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Maryland girl finds "once-in-a-lifetime" shark tooth from ancient 50-foot megalodon - CBS News Franz Bernhard

Hi...For some reason this scallop doesn't look like the typical Calvert Cliffs Chesapecten nefrons. Its small, black stained, and appears in MY eye to be taller than normal. I don't have a good nefrons to compare the length to width ratios but it just SEEMS different. (26.6mm widest x 29.16 tall not at a diagonal). It was found within the same grit as the efrons pieces, the shark vertibrae, the oyster shell etc. that we found. From the southern end of the exposure at the State Park tiny beach. Are C.efrons the only eocene scallops found there? Is it a morphological difference due to its assumed (by me) immaturity and small size? Am I seeing things? Appreciate the help and opinions........Glenn 680186982_Scallop(1).zip

I arrived at the boat ramp early yesterday morning to find half the parking lot underwater from an abnormally high tide, plus heavy rains 2 days prior. I thought this might make collecting tough but I launched my kayak anyway and headed for the cliffs. I figured there would not be as much beach to collect on but I was not expecting water 2ft deep right up to the cliffs! Whenever I'd find a little spit of sand that I could actually walk on I would pull up my kayak and do some searching. I found a few small teeth this way. Later in the day as the tide started receding and I worked my way further down the cliffs I found a substantial beach that I could actually do some collecting on. I found lots of the usual teeth - tons of carcharinus, a lot of tigers/contortus, and some others. I peeked under a log and found the very rim of a cetacean vertebra buried in the sand, I uncovered it and it turned out to be a hefty specimen, about 4" wide by 2" thick. A little while later I found what was, at the time, the trip maker. It was the tiniest little megalodon tooth I've seen, about the size of a fingernail. Tiny but still, a meg is meg! Toward the end of the day I was working my way back to the kayak when I found a new trip maker. This little cow shark (upper?) tooth was the first complete one I have found and I was happy with it. I didn't want it to end up broken from jostling around with the other teeth in my pocket, so I quickly walked back to the kayak to put it away for safe keeping. As I was quickly walking back from the kayak to return to the spot I found it, I found another cow shark tooth freshly deposited in the surf by a wave. This one was much larger and also in perfect shape and I was so excited to find it. This one is definitely the best find of the day What started out looking like an impossible day turned out to be pretty good. I found 170+ teeth, some with very cool colors (like that cream colored tiger), and a few very nice teeth that I'm happy to add to my collection. Here are a few closeups of some of the nicer teeth, and the whole lot.

I'm new to fossil collecting and currently obsessed with shark teeth. I live near the Calvert Cliffs in Maryland, USA, and have been on several trips there and a couple trips to nearby locations in Maryland. In total I have been fossil collecting a total of 5 or 6 times since the beginning of October. I've found several hundred sharks teeth and have a great time each trip. I wanted to share a few of my best finds over the past couple weeks, beginning with... My first meg! I believe technically it is a chubitensis, but a megatooth nonetheless. I found this one on just my 3rd trip, and I could not believe my eyes when I saw it just laying there in ~1ft of water. I feel like it may have spoiled future collecting trips just a little - but not really, now I just want to find a bigger one Later that very same trip I found.... my second meg! This one was a little posterior tooth with tip damage. I thought it was a mako at first glance until I noticed the serrations. 2 megs in one trip is going to be hard to beat. These are some of the nicer mako teeth I have found, the first picture shows a tooth that I found on my very first trip. It solidified shark tooth hunting as a new obsession for me. The other 4 I found yesterday, with a few in-situ photos. They have such nice coloration. I have never seen a tooth from this area with an ivory color - I think it was sun-bleached sitting up at the high tide line? That's my best guess at least. I also found this nearly complete cetacean vertebra yesterday, which might be the find of the day: Here are a couple in-situ sand tiger teeth, one has double cusps which I thought was very cool, a first for me. Lastly, here are a couple whole-trip hauls, in reverse chronological order starting with my trip yesterday and ending with the first trip I took in early October, the trip that started it all! Thanks for reading, I look forward to posting more reports in the future.

