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1 more from the same location, a vertebra. Photos 1 & 2 are the front and back, while 3 & 4 show top and bottom. One end appears flat, while the other is crudely pointed. Axis vert? I was thinking small mammal. Thoughts? thanks!

hello, I have 2 items from Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, USA. Exposures are Miocene. These were found as float, on the beach. The first is a jaw section, approx. 8cm in length, with a broken piece of one tooth present. Porpoise? The second is a tooth crown, approx 18x13 mm and two ridges. Photos of the chewing surface and underside are presented. Manatee? thanks!

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.

Hey everyone, A few days ago I finally got back out to Bayfront Park. According to the local forecast, it was going to be a cloudy day, but there was enough space in the sky during the sunrise for the sun to peek through and create a marvelous display of colors. I always love the scenery at Brownies, and that day was especially beautiful. The tide was relatively low when I arrived, but since I got there just after peak low tide, the water was rising for the entire time I was there, and it rose much faster than I would've liked. I didn't find any big teeth, but overall still had a great day collecting. I hope you enjoy my YouTube video of the hunt, embedded below. If you haven't already done so, please subscribe to my channel, leave a like on the video, and drop a comment as well to let me know what you thought! Thanks for the support! With the weather starting to finally warm up, I will hopefully be able to get out more frequently. Hoping for some low tides. Hoppe hunting!

Well, I wrote a whole long story about my first trip from NJ to MD, and then I hit some key on my keyboard while I was typing and it deleted or overwrote everything. So here is the shortened version. I left NJ at 2AM on 3/30 and made it to the beach parking lot about 5:45AM. I may have left later but my assessment of the tides seemed to indicate that low was around sun-up. I think I got it wrong. Oh well, there was less traffic anyway. I knew nothing about this place except what I could read on the internet and the advice from a few people in here (Thanks you all!!!). I was dressed and on the beach by 6AM, and I was excited! So I spent the 21 hours over the next two days searching high and low on the beach. It was the most frustrating time I can remember (doing anything!!). I guess I was just not prepared for hunting at the beach. I couldn't find anything. Not a single tooth. At least not for a good 3-4 hours. Then, I chatted for a minute with a woman that was collecting near me. She looked like she was finding things in spots I had just walked over. I told her my story and she helped my see a little better. And she showed me how to find baby teeth in the shells. I felt a little better at least having something in my pocket to show for the trip, even if the teeth were around a 1/4" in size. So most of the rest of my 1st day I spent searching the gravel piles for these baby teeth just so I could have something to bring home. I actually did find 2 other damaged teeth that were of a more legitimate size (in my mind ). One was a Snaggletooth and the other I still don't know what it is. But it was heavier and thicker than anything I had found earlier. Maybe you guys can opine. I didn't do much better the next day either but it was a beautiful, pre-Easter day and I was away from home at the beach and I talked with a lot of really nice people that were also out looking for lightly buried treasure. I spent 12 hours that day (6AM-6PM) roaming from one end of the beach to the other. I did actually find a bunch of interesting souvenirs to stuff my pockets with. Nothing fancy, but interesting to me at least. And I even managed to find a handful of bones and ray plates (which I liked!) and a few vert's and some shells and even a handful more baby-sized teeth with a few medium sized ones thrown in as well. The day was winding down for me. I had to make the 4 hour drive home that night and I was tired, so I began to subconsciously head back to the parking lot. I hadn't found a trip maker yet but it was beginning not to matter anymore. I had a fun trip and figured I'd just have to come back and try again someday. But on my way back to the parking lot I actually did find my trip maker. I found a beautiful blue Snaggletooth. I almost stepped on it as I climbed over some washed up debris. When I looked down and picked it up out of the sand, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I think I may have yelped out loud a little bit. And I never figured I'd find a Megoladon tooth, so to me, this was the tooth I had hoped to find. NOW, I felt satisfied. And I actually found a couple more and some other medium sized teeth on the way out. When I got the home and spread them out, I was very surprised by the number of different types of sharks I had found. I have some Hemi's, some Tiger sharks, Some Lemon sharks, Some long teeth like Sand Tigers or maybe even a Mako. I'm sure there must be another type or two in the pile. Maybe you guys can lend some expertise for me. So I felt very satisfied with the trip, even though it was the last hour or so that blew things wide open for me. Please feel free to offer an opinion on any of the things I found. I am only able to guess at some of the teeth. I would guess I found some porpoise ribs and some other bones. And 2-3 types of vert's, not counting the white one that probably isn't a fossil. One other thing that was surprising was the number of different looking Ray plates. Thanks for looking and for the trip tips before I left! Andy