposed along a ~24 mile stretch of beach and cliffs. We found an Airbnb in Lusby, MD which was not too far from Matoaka Lodges, which seemed the best bet since the nearly 2 mile walk to the beaches at Calvert Cliffs State Park is impractical for our family at this time. Covid-19 and Maryland's onerous private land regulations can make it tough if not impossible to access some of the other municipal beaches along the coast. For example, Brownies Beach, Dares Beach, Cove Point, and Flag Pond are all restricted in some way to town or county residents only. Matoaka Lodges however will grant day-pass access for a small fee, and the beach is from my experience very diverse and productive in its fossils. We spent a total of 5 hours there, employing an 1/8" sieve and also simply walking the surf line. The largest tooth pictured here actually washed up at my feet as I was surreptitiously bending over at the same time. Most of the rest were found with the sieve. Most of these are shark or sting ray teeth and a few turtle shells plus some of the smaller items I could not identify. A local told me that porpoise teeth can be found there also. This lot comprises the smallest fossils found; in addition to these (mostly) teeth and shell fragments were found a large and diverse sample of vertebrate fragments, corals, miscellaneous other fossils (snails, mollusks, etc.) which I will post in the follow-up report to this one. Having spent some time at some of the other sites along Calvert Cliffs this summer, I would say based on the diversity, number of fossils, and time spent collecting, that Matoaka is definitely worth the return trip.
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Hello, I have been doing some fossil hunting at Bay Front Park (Chesapeake Beach) -Brownies- in Maryland USA and have been trying to group and identify some of the teeth I found. I believe these teeth are Miocene and my guesses are as follows- what do you think? Thanks Row 1: Physogaleus contortus Row 2: Galeocerdo aduncus Row 3: Hemipristis serra
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Hi everyone, I just found this tooth last week at Brownies Beach. First I thought it was a broken mako, but the serrations in the edges and the fact that the tooth is hollow at the base, makes me think that in fact,this is a tooth from a Squalodon. Thanks for your answers
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On December 28th I had a chance to do a little searching at Brownies. Spent most of the day in a gentle rain but found a variety of the usual suspects. More than anything, it was amazing to be on the water in the fog and rain. Super quiet and beautiful. In the shark department, I was stoked to find this 3.1" Meg (uncleaned) in situ. It keeps getting lighter, so I suspect it will be near white once done. I also came across some of these corals/sponges. One has a nice cup on it that looks to have been oriented upwards along with a barnacle, like a sponge. Any thoughts on ID? They look to have come from Zone 10:
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MD/VA Shark Teeth Hunting Technique? ex. Calvert, Brownie's, Westmoreland, etc.
Barnaby'sdad posted a topic in Questions & Answers
Good afternoon. Are there any techniques that are useful in finding larger (3/4"+) teeth on MD/VA beaches? I've been teeth diving down in SC and NC, so I get the whole "if you want big teeth, look for big rocks, shells, etc." thing. Does that concept translate in some way to searching for shark teeth from local beaches? ex. Feel for 'x' type of material/muck/clay consistency? I've gotten fairly good at finding x < 3/4" teeth (ex. High tide line material, stuff at/near the "shelf"/drop off from the beach, etc.) . My last trip out...I found my first tooth in literally the first sifter load of material. I gave a few away to passersby and still ended up with 40+. I eventually got bored with it and just started experimenting with sifting through material from other areas of the beach, with varying degrees of success. Any thoughts/recommendations? I've got a spot that I'd like to hit again. Just curious on if there's a better/more efficient method of searching. Thank you. -
Hello everyone, I saw this on a Calvert Cliff Facebook group from John Nance of the Calvert Marine Museum, and I figure it should be here too. “Calling all Brownies Beach collectors! If you found any pieces of leatherback turtle shell in the past year they likely belong to this guys shell! This shell was spotted and collected last May. It was first reported by a Brownies Beach collector and others have since added to it. (Will add names with permission.) It’s coming together beautifully! A new donation of 76 pieces will surely help to fill some gaps. If you’re willing to donate what you’ve found we could keep building this amazing animal. Of course you’d be given full credit for your contribution to the project.” I encourage any of you who have found shell pieces at brownies to take a look just and case and drop by the CMM. They are a great institution, very much worthy of the donation.
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Over this past weekend I took a trip to the Calvert cliffs(first time going, didn’t have much luck lol). I found this piece and was gonna see if I could get some help identifying it. I found it at bay front. Not sure if it’s anything but I couldn’t find anything like it to compare it to. Let me know if any other or different pictures would help identify it. Thanks all!
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A few recent trips to brownies. Still have not found the big ones, but I think I am getting better at spotting them. I attached a pic, and had a few request for comments. Can someone provide additional info on the bone, broken tooth, the one object with the cut down the middle (does not feel like wood), and the 3 tonged tooth, which to me looks like a wisdom tooth. Any info appreciated. To give an idea on size the bone is probable about 3 to 4 inches. Thanks,
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I found these bony fish ear bones on various trip to Brownies Beach, this one with four are I believe Sciaenops sp. The one with three are Micromesistius cognatus, and the last one with six are Pogonias sp.
