Search the Community

This tooth was found on my most recent trip to Purse State Park. I believe it is a Mackerel Shark tooth, Cretolamna. I think this may be my first truly pathological tooth because it does appear to be deformed. The crown of this genus does not typically slant to one side so much as this one does. Also, the crown is twisted rather than flat, much like the crowns of Physogaleus contortus. The thing that most leads me to believe it is pathological, however, is one of the cusps. The first cusp seems normal, but the other is twisted at a 90 degree angle and seems pressed against the crown. Can I get any confirmation that this tooth is in fact pathological? Also, can I get an ID as far as species goes, or is Cretolamna sp. the best I can get? Thanks in advance!

I'm back! A long spring break presented me with the opportunity to go out on a few fossil trips. I just haven't gotten around to posting until now. But here we go! After finding over 600 shark teeth in one day at Purse State Park, how could I not go back? With the stress of school completely absent from my mind, I went down to the park along the Potomac River for another day searching for Paleocene fossils. I arrived early, as I always try to, and I was the only one there when I arrived. Instead of heading to the left of the entrance as I did on my first trip, I decided to start by going right. After all, that was where I found my beloved Otodus tooth! This ended up being a good decision. For about the first hour, I wasn't finding teeth quite as often as my first outing, and this was a bit discouraging. However, as the sun rose higher into the sky, I started finding teeth left and right. I believe I was the only true fossil hunter at the site for the whole day; only a family or two with their children showed up for about an hour each and headed out. The one other person I did meet, however, was a man who was searching not for fossils, but for driftwood. Apparently he makes some pretty awesome sculptures with the wood he collects. He was pacing the beach with a heavy chainsaw. I originally thought he may have been after sharks teeth as well, but he assured me that "the teeth are all yours, buddy!" A matter of seconds after he said that, I picked up a small tooth that looked unlike anything I'd found at Purse before. Holding it closer to my face, I saw serrations on the blade. I knew it could only be one thing: Palaeocarcharodon! I was jumping with joy! It was a very small tooth, but very pretty. I was climbing through a big clump of fallen trees and logs when I found it. More proof that looking in obscure areas is worth it! The tide was rising. I kept further from the entrance, finding more of the usual Sand Tigers along the way. I made it to the duck hunting post, and turned around. Although the tide was reaching high up the beach, I thought going to the left would still be worth a shot. I walked a little faster than usual to reach the cliff area before it was too late to access them. I hardly found anything on my way there, and by the time I did reach the cliffs, the tide was almost completely engulfing that section of the beach. So I made my way back towards the entrance. The tide was reaching higher and higher up the beach, and I realized that I would likely have to leave soon because there would be no more beach to hunt on. So I made one last quick run to the right, because that seemed to be the side I was having much better luck with. With the palaeocarcha as my undisputed "trip maker", I would have been more than happy to have only found some more Sand Tigers on the last run. But Purse State Park was feeling extra generous that day. Searching high up onto the beach, I looked down to see a beautiful gold-colored Otodus tooth sitting right out in the open. It wasn't very large, but it was complete with both cusps and all. A true beauty. And if that wasn't enough, literally no more than 12 inches from that tooth I had just picked up was another big shark tooth! But this one wasn't an Otodus. No, it was ANOTHER Palaeocarcharodon! And this one was much bigger than my first! I couldn't believe that I found TWO of the most sought after tooth from the Paleocene Era. And with that, I left Purse State Park with a box filled to the brim with fossils. Overall, this trip was amazing! Perhaps even better than my first outing to Purse. I highly recommend going to this site if you love finding sharks teeth, and lots of them! Hoppe hunting!

Hey all, Hope all my fellow East Coast dwellers are holding up alright after the storm. We got hit pretty hard with snow in Northern VA. Anyway, this tooth was found at my Purse State Park trip a few months back. It looks quite different from the majority of the teeth I found on my trip. I used fossilguy.com to compare it to common fossils from the Aquia Formation, and it looks very much like a Paleohypotodus rutoti tooth. Can I get any confirmation on this ID or is it something else? It is slightly over 1/2 inch, but that's with a dinged tip. It has a distinctive U-shaped root that is very wide and flat when viewed from the side. The most unique things about the tooth, however, are the cusps. They are very worn down, to the point where they appear as nothing more than a couple of black lumps. The crazy thing is that it looks like there are three on each side. I believe this is typical of P. rutoti but it's hard to tell because the pictures online have sharper cusps. Does anyone have an ID for this one? And if so, I'd love to know a little more about the shark itself, because it is seldom mentioned online. All I know is that fossilguy has it listed as a "Mackerel Type Shark". Thanks in advance for help with the ID. Hoppe hunting!