It was a very nice day out on the bay. The site I was at exposed both the choptank, and the st. Mary’s formation. I was really hoping to find a large megalodon since there had been a massive storm the other day but that didn’t happen. Oh well, I still stumbled onto some great finds. This beach was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so there wasn’t a soul to be found here. I was the only one there. It was quite peaceful. Here are the finds: The complete grab: The complete grab flipped: All the better finds: These fossils include a mako, three snagged toothed sharks, a pathological carcharinus, two awesome crab claws, a ray plate, and my longest bird bone to date. All and all not a bad day! The best find flipped: The pathological tooth: Flipped: There weren’t any teeth the size of my hand found like I was expecting but this was just a fun day as always. Now what I’m really excited for is this weekend coming up. I think you guys are going to be pleasantly surprised with this weekends finds.

I went to 4 other beaches on Oct. 8 & 9 with guide Paul Murdoch Jr. He is extremely knowledgeable and has access to beaches that non-residents can't access. The weather was amazing as well, but the water started to become more rough, but not too rough.

I went to Palm Point, MD (Calvert Cliffs) for the first time on Fri., Oct. 7. I hired Bill P. as a guide as he is very knowledgeable and has connections for accessing parts of the cliffs that non-residents can't access. It was a pretty amazing day. 112 shark teeth found, not including ray plates and other fossils. I'll need to post the other fossils later as they still haven't been unpacked yet. I think we hiked 7 miles on the beach. The water was like glass. The conditions couldn't have been better.

Hello there! I was looking around the Fossil ID sections and saw a post about a piece of petrified wood which looks very close to this unidentified bit I found on a beach in Calvert Cliffs state park in Maryland. Does anyone have any information that can definitively classify this as petrified wood? Thanks in advance!

Hello there! So I have adjusted my expectations for this one, but does anyone have any clue as to what this bone is from? (Found in Calvert cliffs state park, Maryland) I'd love to add it to my named fossil collection! Thanks in advance and good luck!

Hello there! Found this guy in Calvert cliffs state park, Maryland. I think it's a fossilized barnacle, but I'd love another perspective. Thanks in advance and I appreciate the help!

Hello there! I found this bone on the beach in Calvert cliffs state park in Maryland. I tried to find what kind of bone it was, but have been having no luck identifying it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My best guess is some kind of fish bone? (Thank you!)

Hello there! I found this "tooth?" on a beach in Calvert cliffs state park in Maryland. Any help with it's identification or really and information about it at all would be a huge help. Thank you!

Hello there all! I found this tooth while combing the sand on a beach in Calvert Cliffs state park, Maryland. Any help with identification or classification would be fantastic, thank you!

Hi all, Apologies for being gone for so long. I have been busy with pretty important research for my (hopefully) undergrad thesis. Anyways, I found this bone a few years back at Flag Ponds Nature Park in Calvert County, Maryland. It's Miocene in age. I know that most bone chunks coming from float from the cliffs are unidentifiable but this one seems to have some diagnostic characters considering the amount of foramina running through it. I could be wrong, however. That's why I study fish, not cetaceans! Thanks all in advance.

Possible large Croc coprolite found at Calvert Cliffs https://www.wusa9.com/article/tech/science/holey-snarge-paleontologist-discover-an-extremely-rare-fossil-on-the-calvert-cliffs-poop-feces/65-c4045b64-5f63-4574-bf11-c1780585abcb

Got some weird stuff from the Cliffs, been meaning to get them checked out. first one up i think is a bone fragment of some kind. it passes the tongue test. but someone on the FB group suggested it might be a fragment of a Gomp tooth perhaps? this is a bone fragment, but the porous nature of the middle has me thinking bird perhaps? also, the top edge is rounded and smooth so it looks to be a small diameter long bone. lastly is this piece, Im sure its probably a beaten up snaggletooth, but the cross section has me thinking mammal possibly?

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Calvert Cliffs, MD to comb the beach for shark teeth, and came across these: A lot of them are missing their tops, which may make ID more difficult. Also, I’m not sure if 7 is even a tooth or just conveniently shaped. I’m fairly confident that 9 is a thresher shark, and think that 1-3 are maybe lemon sharks, but otherwise I’m lost. I’m particularly interested in (what I believe is) the vertebra and the sting ray mouth plate (13 and 14, respectively). I tried to get better supplemental photos, though fossil size and camera quality were a limiting factor: I look forward to learning about these. Thank you!

