Jump to content

Rappahannock creek hunting


Rowboater

Recommended Posts

Cabin fever made me stupidly ignore the weatherman (another institution I no longer trust) and head out into the 100% chance of rain and cold.  Tried to avoid getting wet, as it WAS cold.  Tried a very old spot, and was surprised at the results (the beach where I normally hunt has lost all its sand (?) and I've found no teeth their my last three trips). No rain, Birds were uproariously singing, Spring on the way!  The creek was high and icy, saw no aquatic life.  Anyway, found a bunch, showing the most interesting.  Although big makos are nice (and I like the piebald one better though the 2" black one is nice!), I'm always excited by the little ones (which is a good thing, since mostly what i find)-- four angel shark, a couple broken cowshark and symphyseal/ parasymphyseal sand tiger tooth, and lots of drum teeth (turned one on the side as it apparently still has the attachment as well as the glossy "cap"):

 

2021-03-19_1.thumb.jpg.7db038ae5d9cba3dc1de6f5b9fb78f74.jpg

2021-03-19_2.jpg.cdae7509a67f84e863734b41e20887ea.jpg

 

  • Enjoyed 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Rowboater said:

Cabin fever made me stupidly ignore the weatherman (another institution I no longer trust) and head out into the 100% chance of rain and cold.  Tried to avoid getting wet, as it WAS cold.  Tried a very old spot, and was surprised at the results (the beach where I normally hunt has lost all its sand (?) and I've found no teeth their my last three trips). No rain, Birds were uproariously singing, Spring on the way!  The creek was high and icy, saw no aquatic life.  Anyway, found a bunch, showing the most interesting.  Although big makos are nice (and I like the piebald one better though the 2" black one is nice!), I'm always excited by the little ones (which is a good thing, since mostly what i find)-- four angel shark, a couple broken cowshark and symphyseal/ parasymphyseal sand tiger tooth, and lots of drum teeth (turned one on the side as it apparently still has the attachment as well as the glossy "cap"):

 

This one caught my eye... You are a very lucky man to be so close to paradise. I too am blessed. Enjoy the journey!!!

Virginia.JPG.648d5a1cd1a414e1d97f6a54d75a1488.JPG

The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Rowboater said:

Cabin fever made me stupidly ignore the weatherman (another institution I no longer trust) and head out into the 100% chance of rain and cold.  Tried to avoid getting wet, as it WAS cold.  Tried a very old spot, and was surprised at the results (the beach where I normally hunt has lost all its sand (?) and I've found no teeth their my last three trips). No rain, Birds were uproariously singing, Spring on the way!  The creek was high and icy, saw no aquatic life.  Anyway, found a bunch, showing the most interesting.  Although big makos are nice (and I like the piebald one better though the 2" black one is nice!), I'm always excited by the little ones (which is a good thing, since mostly what i find)-- four angel shark, a couple broken cowshark and symphyseal/ parasymphyseal sand tiger tooth, and lots of drum teeth (turned one on the side as it apparently still has the attachment as well as the glossy "cap"):

 

Glad an old spot rewarded you!

Also glad you were able to get out. Thanks for posting these cool finds. 

They're calling for 50 degree weather here this weekend! :) 

 

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great looking finds! Only ever found a couple little teeth in FL years ago. Love the variety in your finds.

 

Nice to see people getting out. I probably have a few days (ok, maybe more like months!) before I can expect to really get out on a real hunt. My local spot was about -15f and I have over 3 ft of snow in my yard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can you show some photos of the para / symphyseal sand tiger tooth. I am not seeing it in your group pics.

Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt
behind the trailer, my desert
Them red clay piles are heaven on earth
I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt

Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers

 

image.png.0c956e87cee523facebb6947cb34e842.png May 2016  MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160.png.b42a25e3438348310ba19ce6852f50c1.png May 2012 IPFOTM5.png.fb4f2a268e315c58c5980ed865b39e1f.png.1721b8912c45105152ac70b0ae8303c3.png.2b6263683ee32421d97e7fa481bd418a.pngAug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png.af5065d0585e85f4accd8b291bf0cc2e.png.72a83362710033c9bdc8510be7454b66.png.9171036128e7f95de57b6a0f03c491da.png Oct 2022

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@sixgill pete  I dug out part of my collection of sand tiger parasymphysial teeth (previously known as symphysial); the one from yesterday is on the bottom end of the shorter outside row.  Over half of the teeth I find are sand tiger shark, and for a while "familiarity breeds contempt" and I didn't pay much attention to the spikes (kids liked the colorful ones and the big ones of course); now I embrace them, particularly the ones with cusps.

 

I  probably threw away many of my earlier finds as split teeth, since superficially that's what they look like.  But if examined carefully they are small, flat, compressed teeth with compressed extended roots.  Very distinctive "look".