Hello! I am brand new to fossil hunting. We went out to Purse State Park along the Potomac River in Maryland and found the attached. Any help in identifying any of these would be much appreciated! This is my first time at this! Thanks so much in advance!

While finishing up with my identifications from my trip to Purse State Park, I noticed two that I thought I could use some help on. The first is a nearly complete tooth that I believe to be that of O. obliquus because it has a bit of a bourlette, but I could be wrong. It seems far too long and slender to be from Otodus, but I'm not sure what else it would be from. I'm personally hoping that I'm correct because Otodus teeth are always awesome finds, but I'll be interested to see your take on it. When it comes to the second of the two, I don't even know where to start. It's very tiny, and has a root unlike any tooth I've every seen. the protuberance on the root is about as long as the crown, which makes it look totally bizarre. The top of the tooth looks like an arched "V" or like a banana peel. The root is wide and flat. My best guess for this one would be a baby Sand Tiger shark tooth (either from Striatolamia or Carcharias), or perhaps even a pathological tooth. As always, any help would be much appreciated. Hoppe hunting!

Hi all, This little fragment was one of my many finds at my first trip to Purse State Park. I've posted a trip report; go check it out if you haven't already. Although I found hundreds of fossils, I had very little trouble with identification as the formations at Purse only yield a handful of fossil species. But this one strange fragment has got me stumped. It's about 3/4 of an inch and pretty thin. One side is very bumpy with a small, smooth protrusion in the middle. The other side is very smooth with no bumps but some very tiny holes. It looks somewhat similar to a few of the crocodile and turtle fossils found along the Maryland Potomac coast that I've seen online. My best guess is that it is a scute of some kind due to the protrusion on the bumpy side, or perhaps a skull fragment. Again, I'm really not sure with this one. Any help would be much appreciated. It's always exciting to find something a little different! Thanks. Hoppe hunting!

There are so many testaments to Purse State Park being a fantastic fossil collecting site online, and because of this I thought I’d go there myself and test my luck. I kept on hearing about quantity, and how Purse yields more fossil sharks teeth per trip than just about any other local site. I was blown away when reading that people come home from a single trip with hundreds of teeth, and of decent size and quality too! And so a few days before Christmas, I packed up my gear and made my way across the border and down the Potomac to Purse State Park.The drive there was just fine, and the park is very secluded, unlike some other common sites. Perhaps its isolation contributes to its lack of a crowd in comparison to the Calvert Cliffs. The park is quite difficult to find as it is not clearly marked; I actually drove past it at first and had to turn around! The parking lot is on the left side of the road, and you have to cross the road to get to the trail. The hike is a little under a mile, which can be a pain if you have a lot of gear. It’s also practically in the middle of nowhere, so be cautious. Eventually, you’ll find yourself on a very nice little beach along the Potomac River. The cliffs run along the majority of the beach, and you can even see the exposed shells and cliff mix in the lower layers of some parts. In terms of area, this site is astonishing! There is at the very least a mile of beach, not to mention the fact that you can venture far past that thanks to the high tide line law in Maryland. You really could just keep walking, and I did just that, but even then I couldn’t cover all of the area even in the eight or nine hours that I hunted. If your looking for a place to hunt where there’s more beach than you know what to do with, head down to Purse.The fossils found here are from the Paleocene Era, much older than the Miocene exposures at the Calvert Cliffs. They are approximately 60 million years old, which is nearly dinosaur aged! One area where Purse does lack, however, is variety. Although you may find loads of teeth, they will all likely belong to only a handful of species unlike the Calvert Cliffs that yield hundreds of different species. This being said, the species found at Purse State Park are fascinating. The majority of teeth found will be those of extinct Sand Tiger Sharks, although you are able to find ray plates and mackerel shark teeth as well. Maybe you'll even be lucky enough to uncover a dreaded Otodus!I got to the park just a few minutes after sunrise, making for a beautiful sight. Once I began searching, I quickly learned that my shovel and sifter were rendered near useless, as I was finding teeth left and right by simply using my eyes. Surface hunting allowed me to cover a lot more distance in a lot shorter time, and I also began developing an eye for sharks teeth; there were a few time I spotted a nice tooth with only the root showing in the gravel or sand! The air temperature was not too bad, but the water was absolutely frigid and I had to take multiple breaks to avoid losing feeling in my hands completely. I tried to cover as much beach as possible without going too fast and missing teeth, and I was quite successful in doing so. To the left of the entrance, I walked for at least a mile finding tons of teeth, and I eventually stumbled upon a large and complete Turritella mold! I had found tiny fragments towards the entrance, but I was ecstatic with this find. But then, I found another. And another. When I looked up I realized I was standing right by a multitude of cliff falls that were full of these Gastropod fossils! There were hundreds of them, both in the rocks and freshly washed into the surf beneath them. I picked up the prettiest ones I could find, even carefully prying one out of the matrix. As sunset approached, I had found hundreds of fossils including teeth, plates, molds, and possible bones (turned out to be pseudofossils). But aside from some good sized sand tigers, I didn’t have anything too spectacular. But in the last hour of searching, I turned over an object that was mostly buried in the sand. To my delight, it was a nearly complete Otodus tooth! My first relatively large tooth, and a great way to end a great day of hunting! Otodus obliquus was a giant shark, nearly 35 feet in length, that was likely the ancestor to megatooth sharks like Megalodon. And since Megalodon was not alive during the Paleocene, I’d argue that finding a tooth from its great great Grandpa is just as cool! And with that, I found another handful or two of teeth on the way back to my bag and began to leave as the sun set over the horizon. On the way out, I got to share my finds with a family who was walking their dog along the beach. They were the only other people I saw in the park all day long; other than that I had the site to myself. I said a big thank you to Purse State Park, and hit the road.In total, I found an incredible 619 sharks teeth, along with over 50 other fossils! Like I said, this site delivers when it comes to quantity. Some of my favorite finds are the large Otodus in the middle, the Turritella, and the long and complete Sand Tigers. I was only able to display so many teeth before my space was overcrowded, and I had to put the rest in a pile. I am beyond happy with the results from this trip; it was by far my most productive trip yet. I hope you all enjoy seeing my finds and hearing my report, and I hope you’ll pay a visit to Purse! As always, Hoppe Hunting!

