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Can someone possibly clue me in on what this tiny bone is? It looks like it has a tooth attached or something of the likes...thanks in advance

I found this a few days ago along the Virginia side of the Potomac River along a miocene cliff. It's mostly if not all Choptank formation. Any ideas about a genus? Grid is in inches. Looks like maybe mature dolphin tailbone, but it's so small???

I found this scapula this weekend along the Potomac River in Virginia. It's a vertebrate. That's all I know for sure. Most of the cliff next to the beach where I found it is miocene marine, but the very top is pleistocene terrestrial. The grid is in inches.

Spent a cold, soggy day on a private trip along the Potomac yesterday. The mud was so saturated that we were sinking up to our knees where the sand met the mud at the base of the cliffs. It was totally worth it! Came home with treasures untold until I finish unpacking. I know there are some really nice whale vertebrae in there, including the one below. There are also a couple nice Ephora snails and what looks like maybe an echinoid -- really rare for the area if it is! My daughter found a couple snaggletooth shark teeth that are actually iridescent and blew me away! Here's a video report of the trip: Sorry I can't say specifically where this is. They are having problems with uninvited guests already.

Hello everyone, If you saw my most recent trip report, you know that I just found my first meg tooth! However, I'm not entirely sure whether the tooth is from Carcharocles megalodon or Carcharocles chubutensis. The tooth was found at Bayfront Park/Brownies Beach, which is the northernmost part of the Calvert Cliffs. The sediments exposed in the cliffs here are from the Calvert Formation, roughly 18-22 million years old. This would be right around the time when the great Megalodon first emerged. I remember reading that the majority of megateeth found at Brownies are chubs, but that megs have also been found there. What I'd like to know is which one my tooth is: Meg or Chub? It looks to me like if the tooth were complete, it would have the defining residual cusps of chubutensis, but unfortunately the blade is broken on both sides right by the root. The bourlette is missing, but that is a characteristic of every shark in the mega lineage so that doesn't really matter. The tooth is approximately 1 3/4 inches, and not quite as thick as I would've expected. As you can see on my trip report and Hop 5 post, my current ID for this tooth is C. chubutensis, but that is subject to change should someone with better knowledge on megatooth identification give their opinion. One last possibility is that it may be a transitional meg, meaning the shark was a blurred line between megalodon and chubutensis. Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

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

Yesterday (January 2nd) was only my second trip to Calvert Cliffs. I'm pretty new to fossil collecting, but thanks to the wonderful advice and reading the greatly informative posts from members such as @Darktooth @FossilsAnonymous @WhodamanHD @racerzeke @KimTexan and @paxhunter I had a lot of success and it was a much more productive trip than my first. Below is a brief summary and some pictures of what I found: I woke up, put on a few layers clothing, and had my coffee at 3:45am. After my morning pipe (tobacco...I actually make briar tobacco pipes as a hobby) I got in my pre-loaded truck and headed south at 4:45am. I made good time on the drive down as I hit 695 and got around Baltimore before the morning rush. At 7:10am I arrived at Brownies Beach and pulled in to a parking lot with only two other cars in it. After putting on my full waders, I grabbed my sifter and headed towards the beach. I planned this trip so that I could arrive midweek and get there early enough to catch some of the low tide (tides times were not friendly this week, but I start teaching classes next week so it was this week or wait until spring). Sunrise was at 7:24, but there was more than enough light to see...and what a sight it was. When I entered the beach area the tide was way, way out. I couldn't believe how far out it was, as it was past two small sandbars (if I get my GoPro video edited I will post it). Once I was on the beach I headed south towards the cliffs. I hurried through the beach area because I wanted to be by the cliffs with the tide so low. I know I missed teeth along the beach, but I wanted to get to the cliffs with the tide being so far out where I could hopefully find some larger teeth than what are common at the beach area. As I neared the end of the beach I ran into one woman who was there just to relax and walk on the beach. We said good morning and I knew who one of the two cars in the parking lot belonged to. Once I went around the point and turned my eyes close to shell line and started looking. Because of all the wonderful advice from this forum I had a much better idea of what I was looking for and how to best look. After a few minutes I had some ray plates, very small teeth, and my first ever vert. It wasn't even 7:30 and I knew it was going to be a good day. As I made my way down the shore line that I figured had been pretty well picked over from people being off over the holidays, I remembered a forum member saying 'you need to look in the places that others don't'. I approached a fallen tree that I remembered from my first trip a few weeks ago, and with the tide being so low almost the entire tree was exposed so I got down on my hands and knees and started looking at some of the gaps between the tree and sand...then it happened. You know when you day dream and picture yourself finding a great tooth or fossil? Well that's what happened as my eyes saw a pristine Mako just laying there (pictures below). I know its not a huge tooth or a meg, but to me being new to the hobby this was completely awesome and a trip maker. I think I still have a smile on my face from finding it. As I continued down the beach I collected many more teeth from various sharks. I couldn't believe it when I found an awesome cow shark tooth (my second trip maker) laying out in the open about 8 feet up the beach. Beside it was another good tooth as well that went in my pouch. Around 10:30 I ran into a very friendly gentleman and we chatted a bit. We talked about the weather and the cliffs, what he had found (a few hemis), and he told me a story of a fall he had witnessed a few years ago that was too close for comfort. A chunk of clay the size of a car fell and nearly crushed him, but luckily he heard some soil falling and he ran straight out into the bay right before the cliff fell. Although the clay chunk did't hit him, the water threw him up into the air when the clay hit. His friend who was a down the cliffs said he heard it and it sounded like a car crash....I didn't get this gentleman's name but I feel like I read his cliff fall story on here, so if you know who it may have been please let me know. I continued south until the tide started coming in pretty far and I thought it best to head back towards the beach since I didn't know how far it would come in or how high the water would get. I continued my search along the way back and made it to my truck around 2pm. I took a short break, ditched my sifter, texted my wife, checked email, watched a truck with two high school kids pull in to smoke a pipe (although this one wasn't filled with tobacco), and headed back out for one more quick trip down and back as the tide started to go back out. It wasn't until about 3:30pm when two more local fossil collectors came up behind me and we said hello and chatted. All in all, I only ran into 3 other collectors during the day so there was not a lot of competition (although I do like the interesting conversation). After finding a few more teeth and interesting fossils dusk approached and I headed back to my truck. After putting my gear away and changing into some dry clothes I started my trek north after a fantastic start to 2019. Below are some pictures of my finds from the day. I know what many of the teeth and other fossils are, but if you can ID something that a newbie like me probably wouldn't know then please do so as it will help me get better with this hobby. Thanks!