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I’m quite busy these days, so it’s been a few months but I finally found a few hours to dart out and get a hunt in at brownies on Saturday. There had obviously been a myriad of collectors who braved the cold prior to me, so I wasn’t expecting much. However, I did end up with a few decent specimens. It feels good to get out into nature and climb over some trees once in a while. Despite my muted expression, I had a blast!
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Day of the Sandtigers: Second Symphyseal? 1/5/19
FossilsAnonymous posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Hello all, I hope you are having a fossiliferous New Year. To kick ours off, MomAnonymous and I went off to Brownies to check out the beach. It seems I really do need waders as I was unable to round the point even at low tide. We met @sharkdoctor on the point who had found an amazing bird bone in zone 10. We chatted for a bit, and he gave me a lot of information that could prove very helpful, and even invited me to a group hunt at Blue Banks. What a generous man. I get good luck when meeting other collectors! We putted around for a bit, finding some really nice sand tigers at one point and a lot of other, small teeth. Then we went to the bridge, where MomAnonymous found another symphyseal Physogaleus in the exact same spot as before! In all we got 137 small teeth. Not the best of days, but not horrible either. @Littlefoot @racerzeke @ShoreThing @WhodamanHD -
One last Hurrah for 2018, one last Hurrah for Cow Shark Teeth!
FossilsAnonymous posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
I figured since 2018 was ending, I may as well honor it with a final, sopping wet, epic hunt. We (MomAnonymous and I) arrived at Brownies at around 1:10 and wasted no time trying to go south. Unfortunately, it was swollen with water even though it was low tide and we got cut off at the point. We met two men sifting, i don't know if they were on the forum at all but we chatted for a bit and they had only been finding small teeth. We searched around a bit southwards, and found some nice sand tigers (carcharias cuspidata i think) and a couple of silky and dusky sharks (carcharhinus sp.) before heading back towards the entrance. Then we went more towards the northern side where there is a small bridge. This is where the hunting intensified. We were finding like four or five teeth per handful and it was amazing. The teeth were small, we weren't able to go to the spots with the big teeth but some of the teeth were really nice. Carcharhinus was showing up a lot and so were the sand tigers. A lot of the small teeth were red because of the iron oxidization. Then I noticed a tooth in the surf. i reached down to grab it and found my first cow of December! This one was very nice, only a bit along the back of the root was broken. It seems to me like it has seven blades, but i am no expert with the cows and didn't know what counted as a blade. Hopefully you experts out there can help! At around 2, the beach started filling up but we stayed for around another hour before leaving. We found quite an interesting tooth that i need ID on, it has a really thick root. Thanks 2018, Thanks for you friends on the Forum, and thank the Shark tooth Gods! Cheers, FA (Meg next year, right) -
On a beautiful Dec. 27, @Chomper and I set off for Brownie's Beach for what's probably our last fossil hunt of the year. We arrived at about 10 a.m., with low tide expected around 1 p.m., and quickly we rounded the point and began searching. I layered up pretty heavily, and ended up feeling like I was the Staypuff Marshmallow Man slowly turning to goo in the sun. However, once the sun disappeared, I was glad for all those layers! We encountered a few other fossil hunters, but I really enjoyed talking to an older man who said he lived eight minutes away. He was hunting with a younger boy, and those two knew their stuff! I always love talking to those with more experience, as I feel like I can never learn too much about fossils. The man pointed out the various levels in the cliffs, including where the megalodon teeth are to be found! We didn't find any megalodons, but we found some nice teeth. I really scored big with some wonderful bone finds, including three ear bones, which are one of my favorite bones to find! I nearly doubled my ear bone collection in just one trip!
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So the 21'st was my birthday and we wanted to go out. It was supposed to be the lowest tide of the year due to the position of the moon, and that is what we prepared for. However, by the time we arrived Matoaka had been swollen by rain and was producing nothing, so we went to Brownies instead, expecting a high tide. It was really quite annoying because we had expected to be able to walk along the cliffs as we pleased. We were not able too, unfortunately. Brownies produced a few really nice smaller teeth but that was really it. Unfortunate.
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Now that the final fossil hunt of 2018 is over, it's safe to make a recap of this incredible year. This year is so special. Fossil Hunting has developed into my favorite thing in the world. From uncertain 5 tooth hunts to euphoria inducing 200 tooth hunts, 2018 had it all. I was introduced to this forum as well! Thank you all you wonderful people for helping me amass knowledge, teaching me of civility and ways to express myself, and letting me have fun and drool over other's awesome fossils! My tooth spotting skills have improved, very much, and so has my knowledge. Only a couple of big teeth so far, but a meg next year right ladies and gentlemen?! This is a recap of my posts this year, Enjoy.
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Here’s a Miocene Brownie’s beachfind from a while ago, I quickly hailed it as my first meg. However, I’ve had my doubts and I have since found a Fragalodon I am pretty sure is a Fragalodon, so if this turns out to not be a meg, I’m not unhappy. It’s a little over an inch, the root is .7 inches so that should give you a scale. I considered C. hastalis, but some quick unscientific math said that we’re it complete it would be around 3 inches which is not typical. Also the roots got too much curve. All edges are worn off so no serration info. It’s been stress fractures to Timbuktu (pictures don’t do justice) , and if it had a bourlette it’s worn off. However it does have a space for a bourlette. It’s root would also be weird for a meg. I’ve got one other idea but I’m gonna keep it to myself unless someone says it. Thanks for any help!