Hey guys! As a new fossil hunter, I am terrible at keeping up with my trip reports, so instead of struggling to remember the little details, here's a compiled post on how the past three months went. I don't have professional photos of every find, but hopefully what I do have will scratch the itch for anyone interested in my escapades. Oh - I'll be in NJ this Saturday for another hunt with DVPS - any tips for shallow creek hunting would be appreciated! ~ January My first ever attempt at winter hunting. Armed with tips from you generous folks, I went solo! Due to high winds, low temps, and icy shores, my scant finds were all broken or small. Even so, I learned a lot and went home with tiny, worn ecphora. This trip was originally scheduled to be a CHAPTours trip, but Paul wisely cancelled due to the weather. I, however, had gotten myself a hotel room in the area and couldn't get a refund. Therefore, I made the...interesting choice to try hunting in 20-degree weather with 10-15mph winds. I posted in the forum to get some tips on winter hunting, adapted my plans accordingly, and when the date came, headed out. The signs pointed to "go the hell home, Samantha" rather early. When I arrived at Matoaka, the owners were out and I didn't have change with me for my ATM-obtained $20. I hope they used the extra $10 to feed that new pup of theirs! After I came to terms with this, I went down the cliff and started my hunt. Well, attempted to, anyway! The ice made hunting very, very difficult. The waves reminded me of a melting slushie (video!), building up more ice with every wash. I discovered quickly that walking on the ice was a no-go unless I wanted a busted ankle from falling through into the shallow water. Pulling clayfall apart was impossible too - the blocks were frozen solid. Therefore, I stuck to scanning the beach for material. The cold never once really bothered me; I was dressed in chest waders, a polar knee-length coat, 5mm neoprene gloves, and a neck gaiter to protect my face when needed. The wind, however, bit like nothing else! My glasses fogged no matter what I did and what direction I faced, and my nose and ears were all complaints when not covered. @RuMert was a genius to suggest a vacuum-sealed thermos containing hot water, because keeping my core warm was what allowed me to stay on the beach for 6 hours. At the end of the day, the hunt was not at all productive for a tooth-lover like me. I found a broken hemi, a drumfish tooth, and a few other tiny fossils. However, I did walk home with the smallest ecphora I've ever seen, about 90% complete (still needs prepped), and a wealth of knowledge about winter hunting. This was an important lesson. February My first tour with a guide, Paul of CHAPTours and DVPS. Tides were low and the weather cooperated for the most part. While my finds were few, I walked away with my first whale vert! Rescheduled from January, this was my first time going on a guided fossil hunt. I finally got to meet Paul, a fellow member of DVPS and owner/operator of CHAPTours in Maryland. He made the experience smooth for me and the other attendees by having us caravan from beach to beach, with GPS for back-up guidance. At the first beach, the exceptionally low tide exposed sandbars that prevented wave activity, and my rubber boots allowed me to walk several meters out into the crystal clear water without getting wet, which made hunting so very easy. While walking along towards the cliffs, diagonal to the shore, I came upon an old drone that had been in the ocean for a few weeks at least. I pulled this out of the water to be discarded on my way out, and placed it on the shore with my heavier belongings. Then, I returned to where I'd been walking to be sure I hadn't missed anything. A few moments later, I found my first ever whale vertebrae in about a foot of water! Further exploration yielded a broken piece of cetacean bone, as well as a thin piece of rib from a land animal of some sort, as well as a few small hemis, but the highlight of this beach was definitely the vert! Beach two was known as an "unusual" beach, where unexpected finds tend to pop up. Personally, I had no luck here, though I brought home a few interesting shells for friends. Even so, I enjoyed the walk and took a photo of some of the impressions left in iron by shells. The final beach of the day was good ol' Matoaka! Being that we were there thanks to Paul, we were able to park much closer to the beach than usual. The wind picked up though, so the crowd thinned out rather rapidly. I found a couple more tiny teeth before the unexpected cold chased me to my car as well. I thanked Paul for his time and effort, then headed on home. All in all, a great first time with a guide! March The experience with CHAPTours was so good that I signed up again. The weather was better, but the tides were higher as well. I found an unexpected artifact in fresh fall and educated a passersby here and there. A large clay-fresh hemi made the trip for me! This tour was quieter than the last, with a scant four attendees plus Paul leading the way. I enjoyed the peace, and the weather was nice too! While the tides were higher than desired, the water temperature was just nice enough that I was excited to sift with my sore feet in cold water. We began with an unfamiliar beach, one that was best known for large shells. While this wasn't really my speed, I made it my goal to help spot fossilized invertebrates for the shell enthusiasts along with me. It turned out, however, that I had very little spotting to do! We came upon a massive amount of fresh fall, yet undisturbed by the weather or other people. This fall was so fresh that we were trying to avoid falling through the loose dirt and clay! Needless to say, my fellow hunters found many a large shell here. I picked up a smaller, easier to carry shell, and a delightful but small hemi. While the guys continued to fawn over their massive bivalves, I started back towards the cars. Then, I found something even further out of my wheelhouse - a lid to a clay pot! Once home, I contacted archeologist Dr. Alex Glass and provided her with additional photos. She had this to say: Again, I don't typically have much interest in archeology, so this lid will be donated to the archeology lab when I next visit Maryland. I thought the extra information was very cool to read though! Now, back to the hunt! For the second beach, we once again headed to the place where I found my whale vert. This time, the sandbars were submerged and the tide kept us close to the cliffs. There was some older but "new to us" fall here, which we had to navigate, including some fallen trees. I didn't have much luck this time, finding only small teeth, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless! We then hit Matoaka as our final beach. It was busy this time, as the weather was good enough for beachgoers to be out and about. This time, I had my sifter out, and I was prepared to get wet. I spent the majority of the time there sifting away, pulling up small but pristine teeth - some of which I was able to send home with curious folks who had budding interest in what we were doing. (It was this trip that convinced me to start bringing along a dry box of small or broken teeth to give to potential hobbyists, because there's nothing like the excitement in someone's eyes when they realize what you've given them!) Eventually though, I took a break from the constant bending and lifting, and began using my fossil-hunting stick to dig through some fall. This was where I found my best find to date - a large, prisitine hemipristis serra, protected from erosion by the fall it was buried in. You don't find them much bigger in Maryland, from what I've heard! This was a dream find for me, and it sent me over the moon. I found other beautiful teeth on the beach that day, but nothing surpassed my gorgeous bed 17 snaggle. Going home that day, I was exhausted in the best way. The hunt was a delight, the company was good, and the experience was unforgettable.

