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Yesterday I found this piece of vertebra near the Calvert Formation at Calvert Cliffs Maryland. It seems to be a "cookie" but is taller than online pictures show and haas a strange belly button shape with a pattern in the middle. It is roughly 3-4 inches wide and 1 inch tall. Does anyone recognize this fossil?
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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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Dear TFF members, Ive taken a photo of all the shark teeth that I am having trouble identifying. Could anyone help point out if I got any ID's wrong? These were all found at Calvert Cliffs, MD. Top 3 rows near Choptank and St Marys Formation and bottom half underneath Calvert Formation. 1. Snaggletooth (serrations are similar on both, the first one has a strange enamel color) 2. First two are white sharks, probably plicatilis? Third, I have no clue 3. Requiem shark tooth (just suspicious because I've never found a tooth in the area with that color) 4. Posterior tiger shark teeth 5. Worn down tiger shark? 6. Snaggletooth front tooth piece 7. Cow shark (is this pathological? ive found a couple of other cow shark teeth and none of them have opposing edges) Thanks for the help, James
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Hi All! I'm camping in the Chesapeake area of Southern Maryland and am trying to plan out a little Calvert Cliffs trip. It seems like COVID has closed off almost all the access points to the Cliffs except for Matoaka and Calvert Cliffs State Park--a bummer, but I'm new to this so it will take very little to make me happy... Should I take my kayak? I've never been to either location but saw that the hike from parking to the beach area at the state park is 1.8 miles, so I'd hate to get the kayak all the way down there and find out I didn't need it after all. Any general advice would be most welcome too. Thanks!
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I know it has been said before, but anyone collecting along Calvert Cliffs, always be careful. I was out yesterday and saw 2 different falls. One was giving warning of it coming, with a number of small clods trickling down. I did not hang out in that area and kept well away from the cliff. About 45 minutes later I heard the sound of a fall and saw it come down. As I was kayaking home I saw another section, about the size of 2 minivans, come down. That was in an area that sees a lot of collectors. Also, when I was out yesterday the bay was absolutely full of sea nettles. It looked like the scene from "Finding Nemo" with the jellyfish swarm. Those actually sting, and they were so thick anyone in the water would encounter dozens of tentacles very quickly.
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It's been awhile since I've posted...but the good news is that I've been able to make many trips to Calvert Cliffs since my last post. Yesterday was my most recent trip down. The predicted tide and swell forecast looked good and I had visions of megs dancing in my head during the 2.5 hour trip down. I arrived by 6am and after a nice nature walk I was beach-side by 6:30. The tide was high as it usually is during the summer, but it never really went down at low tide (~11:00). That being said, there was very little beach to search and not much being kicked up. However, it was great weather and I spent about 6 hours enjoying the Chesapeake Bay before I called it a day (I usually stay until 5:00ish, but with no beach to search I decided to skip the traffic jam on 695 that is inevitable between 4:00-7:00). I found about 50 small teeth, some bay glass, half a cookie, and saved a few fish & horse crabs. My find of the day and total trip maker is below. Besides some large (for the area) meg frags, it is my largest tooth to date. I couldn't believe it when I saw it sitting along the high tide line, and even forgot my phone in the water when I examined it after snapping a few pics and filming an uncovering video (thank goodness for waterproof cases). Anyway, below are a few pics as found, unearthed, and dried. Although I didn't score any megs, it was a great day to enjoy nature by myself without seeing another person other than a family on a boat that anchored and was enjoying the bay themselves. Any help on ID and scarcity would be great. I'm thinking either lower isurus oxyrinchus/desori (mako), carcharodon hastalis, or possibly carcharodon plicatilis. The exposed formations at this location are Calvert and Choptank, with possible wash from St. Marys.
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Hi all, I found this strange vertebra today in a small creek that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. If it's a fossil, it is from the Calvert Formation. It's unlike anything I've seen before, and certainly not a cetacean vert, so that begs the question: what is it? I have not done the burn test on it yet to confirm it as a fossil, but can anyone identify it based on morphology? I believe it to be from a large terrestrial animal, but I'd like an expert/experienced opinion. Thank you in advance!
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Hi everyone, I would like to ask about these ray teeth from Calvert Cliffs. All I know is that some of them are Aetobatos I think. Thank you.
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Hi everyone, I would like to ask about some brownies beach shells and corals from a while back. I think the first 3 pics including the corals and Scaphopod are modern, but I want to make sure before I discard them. The last two pics seem like fossils - is there an ID? Thanks! Modern??: Fossil??:
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Hello Everyone! Seems to be a good bit of interest in this topic, so I thought I’d make a little summary on what types of crocodilians you may find along the Calvert cliffs. Most of this information is gleaned from Dr. Robert Weems’ “Crocodilians of the Calvert Cliffs” in Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of Calvert Cliffs, Maryland, USA, available freely by clicking the underlined portion. I encourage you to read that for more detail. If you have anything to add or you notice any mistakes, please let me know! Thecachampsa This genus is the only described genus along the cliffs, of which two species are described in this area. Among extant (living) creatures, it is most closely related to the false gharial. All large non-shark coprolites along the cliffs are assumed to be produced by Thecachampsa. Their vertebrae, like all reptile vertebrae, have a convex side and a concave side, making their vertebrae look like they have a ball and a socket. Their osteoderms are distinctive, with thick, blunt sections between the pits. Osteoderm associated with T. sericodon, from “Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of Calvert Cliffs, Maryland, USA”
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Wondering what this is on this ecphora gardnerae germonae gastropod from st marys formation. Possibly barnacle related but doesn't resemble normal barnacle base from the area.