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!

Hey all, it looks like even with the heavy rain I will still be able to make a break out at low tide, I figure it should be safe enough if it’s low tide because I can stay closer to the waves and away from the cliff. Just wanted to have an epic hunt at the end of 2018. I will probably do a Matoaka-Brownies combo hunt and try to get out there by 11 when the rain has died down a bit. not really expecting to find anything big. Still, it never hurts! Any of you heading out? Cheers, FA

Hi, This tooth was found at Bayfront Park/Brownies Beach, which is Calvert Formation (~18-22 MYA). It is clearly from an odontocete, but it is unlike any other I've found from this location, or anywhere for that matter. The crown is not perfectly conical, instead having a rather wide appearance. But what really makes this tooth so odd is the root. It is flattened and bumpy, while most odontocete teeth have long, smooth roots like those of human teeth (this obviously makes sense, as they are both mammals). The fossil is about 3/4" from the tip of the crown to the bottom of the root. If you look closely (it may be difficult to see in the pictures provided), it almost looks like the tooth is encased within the root, and could be pulled out. This at first led me to consider the possibility that the strange flat part may actually just be matrix and the fossil is just a typical odontocete tooth not fully uncovered. However, after further inspection I am confident that everything is fossilized and the entire fossil is a single tooth. So now the only questions are what animal did this tooth belong to and why is it so unusual in appearance? I am certainly hoping that it may be a small Squalodon tooth because I've never found one and I think they're just awesome. Any information is appreciated, as always. Thank you!

Hello. I found this tooth today at Matoaka and wanted to get a different perspective than mine. This tooth seems way old for the Choptank formation. First, it seems like a Paleocene tooth snuck in to a Miocene formation. To me, it seems more like otodus obliqqus than hastalis. Reason? Cusps. My tooth has more pronounced, albeit worn down cusps than any I've seen on hastalis. All i'm trying to say is that it is very different and uncommon and would like to know what it is. Tooth.

Hello All, a friend recently recommended this site to me who lives right down in Calvert itself. He recommended it to me if I wanted to learn more about Maryland Fossils. My question to you all is: is this source present-time and accurate? It was published this year, but may contain information from previous years that has now been proven different. Thank you all because I am eager to learn! Site itself:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327907444_Miocene_bony_fishes_from_the_Calvert_Choptank_St_Marys_and_Eastover_Formations_Chesapeake_Group_Maryland_and_Virginia PDF is available for downloads. Thanks in advance.

