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We were in the creek today and found this Chesapecten Shell that is still closed. We’ve never found one of these with both sides, unopened. Can anyone ID the type of Chesapecten? Is it Madisonious? Thank You!

Any idea what this is? Found in Virginia, in the Devonian-era Mahatango Formation. There were a few of them embedded in the rock, but all were too secure to remove safely. They appear to be a white film, and sort of spiral up out of the rock. As another oddity, these were white, whereas other nearby fossils (molluscs mostly) were dark.

Would it be possible that these two bones would come from a similar animal? I have been told with pretty good authority the larger is a whale vertebra and am curious about the smaller, found in the same creek, 100 feet away. Also Chesapecten shells found in the same creek.

Had nothing else to do yesterday so went to a spot on the Potomac. Found bunch of teeth and some nice bone. Ones a rather large piece about 6 inches long and 5 wide. Another nice half of a vert that's broken. Fav two are the porpoise teeth? Water was awfully cold and the wind wasn't cooperating so only looked for a hour. Then had to get back in truck and warm up. Temps near water was 45 and inland it was 59. Quite the difference and wasn't dressed for that. Not sure what the big piece of bone is from or the vert? Anyway, nothing great just better than doing nothing on a Saturday!

These shells all look similar in nature except the last one, pictured by itself. Any way to identify, specifically? Thank You! Freshwater Creek, very slick light brown clay bottom which is blue grey once penetrated and dug. Also sand.

I have boxes of Cetacean bones in my basement. I wish I had a way to display these upstairs but I just don’t have the room. Here is a group of Cetacean bones ready to go to the basement (I still need to clean the last vertebra on the right in the back.). You can see lots of vertebrae (the largest in the center is 8.5” wide, 7” deep, by 7.5” high), a partial atlas vertebra (front, center), lots of epiphysis (front), skull pieces (center), an ulna (left, 12.5” long), and a portion of a baleen whale jaw (right, 15.5” long ) Marco Sr.

Here are three more Riker mount displays (8”X12”) that I just put together with my macro specimens from the Miocene and Pleistocene of Virginia. The first two displays contain Miocene crab specimens in concretions. My sons and I have probably several hundred of these crab concretions. Unfortunately the quality of these specimens isn’t like the great crab specimens that come out of the state of Washington but they are still interesting to find. The second display also has a few borrows. The third display contains some miscellaneous specimens like petrified wood from Pleistocene bog iron of Virginia, Miocene terrestrial mammal teeth including a piece of a Gomphothere tooth, bony fish specimens like opercular series bones, tilly bones and sturgeon scutes, and some bivalve shell internal casts. Also in the display, bottom far right, is the only piece of a burrfish mouthplate that I’ve found in the Maryland/Virginia Miocene. Here is another 8”X12” Riker mount display that I just put together with macro specimens from the Miocene of Maryland and Virginia. This display contains some of the very first fossils that I ever collected dating back to the 1970s. In the early days of my collecting I only separated my macro fossils by age/time period and not by formation or location also. So I’m not sure of the location that a lot of these specimens were found at. Most are from the Miocene of Maryland. However I do remember that the two dark gray Otodus megalodons were found by me on the same day diving at Governor’s Run Maryland and that they were my first megalodons ever collected. I also remember collecting the ocean going sunfish jaw at Plum Point Maryland and the thickest sperm whale tooth at Stratford Hall Virginia. Marco Sr.

I found this in a creek bed, here in Virginia. Not sure what this is, I’ve searched all over and am clueless. It is hollow all the way through, Can anyone help? Thank you.

Below are some more of my macro fossils that I’ve recently put in 16”X12” Riker mount displays. All of the specimens in these displays come from the Miocene of Virginia. The first display with shark/ray specimens, the second display with bony fish specimens, the third display with marine mammal specimens and the last display with reptile specimens. I'm getting some more Riker mount displays Saturday and I'll post some more displays with more of my macro specimens from the Miocene of Virginia. To see a previous post with Riker mount displays with macro specimens from the Paleocene Aquia Formation of Maryland and the Eocene Nanjemoy Formation of Virginia check out the below link: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/101415-a-few-riker-mounts-with-specimens-from-the-aquia-formation-of-maryland-and-the-nanjemoy-formation-of-virginia/ To see a previous post with Riker mount displays with macro specimens from the Miocene Round Mountain Silt Formation of California, the Eocene/Oligocene Chadron/Brule Formations of Nebraska, and the Miocene of Virginia check out the below link: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/101441-a-few-more-riker-mount-displays-with-macro-specimens-from-the-round-mountain-silt-formation-of-california-the-chadronbrule-formations-of-nebraska-and-the-miocene-of-virginia/ Display with shark/ray specimens. The top of the display has shark vertebrae. Then there are Otodus megalodon teeth (for size reference the largest megalodon is 4.75” and the smallest is .625”). Then there are some Hemipristis serra shark teeth. The bottom has two eagle ray barbs and pieces of eagle ray dental plates. Display with bony fish specimens. The top of the display has bony fish vertebrae with a Wahoo jaw (6.5” long for size reference), a hypural fan, several bill fish bills and two small fish jaws. Then the middle has lots of fish jaws with some black drum jaws on the far left and most of the other jaws to the right being red drum. The bottom has ocean going sun fish bones including three jaws and there are some more bony fish vertebrae on the far right. Displays with marine mammal specimens. The top and middle of the display has Cetacean bulla and periotic ear bones (for size reference the largest is 3“). The bottom left has Cetacean vertebrae, flipper bones and two small jaw fragments. The right contains Cetacean teeth. Display with reptile specimens. The very top has two coprolites most likely crocodile. Then some crocodile jaw pieces with a number of crocodile teeth and a crocodile scute (for size reference 4.5” by 3.25”) on the far right. The bottom has turtle caprice/plastron pieces and a good number of leatherback turtle carapace bones. Marco Sr.

