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Here are two very small bony teeth, the upper tooth I think is a Cyclopoma folmeri, but I don't know the other one. Any ideas? Thanks. Nanjemoy Formation, Eocene, Muddy Creek, VA.

I found the below partial jaw with two molars several years ago in the Eocene Nanjemoy Formation of Virginia and donated it to the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Ken Rose studied the jaw and wrote a paper on it which was just published on-line by the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. With Covid it took a bit longer to get the paper on this jaw written and published. Here is the paper citation: Kenneth D. Rose, Jonathan M. G. Perry, Kristen A. Prufrock & Robert E. Weems (2021): Early Eocene Omomyid from the Nanjemoy Formation of Virginia: First Fossil Primate from the Atlantic Coastal Plain, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, DOI:10.1080/02724634.2021.1923340. Below is a link to an earlier thread on this partial jaw. http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/110349-omomyid-primate-partial-jaw-from-the-eocene-of-virginia/ Two things I would like to point out about this partial jaw: 1) From the paper title: “First Fossil Primate from the Atlantic Coastal Plain”. 2) From the DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS of the paper: Considering its geographic separation from other known North American, as well as European, omomyids, it almost certainly represents a previously unknown species. However, in the absence of premolars (often the most diagnostic teeth in omomyids) or any other anterior teeth, or obvious derived molar traits, it would be premature to create a new taxon for this fragmentary specimen. These are my original pictures of the jaw (4 mm X 4 mm X 1.5 mm). The paper contains better ones. Marco Sr.

The two shark teeth below are recent personal finds from the Nanjemoy Formation (early Eocene) in Maryland. I'd appreciate any help in ID'ing them. #1: Jaekelotodus robustus? I've been calling this one Jaekelotodus robustus and am curious if that's correct. This tooth measures 27 mm on the slant. #2: Brachycarcharias lerichei? This second tooth has me stumped. I'm leaning toward Brachycarcharias lerichei, but would not be surprised to find out it's something else! This tooth measures a little over 22 mm on the slant. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

Most of my Maryland fossil hunts are at well-known Paleocene and Miocene spots. A few weeks ago, I got an itch to try something new and after studying a state geologic map and aerial photos, I found a potentially promising Maryland exposure of the less accessible Nanjemoy Formation (Eocene). It's an out-of-the-way spot and a lengthy trek along a river from the nearest public access point. As I discovered, it’s also kind of a brutal hike due to the number of downed trees and other vegetation lining the banks, forcing you to mostly travel through murky knee deep and higher water with plenty of tripping hazards from submerged and hidden trees. A kayak would undoubtedly be a better option, but as I don't own one, I had to make do with my waders! Eventually, I found the exposure and was rewarded with my first self-collected Eocene shark teeth--all sand tigers. While the river would likely soon wash away evidence of visitors, my suspicion is that this is a rarely collected site. While I was excited to have found this spot, the pickings were slim enough and the site inaccessible enough that I wasn’t sure if I would head back. But I couldn’t help myself—yesterday I decided to try again. The water was a bit higher than on my first visit and the heat index was quite a bit higher. There’s not much shade along the route, and I definitely felt the sun; the hike was tougher than the last time. When I finally reached the exposure, to my chagrin, the beach where I’d found my best sand tigers was also buried in black sand with almost no gravels visible. I did find a few fossils there, but they were quite worn. Continuing along the exposure I finally spotted a larger tooth in the water. At first I thought it was an Otodus, but I believe it’s actually Jaekelotodus—the blade on this one is in good shape but it’s missing most of its root. A ways further down, I finally found a nice stretch of wider beach and exposed gravels--and more fossils. Such as this intriguing tooth peeking out of the sand. Though upon extraction, not quite as interesting after all. Nearby, I noticed this one—from the exposed root I had no doubt it was an Otodus, but in what condition? Score! It’s missing a cusplet and looks like it's been tumbling in the river for a while, but it's decently sized (1.35") and I was quite happy with it--my find of the day and the first Eocene Otodus I've ever found. I continued to find a number of shark teeth along this stretch—everything looked like it had been tumbling in the water for a while. I found a couple of fragments of still larger Otodus teeth, but none that were intact. On my way back, I found another smaller Otodus in fairly good condition--just missing one of the root corners. Here are all my finds for the day: The temperature and hike were challenging enough on this early summer day that I won’t be heading out to my Nanjemoy spot again this summer. But perhaps I’ll return in the fall. I also brought back a gallon bag of river gravels yesterday, so hopefully I'll find some good micros at home!