These were both found along Calvert Cliffs where the older, Calvert Formation, is present. The first tooth with the cusps is smooth edged. The 2nd tooth is a bit worn, but does seem to have had serrations. I have been identifying it as a small worn posterior Meg. The new tooth made me check it again and wonder, but it does still appear to be a Meg and not something older to my eyes. What I come up with for ID puts the tooth with cusps out of place at Calvert. Seems like it should be from an older formation. Both were found this season, but many months apart. Distance between the finds was pretty close, I'd say 1/8 mile or less . I am a kayaker; these were both from an area easier to reach by kayak, and where I do tend to find older, smaller teeth.

Found this probably last year or a few years ago, i can't remember but I always wanted to know what it was from. It looks like it could have been some head of a bird? I don't know, maybe a turtle? I'm at a loss on this one! It has a little raised area at the front "nose". I could be way off and it's not a head at all! It measures almost 2" long and 1" wide at the widest point and high it's about 5/8" at the back end. Thanks in advance! This was a Calvert County Maryland -- Chesapeake Bay find.

I need to get some of the shallow display cases but this keeps them safe for now!

Looked in my book but just am not sure it measures 1.5” x 1.25” x .50”. Maybe camel, bison? Horse? Any help appreciated, I have a horse molar and a peccary but this is my first like this. Thanks!

Hi all! Decided to bring out the kayak on this windy Maryland day and it was another amazing hunt although and my arms are definitely suffering. Unfortunately didn't find anything too great but did find an unusual piece of something I've never seen or found before. Of course like every leaf, shell, or rock it could just be an incredibly suggestively shaped piece of nothing but I think it's some sort of mammal tooth possibly or maybe some type of fish tooth? Comparing it to the seal/peccary online it looks similar but just not enough to convince me so I thought I'd ask the experts! It's from the Calvert formation of the Chesapeake Group which is early Miocene: For size reference: Close up: From below: Thanks and I apologize for the blur I guess that's what you get with a clip on magnifier on a cell phone camera

Since I am brand new to Miocene fossils, I’m hoping the Fossil Forum community can help me identify the following fossils I found at Flag Ponds over Labor Day weekend. Group 1 - Cetacean or impressions left by invertebrates?

Yesterday I followed the stream that starts in my backyard to the bay. Went north a bit and saw what looked like a piece of lignite in a small slab of cliff about to fall, tapped it with my machete(needed for clearing brush, spider webs, maybe a copperhead Lol!) and it made an unexpected clink instead of the mush that lignite usually is. My extraction method would probably make you guys puke but yes, I used my machete to slice until free. It was high tide, waves splashing against me and cliff, also had two impatient boys and two dogs in tow so it was quick and dirty. Anyway, it ended up being a pretty large bone. Probably whale/dolphin rib, maybe flipper?? IDK... Looks like some sort of joint at one end. Kinda wonder if a whole skeleton is buried in the cliff????

First stop on our road trip was at brownies beach Thursday. My boys, our dog, and myself had a great time! Weather was fantastic. We walked around the bend, spent about 3 hours total. Saw lots of blueclaw crabs, some fish, and the boys had a bald eagle fly about 10 feet over their heads. And we found some teeth! A few makos, couple of hemis, some tigers, lemons... on the way out my son asked me to help him clear sand out of his water shoes and I found a nice fish vert in 4 inches of water just a few feet before I got to him. I thanked him for deciding to clear his shoes out at that spot. We also kept a few shells that were in good condition and will make a nice display. We stopped at gmr on friday, will post our results soon. Currently we are in the Charleston area and my boys REALLY want to find a meg. I do not know my way around here, but we will try to explore a creek or two in the Summerville area, have to look on google maps.

My family and I were at Calvert Cliffs today and discovered this. Any thoughts?

Sorry, the images are apparently too large to upload, so here is an imgur link to the photos. They were found along the banks of the Potomac, in Virginia. I think it's mostly miocene stuff that washes up on that beach, but I'm not sure. The first is about 4 cm long and 2.5 cm wide; the second, 2.5 cm long and 1 cm wide. The last set of images is just a clam cast I found on a different beach in the same area - I was wondering if it was possible to identify the species of clam from the cast, but if not that's completely understandable, haha.

We took a trip down to the Matoaka Cabins in St. Leonard Maryland Saturday. I knew we weren't going to be making low tide in the morning or late in the evening, so we were there pretty much at high tide. The boys had fun playing in the sand and finding a few fossils. Our 2.5 year old actually found the first, he picked it up and asked if he found a fossil. We hung around for almost 4 hours before we headed pack home and beat the evening storms. Our 8 year old was thrilled to find fragments of ecphoras, chesapectans and ray dental plates. I found a few pieces of coral, a couple shark teeth, a possible fish vertebrae, and 4 mysterious bits that if I were to guess I would say 2 fish coprolites possibly and then the other 2 are maybe turtle or maybe croc scutes? The ruler in the pics is cm...because imperial is a pain.