Below are some more of my macro fossils that I’ve recently put in 8”X12” Riker mount displays. To see a previous post with Riker mount displays with specimens from the Aquia Formation of Maryland and the Nanjemoy Formation of Virginia check out the below link: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/101415-a-few-riker-mounts-with-specimens-from-the-aquia-formation-of-maryland-and-the-nanjemoy-formation-of-virginia/ Considering I’ve only made three trips to the Ernst Ranch in Bakersfield California, I’m pretty happy with the macro specimens that I’ve found in those trips. The below display contains some of my nicer macro specimens from the Miocene Round Mountain Silt Formation. The top of the display has a cetacean flipper bone, cetacean vertebra, a bird bone, and a leatherback turtle carapace bone. Then there is a row of Isurus planus shark teeth. Then a group of Carcharodon hastalis teeth (for size reference the largest tooth is 3.13”) with an Otodus megalodon to the right. The bottom of the display has two upper Hexanchus teeth and both cetacean and sea lion/seal teeth. Below is a picture of a display with macro specimens from my sons’ M&M Ranch in Sioux County Nebraska. These macro specimens came from the Eocene Chadron Formation (maybe but not likely) and the Oligocene Brule Formation (Most likely as the vast amount of the ranch flats areas where they were collected is almost all Oligocene). The top has a row of coprolites. I only have a few coprolites left as I have donated several hundred to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. The next row has a few pieces of turtle/tortoise shell. Then there is a mammal tooth and rows of small mammal partial jaws. The bottom of the display contains mammal bones. Some of these specimens were given to me by my older son, Marco Jr., because I don’t do a lot of surface collecting at the ranch. I spend the vast majority of my time at the ranch searching for anthills and collecting anthill matrix which contains micro vertebrate specimens which are my main interest. Below is a picture of a display with Carcharodon hastalis shark teeth from the Miocene of Virginia. The top of the display contains teeth from the upper jaw and the bottom of the display from the lower jaw. For size reference the largest teeth are 2 5/8”. I have collected several thousand Carcharodon hastalis teeth from Virginia but this will probably be my only Riker mount display of them. I used all six of the Riker mount displays that I just recently bought so I won’t be able to post anything more until I get my next batch of them delivered. Marco Sr.

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.

A trip to the beach, didn't yield much, some badly worn teeth (no shrimp coprolites!) The water is super clear, should be good after the next good north blow. Deer season is over so tried the creek in the woods, unfortunately the water was up (and cold) and leaves everywhere. Found a new spot and worked it for a couple of hours with nothing spectacular. Less sand tiger spikes there? Found a puffer plate (had not seen any in a year or so), the pretty red mako (more red-bronze than the scanner shows; no root but may go to someone for jewelry), and several small and colorful teeth. No angel shark teeth, no cowshark teeth, and only a few drum teeth. Always amazes me how different the yield is, reproducibly in some older spots, not sure of the new. Slightly different depth or time originally? Or maybe mixing after washing out and re-sedimenting in holes?

Anyone have any they recommend? Something easy to slip on and flexible. Debating the hip waders or something simple to slip on over boots.

Anyone having any luck this winter so far along the Potomac? Found bunches of sand shark teeth so far. Tides been high lately haven't been able to do anything this past weekend. Just checking to see if anyone has been finding anything good.

This summer I’ll be at Lake Gaston (Virginia) for vacation, so I was wondering if there are any locations there or nearby that might contain fossils. I’m mostly looking for shark teeth, but if there’s a spot with other fossils, I’d be willing to check it out. Any help or tips are appreciated!! Thank you!