For years I’ve had my macro fossils in drawers and my micro fossils in gem jar displays. Recently I’ve started putting some of my macro fossils in 8”X12” Riker mounts. Below are the Riker mounts that I now have. I’ll probably put together at least twenty of these. Below are two Riker mount displays with specimens from the Paleocene Aquia Formation from the Potomac River in the Liverpool Point, Maryland area. This display contains in the top crocodile vertebrae, a couple of crocodile leg bones, and two crocodile coprolites. I have larger crocodile vertebrae but they are too large for these Riker mount displays. Then a row of crocodile teeth (for size reference the largest partially rooted tooth is 2”). I have over 200 crocodile teeth from the area but the vast majority are fairly small. Then on the bottom there are turtle shell pieces and a crocodile scute. This display contains in the top ray dental plates and a ray barb. I have a lot of very nice very small ray dental plates but the larger ones tend to be damaged/beat up. Ray barbs are not really that common from the area. The middle has a few Otodus obliquus teeth and a partial vertebra. The day I found that partial vertebra, a person that I took to the site for the first time, found a complete, perfect one of the same size. For size reference, the anterior O. obliquus tooth is just less than 3”. I have over 700 O. obliquus teeth from the area but the vast majority are water worn and/or have damaged root lobes, cusplets, tips etc. I believe that these sharks ate a lot of turtles which took a toll on the teeth. At the bottom are a couple of chimaera mouth plates and a fin spine. I have at least 110 smaller chimaera mouth plates in my gem jar displays. The next two Riker mount displays contain specimens from the Eocene Nanjemoy Formation of Virginia. I posted one of these awhile back here on TFF but I’ve rearranged it as I’m now putting more of my specimens in Riker mounts. This display contains on top a few of the larger coprolites that I still have from the Nanjemoy Formation. I’ve already donated over 20,000 of these to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. I’ve accumulated another 30,000 since my last donation in 2015. Then there is a row of sand tiger teeth two inches and larger. Then there is a row with additional sand tiger teeth and two Otodus obliquus. O. obliquus are not common at all from the area. I’ve only found five in over 165 trips to various sites in the area. Then there are two sawfish rostral spines/teeth and a sawfish vertebra, and a ray mouthplate and medial tooth with several ray partial barbs. On the bottom are three associated fish vertebrae, a small fish jaw, fish spine, and then two fish teeth. This display is a work in progress. I’m putting some of my larger reptile specimens in it. The bottom rows have two turtle lower jaws, turtle shell and a turtle bone. I have lots of other turtle shell pieces so what’s in this display is only a representative sample of what I have collected from the area. The next row contains sea snake vertebrae. I have over 100 of these so I’ll add a few more to this display. My largest, 1.5“ thick won’t fit in this display. At the top are three rooted crocodile teeth, a partial crocodile scute and a small crocodile vertebra. At some point in the future I will post more of these Riker mounts as I finish them. I’m also thinking of putting together a number of artificial shark tooth dentitions and mounting them in Riker mount displays I have several hundred thousand shark teeth from the Nanjemoy so I should have most of the positions for a number of different shark dentitions. Marco Sr.

While collecting at a location in SE Virginia which produces a mixture of material from the Eocene Nanjemoy Formation and late Miocene/early Pliocene Yorktown Formation, I was shocked to find what I believe to be a cretaceous Globidens sp. anterior tooth fragment. My only explanation for this would be that it must have been redeposited into the Eocene beds and finally exposed with rest of the material. The texture is classic Globidens. The only other species with a slightly similar texture found within these formations (though still markedly different), would be Squalodon sp., however if the tooth were more complete it would clearly prove to be hollow with a conical interior consistent with squamates like mosasaurs. The fragment is approximately 7/8" x 1/2". This is the first bit of possibly cretaceous material I have found from these exposures, so it would be quite interesting if the general consensus is a Globidens sp. Your thoughts would be much appreciated! Thanks, Ash