Hi all, I was at Matoaka yesterday (Calvert Cliffs, Choptank Formation, Miocene), and happened upon this bone a little bit north of the main cliffs. It looks like either a carpal or tarsal bone. Definitely heavier, fossilized bone. Possibly a terrestrial mammal of some kind? If anyone has any ideas, I'm not as familiar with the land-dwellers of the time period.

I will be traveling to chesapeake bay on Fri 03/25-03/27. With the trespassing signs on the cliffs and me being from Ohio I decided against crossing them. I went to flag ponds, brownies, cottages, and walked down the state park with no luck back in 2020. Got lucky and found purse and Douglas point. Walked away with lots of teeth and a nice otodus. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on where to look other than the potomac. I don't want any honey holes and wouldn't ask for any. Just a general direction. Thanks for any help

Hey guys, I'm planning a trip to the Chesapeake and Calvert cliffs area for a few weeks from now and I was wondering i any more experienced hunters have some biases towards which areas and access locations they like best. I've previously been to the Matoaka Cabins and Calvert Cliffs State Park, both of which yielded similar finds with nothing big, although I found the access to the cliff bases at Matoaka more favorable. I'd also love to find a canoe rental in the area to boat about and stop at exposed beach areas to hunt before heading further along the stretch, although general advice and spot tips from people with more experience than I would be greatly appreciated.

Hey all, This weekend I was going to go on a trip with folks from my fossil club, but they cancelled last minute and I've already paid for a hotel room in the area. Therefore, weather be darned, I'm going fossil hunting anyway. Is anyone else going out on Saturday that might want company? I'm a pretty relaxed human who typically matches the energy in the room, as I like to be inoffensive and approachable. I just figured that it would be awesome to hunt with another forum member or two instead of going it alone.

Lots of our members collect at the Calvert Cliffs so here is something new to lookout for. S. Godfrey et al. describe new coprolite discoveries from the cliffs. https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/RIPS/article/view/17064

New Species Of Fossil Found Along Calvert Cliffs, Calvert County By Calvert Marine Museum, The Bay Net Local Fossil Enthusiasts Discover New Fossils At Calvert Cliffs Calvert Marine Museum, The Southern Maryland Chronicle, January 12, 2022 The paper is: Godfrey, S.J. and Carnevale, G., 2021. A new cobia (Teleostei, Rachycentridae) species from the Miocene St. Marys Formation along Calvert Cliffs, Maryland, USA. Journal of Paleontology, 95(3), pp.630-637. Yours, Paul H.