@GeschWhat @Carl It has been cold, but the shrimp (callianassid) coprolite burrows I find have been relatively plentiful (more than decent sized shark teeth) with recent strong north winds and low tides. One puzzle to me is the variation in diameter of the burrows. Carl, our expert, believes the coprolites just sank and deposited in burrows (at another site I have found a few steinkerns with similar, sparser deposits. ) All of the burrows I have found on the Rapp beach have been cylindrical, or possibly pieces of cylinders (of course, this could be bias in my collecting, but I examine lots of stuff!) Usually the coprolite deposits are thicker on one side (the bottom?) of the burrow. If the burrows are truly made by the callianassids (Carl says no, others may argue) I expect the coprolites in the big burrows to be bigger than those in the smaller burrows. I have collected enough to get a tentative answer, but need to align by brightness for comparison photos (some burrows and coprolites are very light, some are dark). Here is what I have collected so far:

I'm new to this. I'm a land surveyor; a new job site I'm on had a storm water creek burst & cut a new path. It exposed a fossil layer. At the bottom was a perfectly preserved reef of large oysters. As it had been undisturbed it was pristine. I've spent a few lunch breaks combing the creek, not much time, & found 100s of shark teeth, 1,000s of coprolites, dozens of bones. It seems everything was preserved here; I've found shrimp & crabs even. But it is getting destroyed rapidly & will be obliterated during the construction phase. I can not get anyone interested in checking it out before it's gone & I don't really know who to ask. The site is in Maryland, near DC. I don't want to give too many specifics on lacal. I don't know what to do to try & save some of what's in there so here I am. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. I can post pics of what I've found upon request, i just wouldn't know where to start. Thanks

Hello! New member from Richmond, VA. I grew up in Greenville, NC but didn't know about GMR fossils until a few years ago (even though I spent childhood playing at Elm Street Park and Greensprings). I became interested in fossils and began collecting about three years ago. I love it. Yesterday was my first time at GMR. What a work out and very enjoyable day even in the rain. I found some interesting things that I am going to post pictures of here in a bit in hopes someone can help me I.D. Thanks in advance.

A quick note from my last few hunts. The water is cold but clear and I have been finding several shrimp coprolite burrows three of my last four trips. Sometimes 4 to 8 small teeth, sometimes double that. Have been looking hard for the makos which appear in the winter, and quickly pocketed what I thought was a nice one (but smaller than the mako I posted last week; added for scale to some scans). When my 8 year old niece saw it, she said ,"that's a megalodon tooth!" and looking closely I saw she was correct, fine serrations and the bourlette. About 2 1/2 inches with only the tip missing serrations. Will try to catch up with other finds later, but this is the first whole, decent (though small) meg I have found in five years! They do exist at this beach after all (still very rare).

Two species from the Yorktown Formation along the James River in Virginia that I cannot identify. One a coral (if not genus name, family?) and the other what I presume to be part of a bivalve. Both are very common yet I cannot find them in any references. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

October has not been kind to me health-wise; jetlag, diarrhea, flu, and bronchitis. Still weak and fighting a cough, but a beautiful time to be outside (love the Fall!, just wish the teeth would cooperate better). Typical sand shark spikes, angel shark, drum, and verts (more gravel than sand or shell bits), lots of small teeth, not sure of ID. A few tiger shark teeth (rare for me), a few small, de-enameled makos, a small bonito nose (second small one I've found?) and nothing spectacular or BIG, though more "shrimp coprolite burrows" than usual. I tried new places but the results are about the same (less teeth?) than my older spots.

I’m posting the nicer Phyllodus pharyngeal plate specimens that I’ve collected over the years from the Eocene Nanjemoy Formation of Virginia because many collectors really never get to see Phyllodus specimens. These mouth plates come from bony fish. I only find a nice specimen every 7 or 8 trips to the Nanjemoy Formation so they are not common. There is a wide variation in the tooth morphologies of these mouth plates. No two mouth plates are identical. The mouth plates are comprised of individual varying sized and shaped teeth and can have up to six layers of replacement teeth. However, White (1931) demonstrated that these variations were merely variants among a broad range of possible intergradational morphologies and Estes (1969) synonymized the previous named species with P. toliapicus. Some specimens still have formation matrix and other debris on them because I don’t clean them in my ultrasonic cleaners like other specimens because individual teeth can dislodge very easily. The below specimens range in size from 7 mm to 22 mm in the longest dimension. Continued in next reply Marco Sr.

Hello, one of my brothers brought this to me after digging it up in our garden. He believes that it's a dinosaur egg but I'm not sure. We live in the Appalachian mountains of Virginia if that helps.

I donated 20,000+ Eocene marine Virginia coprolites to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in 2015. There have been several formal presentations given on these coprolites to date and a major paper is in final review. To see numerous coprolite pictures and read about/see previous presentations check out the below TFF link: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/50059-what-ate-what/& A copy of the latest poster presentation given on these Virginia coprolites at the GSA Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, USA on September 22, 2019 is below (If you click on the below picture which will open it in a new window and click on the + symbol twice, you can read the text): Marco Sr.