I found this little tooth at Purse State Park in Maryland today. The site is Paleocene, so pre-megalodon (I think). But the shape looks meg-ish and like nothing else I know to be there. I thought maybe it was a mackerel shark fragment, but it's really flat like a meg. Any guesses? Thanks! Jody

Last Sunday my family (wife, 7yo son, and 2yo son) and I headed down to Purse State Park for the first time for some fossil hunting and beach time. The parking lot was full but a couple was packing up so we were able to snag their spot. We got there about and hour before low tide and stayed about 2 hours. We all found some teeth and ray crushing plate fragments. Ok, technically our 2 year old was just playing in the sand but we pointed out and he handed us the ones that were in the sand he was playing with. We didn't find anything huge but for 2 hours everyone had fun and was happy. In the past visits to Brownies Beach and Calvert Cliffs my wife would just hang back and entertain our youngest or play with him on the edge of the water, actually searched and found several including the largest one among us. I'll have to play with the camera some or get out my usb microscope and see if I can improve the pictures. I have a picture of just the teeth I will have to attach separately since I am hitting the max size.

The kids (8 and 5), wanted to surprise my wife for her birthday and take her shark tooth hunting ( fortunately for me, my wife loves doing this!). While Brownies is our favorite spot, because of having the kids along and the cost to get into Brownies right now, we decided to go to Purse. We really like it down there and it's a lot safer for the kids. We ended up doing really well, 576 total teeth. Granted, most of them are small but we had a great time. Found my biggest Otodus so far. Unfortunately it's not complete. Also found 2 pygmy white shark teeth, and a paleohypotodus, both new finds for us. Great trip, great day to be on the water hunting. Just wish we lived closer!

These are the best of the bunch from a short trip right before high tide today.

Finishing up trying to ID some finds from the Fall at Purse State Park in Charles County, Maryland. These presumably are from the Paleocene Aquia Formation. This is my only collecting trip there so far. I think that #1 is a crocodile tooth, #2 is a turtle scute, #3 is a claw or tooth, and #4 and 5 are fish teeth. Please school me Fossil Forum. More of #4 and 5 More of #3

I decided to just make one post about my December finds. After going through the pictures I can see now that it seems easier to post after each hunt.

I had never been to Purse State Park until this morning. I hadn't planned on even going today but at the last minute I figured that I would give it a try. When I first got to the water there was fog covering the river to the point I could only see about 15-20 feet of the shore. I searched for about 4-5 hours and found right around 300 teeth. Here are a few of my favorites of the day. Can anyone tell me what the tooth on the top left is? I have an idea but don't want to get ahead of myself.

Hi. We visited Purse State Park for the first time a few weeks ago and my son loved collecting the little snails that were littering the bank. He's putting little baggies of shark teeth, ray teeth, and the snails together for his classmates and I'm hoping I could get some more information on the snails. They are approximately 2 cm in length. Are these modern? I can't imagine they are from the Aquia Fm. Thanks

Found this surface collecting on the Potomac yesterday. Its not complete unfortunately, and I haven't been able to find what it could be, so I appreciate any help with this. Other than this, my daughter found a small gastropod and we found quite a few teeth, but nothing to brag about.