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I could be doing other things, but it’s the first weekday off school, and I wanted to do something Fossil related. So, I took some of the my favorite self-collected brownies teeth and put them into a riker. The riker originally held a composite Carcharodontosaurus, which meant a lot of empty space, so I moved it into storage until I can get a better case for it. So what do you guys think? key: Top row-Hemis, including a patho, a white one, and a lighting struck one middle group: Cows, all Bluntnose sevengill (Notorynchus Primigenus/cepedianus) , including my symphyseal. bottom left: Carcharodon hastilis teeth bottome right: Fragalodons last picture is one inch scale.
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Was hoping to get out to a Carboniferous site yesterday, but life got in the way and I had only enough time for a Brownies Hunt (not a bad plan B.). This will likely be one of my last trips to Brownies till the fall, and I’m kinda sad because I’ve grown to like Chesapeake beach and brownies. crazy prices and crowds during the summer However, greener pastures lay ahead this summer. First, I had to take the route 4 this time, so at the county line I saw Jim (AKA the Shark Tooth Guy) whom some here may know, peddling his fossils. I stopped to say "Hi", and bought an Ecphora Quadricostata. Really, the best part is the tips and tricks he provides. Below are some pictures of his wares. For some reason I missed most of the megs in the photos (sorry, was pressed for time)
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Hey guys I need your opinion on what these teeth are. They both came out of matrix of Zone 8 or 9 Blue Clay Calvert Formation They are rather small for Squalodon but could be from a juvenile specimen or could be Seal ? Thanks Cliff Dweller
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I had a short hunt yesterday. At first thought I’d have a while to hunt but had some hold ups, so by the time I got there (5:30ish) I knew I had an hour before sunset. The highest tide was only thirty minutes before so I decided I’d do some more experimental hunting techniques (for me). The beach was mostly submerged and some unusually large and frequent waves made surface hunting hard, so I turned to the boulders and chunks of clay that had fallen from the cliffs. I just turned over rocks and scoured boulders. It’s hard to imagine quite what it looks like when a tooth is under ground till you see it eroding from a boulder in real life. It’s really cool to see the enamel pocking out, Though I’m not quite sure why. Anyway, these teeth come out beautiful because they haven’t been rolled around in. the waves much. That being said, they are more spread out. Finds were limited. Best of the day was a nice Carcharodon hastalis, a smidge over an inch in slant height. Found another large whale jaw piece, same area as previously. Must be a big guy eroding out slowly. One of the cooler finds was seeing a bit of bone popping out of a big ole boulder. I forgot my tools, so I managed to use a sharp stick and some chert rocks to get it out. Looks like the top of a rib, but the process was cooler than the find. Side note: I got a question for anyone who may know; in some places the clay is exposed horizontally on the ground (as in there is no sand, but clay as the surface). I saw a few teeth poking out. Perhaps a silly question, b/c I don’t see why not, but are you allowed to take these? I didn’t because I’d rather be safe than sorry. But it does appear to be part of the “toothy layer” (my own name for it) and I’d like to take a closer look at it in the future. okay, here are my few finds, it’ll take me a sec to get all the pictures in.
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Found at Brownies Beach, on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. Never seen anything like this. What is it?! The 30+ nodules are very hard material like enamel, and the base is bone material. Can someone please help identify this fossil?
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Howdy gang! Found this a while back at Brownie's Beach in MD. I just refound it last night, LOL. I'm assuming its from a mammal, but after that, I'm stumped. Any ideas?
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I went to Brownies for the first time last Saturday. It was beautiful as the water was completely blown out by the Nor'easter storm of the day before. There were trees down everywhere along the roads near the park. I didn't find much, just a few tiny teeth because of how the water was blown out. So I went back today and was thrilled to find one shark vertebra & two other vertebrae. One looks like it is from a fish. The third is unknown to me. Do you remember the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, where Harrison Ford gets into the fight with the guy with the sword & he blows him away with his gun? Well that is how I felt when I came across another fossil hunter & we chatted about our finds & I showed him my shark vertebra. I was so proud until he pulls out a whale vertebra as big as my hand!! I was dying inside, but I also had to laugh because I was so busted. If he is reading this right now, I was awed by your find. I went on to find some nice teeth, shells & two tiny Ecphora.
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I have been going through some micro I collected at brownies beach (Calvert FM, Miocene. Zones 4 and 10 mostly) and this tooth looks a little strange to me. Its small, 5 MM about. I'm guessing its a Physogaleus contortus, but I'm not sure. Confirmation, other ideas, and any other information is welcome and encouraged. sorry about poor picture quality, USB microscope is a bit grainy.
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I found this very tiny hemi a while back (Brownies beach). I was wondering if anyone could tell me the placement? This is the whole tooth (but it’s rootless) not the top of it. Thanks.
