FossilizedShoe Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 On Saturday, I made the trip down to Charleston to hunt for fossils on one of several islands in the Charleston area on which the dredge spoils pulled out of the harbor are deposited. I drove down cautiously optimistic, as I knew that there should be fossils to be found, as the harbor cuts down deep enough to hit the right formation. Even then, my expectations were absolutely blown out of the water. The trip was an unmitigated success, as shown by the photo below. The picture above shows my haul for the whole 4 hours I spent picking over the piles and fields of dredge spoils. One thing I've noticed about fossils from this site is that while I'm finding more and bigger teeth than I might on searching the Summerville creeks, the overall quality seems to be lower, with teeth of similar size being more damaged than their inland counterparts. I'd attribute this to the rough journey from the bottom of the harbor to where I found them. Another interesting thing I've noticed is that I found porportionally way more shark vertebrae and extinct tiger shark teeth than I usually do, and I don't know why this would be. Here I've got some of the specimens I found that I couldn't identify myself. The first shark tooth has two cusps, and the second has an oddly shaped root. The third object I really don't know what it is. If I had to guess I'd say its probably from an invertebrate, maybe a coral. The fourth object is a mammal tooth of some sort, but I don't know what kind. I've included some of my other interesting finds in this shot. Up top is a partial dolphin vertebra, on the left is an interestingly shaped fish vertebra, in the middle is an absolutely tiny C. angustidens tooth, and on the right is one of the best C. carcharias teeth I've found to date. This is my number one find of this trip. I've found some meg chunks and a half tooth in the Summerville creeks, but this is my first nice whole meg. It's 2.9375 inches, but if not for that tip ding it'd probably be around 3.125 inches. I'm not too worked up about it, since it's most likely feeding damage rather than a scar from the dredger. When I came across it, only the very tip of the root was sticking out of the ground, and if it wasn't for the smallest glint of enamel visible, I would have walked past it. I had just picked up a very similar looking and dissapointing meg corner, so when I stooped to grab it I didn't have the hightest expectations. It was really something else when I popped it loose and pulled it out of the ground. It's more than just finding a nice tooth, it's the recognition of the value of the work it's taken to find it. The hours of research, wading through muddy creeks, braving the sun, the tide, the mosquitoes (which by the way there were a lot of at this site). It's not so much that it's paid off, because there's no one end goal to this hobby. It's more of a journey for the journey's sake. The gratification here comes from knowing you're on the right path. 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Breakin' Rocks Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 1 hour ago, FossilizedShoe said: The third object I really don't know what it is. If I had to guess I'd say its probably from an invertebrate, maybe a coral. Nice haul ... *sniff* I miss that kind of fossil hunt. And yes that is a solitary button coral (Balanophyllia sp.) .. not uncommon for that area. A few more examples: Cheers, Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokietech96 Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 The second picture of the 4 items - the first tooth looks looks like C. angustidens to me. Maybe someone else can confirm that as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokietech96 Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Great finds ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Very nice haul! Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbshark Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Great finds, your unknown mammal tooth is a horse Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Very nice, congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HemiHunter Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 11 hours ago, FossilizedShoe said: It's more than just finding a nice tooth, it's the recognition of the value of the work it's taken to find it. The hours of research, wading through muddy creeks, braving the sun, the tide, the mosquitoes (which by the way there were a lot of at this site). It's not so much that it's paid off, because there's no one end goal to this hobby. It's more of a journey for the journey's sake. The gratification here comes from knowing you're on the right path. Love this!! Great finds and thanks for sharing the pics!! Congrats on the meg! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoNoel Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Congrats on some nice finds! I gotta get down to SC someday, seems like a great fossil hunting state if you know where to look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Praefectus Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Nice finds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Of the four unknowns, the third is a dermal denticle from a ray. The fourth is an equus lower premolar two (p2). 2 http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilizedShoe Posted October 7, 2020 Author Share Posted October 7, 2020 On 10/5/2020 at 11:38 PM, hokietech96 said: The second picture of the 4 items - the first tooth looks looks like C. angustidens to me. Maybe someone else can confirm that as well. I thought it looked like one too, but I've never found or even seen any angustidens teeth of that size Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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