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Last year I discovered a baleen whale fossil along the cliffs of Calvert cliffs park. Tomorrow it will be getting excavated. However I broke my leg just before Christmas so I am looking to see if anyone can video the excavation for me as I cannot attend. I’m hoping to get a video and some good pictures I can share on here. Please feel free to message me as I’m anxious to see the excavation process. I just wish I had better luck so I could attend and assist in the excavation of what I found. Anyone willing to help is super appreciated !!! Thank you
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Found on the eastern shore of the bay.
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I saw a fossil jaw bone segment and teeth when I was in The Calvert Cliff area recently. Another hunter found a very dark colored section of jawbone about 4 or so inches long. It had a good 6-8 teeth in it (same dark color). He was claiming he had found an alligator/crocodile jaw section but it had thorn-sharp teeth. Not what I would have expected to come from a gator or crocodile. I wish now that I took a picture of it but I did not. The only other thing I can remember is that the teeth seemed various sizes, from memory. And were likely all on the side of the mouth where our pre-molars and molars would be. The front of the jaw was missing. I was just wondering what else might leave a jaw section like that. Thanks! Andy
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As an early Christmas present, I ordered some waders and they came a couple of days ago. It was obviously time to fossil-hunt. We made it out to brownies pretty quickly. Fortunately, there weren’t that many people there, and we rounded the point after a quick search of the area near the entrance. We promptly found a couple nice fish verts and a couple broken shark verts in the spoil piles right near the cliffs. We continued along the cliffs, searching every crevasse for the elusive meg, checking the gravel for makos and the like. Pretty far down we turned around as the tide was coming in. As we walked back along the beach, I looked down to grab a nice tiger. Lo and behold, the “tiger” was actually a symphyseal cow! It was broken with some bits missing, but it was still the rarest thing I’ve ever found! Grateful to the fossil hunting gods, FA
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Hello all, Today I was hunting at Brownies Beach (Maryland, Miocene) and found a rather strange piece of bone. To me it looks like the rostral portion of a jaw with false teeth but I’m honestly not sure about what it is. Maybe Wahoo material? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Anyways, I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving. ~Zach
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I recently moved some of my collection and noticed something loose on the bottom of the drawer under a barnacle. It's from a trip to the Calvert Cliffs in Maryland nine years ago. As I looked closer I noticed that they apparently came from inside two of the barnacles. Is this a fossil that I had dismissed as matrix, or is it a modern insect addition ?
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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. -
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Brownie’s Beach/Bayfront Park...lots of little teeth
Barnaby'sdad posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Went to Brownie’s/Bayfront Park for the first time yesterday. Lots of tiny intact teeth. The smallest intact tooth was 0.23”. The largest was 0.67”. I was happy and surprised by the amount of teeth that I found. I gave a few away to curious people that happened by. One couple asked for pointers when I showed up. We talked for a few minutes, I ran one load of material through my sifter, and found a tooth right off. I handed it over to give them an idea of what to look for. I averaged 10+ teeth per hour. My best trip yet. In summary...LOTS of teeth here, a good time, pleasant & curious passers by, and lunatics in the parking lot. Get there early (I did) and with the summer heat...don’t be surprised if people are blowing their gasket in the parking lot. Witnessed one lady that was convinced someone stole her spot jump out of her minivan and proceed to curse at the “offender.” The summer heat, lol.
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The title says it all.... And if you can't find them here, where can you? Thanks, FA
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It's been a long while since I was able to fossil hunt. To go out today with a decent haul really made it rewarding. The location was on a private beach, and the weather was perfect. A bit of wind, around 78-80, warm water, and clear skies made the beach beautiful. We hunted for around two hours on the South side with minimal rewards, some really small teeth such as hemis, makos, and the like. The hunting started to pick up when we made our way over to the North Side. As soon as we arrived, a hemi around 1 1/6 washed up. I knew I was going to like this beach when a second only a little smaller washed up after a minute of hunting. We worked the beach for another hour, pulling a mako of around 1 1/4 inches (broken root) from the surf, and then another, really nice 1 inch mako in the same spot. We met a certain Steve Grossman on the beach, who invited me to the Calvert Marine Museum's sharkfest to help him set up, talk about, and look at his hundreds of megs. If any of you MD folks show up, i'll be there! The Beach
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Hunting With The Curator of the CMM Apr 4 2019
FossilsAnonymous posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
It was a glorious day to fossil hunt. Warm with a soft breeze and still slightly chilly water. See, I had gotten incredibly lucky. I had gotten a connection to Dr Stephen Godfrey and he invited me to hunt today at a classified location (sorry I am not allowed to spill the beans). Our friend Mr Eric came along as well as MomAnonymous. As soon as we had gotten there, interesting things began to appear. Dr Godfrey began to point out things i'd never had understood without being told. At the bottom of the cliff face, Dr Godfrey pointed to a strange indentation and then told us a story about he and other paleontologists finding completely intact fish skulls at the cliffs, which are nigh on impossible to find. Then he told us that the skulls were a type of tilefish, which as some may know burrow through mud. These tilefish buried themselves in these burrows and they became a kind of tomb, which is why they stayed intact and weren't destroyed. At this time, the Hobbit (movie) had just came out and when Dr Godfrey was given the ok to name the species, he went from something from the Hobbit. Dwarves tunneled, and their mountain was named the Lonely Mountain, and Erebor in the elvish language, and the species became Eraborensis.
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From the album: Calvert Cliffs
Baleen Whale Phalanx Bone Parvorder Mysticeti Miocene Virginia -
From the album: Virginia Miocene
Ecphora sp. Miocene Choptank Formation Virginia