The middle row has forked, but also extremely compressed roots.  While this looks more like what is seen in the literature (and I even have a few with a cusp), I'm wondering if these are somehow different (top of the mouth?) or maybe "intermediate"(?) teeth?  They are clearly not as flat as the short outside row of teeth.

The long outside row has chunky or broken roots; the 4th up from the bottom has the right look, but the root is damaged.  Some of these may not even be sand tiger shark teeth.

 

2021-03-20_parasymphysial.thumb.jpg.69f27c4a89777a5d0ddb1181656deb49.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@A.C. @Shellseeker @Fossildude19 @Sjfriend @sixgill pete  Thanks everyone for stopping by and leaving comments!  Hopefully this will be a great year for fossil hunting as the Covid-19 goes away (and leaves us less competition!)  In Alaska you have a wait, but the Northeast should be warm enough soon.  I used to be more cold tolerant, but the icy water now bothers me. 

I actually like the triangular serrated teeth better than my more common sand tiger spikes; I post scans partly because I don't know the gray shark teeth much at all, so hopefully someone will point out anything unusual.  My teeth are generally SMALL (the area I hunt has been picked over for over 50 years) and my eyes are no longer adequate.  I just drop everything black and shiny in a bucket and try to figure it out when I get home.

Most kids love the makos.  Unusual to get any this size where I hunt (flipped over):

 

2021-03-20_mako.thumb.jpg.fa7cc6378839fdd7168e6472eda6c2ec.jpg

 

  • I found this Informative 1
  • Enjoyed 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

 

6 hours ago, Rowboater said:

@sixgill pete  I dug out part of my collection of sand tiger parasymphysial teeth (previously known as symphysial);

 

 

I don’t quite understand what you mean. On a shark jaw, whether we are talking about the upper or lower teeth, we can have a symphysial tooth (located on the symphysis, so only one at the top and/or only one at the bottom) or two parasymphysial teeth (located on either side of the symphysis, so two teeth up and/or down).
 
A parasymphysial tooth can't be a symphysial tooth and vice versa because they do not have the same position. This can only happen if the morphology of the species is unknown.
 
Coco
Edited by Coco

----------------------
OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici

Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici
Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici
Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici
Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici
Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici
Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici

Un Greg...

Badges-IPFOTH.jpg.f4a8635cda47a3cc506743a8aabce700.jpg Badges-MOTM.jpg.461001e1a9db5dc29ca1c07a041a1a86.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Coco  Technically, based on extant sand tiger sharks, these are parasymphysial teeth, one on either side of the toothless midline.  However these used to be termed "symphysial" and it's good when searching on-line to use both terms.  I'm not sure if the forked vs non-forked roots on these teeth reflect upper vs lower, or even possibly age differences (although I have lots of small sand tiger shark teeth that are broad with cusps, not compressed side-to-side like these tiny teeth) ? 

  • Enjoyed 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Found another almost 2" mako.  Unusual to find three in this spot (most came from a Rapp beach, where the sand seems to have been washed away(?)

 

Photo_2021-03-29.thumb.jpg.8c1fdb165b893c5ddcce5883ce1ae673.jpg

Also found a weird tooth (crocodile?), will add its photo to the ID section.  Along with a nice hemi, and some others:

 

2021-04-10-1.thumb.jpg.34bae159d63567ab1c13bbca10732562.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The weird tooth I believe is sperm whale :)  some of those teeth have great colours, which formation do they come from?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@will stevenson  Thanks for the ID!  I looked at a few under Google's images and they seem to match.  Don't think I've ever found one id'ed as sperm whale before, although I've a bunch of badly worn cetacean teeth.  I posted a few other photos of the tooth in the ID section.

 

Others have told me that the area I hunt is typical Miocene, similar to parts of Calvert Cliffs and Westmoreland State parks, a few hours away.  I find a lot of different colors, particularly in one small creek where the mineralization must have been different from the darker gun metal gray.  (Also my scanner seems to get rid of a silvery sheen that somewhat obscures the colors.)

 

Like your avatar.  I've found only one cowshark syncytial, and am lucky to get any intact cowshark teeth.  Mostly sand tiger spikes here, don't think I fully appreciate those nice ones!

  • Enjoyed 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Rowboater said:

@will stevenson  Thanks for the ID!  I looked at a few under Google's images and they seem to match.  Don't think I've ever found one id'ed as sperm whale before, although I've a bunch of badly worn cetacean teeth.  I posted a few other photos of the tooth in the ID section.

 

Others have told me that the area I hunt is typical Miocene, similar to parts of Calvert Cliffs and Westmoreland State parks, a few hours away.  I find a lot of different colors, particularly in one small creek where the mineralization must have been different from the darker gun metal gray.  (Also my scanner seems to get rid of a silvery sheen that somewhat obscures the colors.)

 

Like your avatar.  I've found only one cowshark syncytial, and am lucky to get any intact cowshark teeth.  Mostly sand tiger spikes here, don't think I fully appreciate those nice ones!

It is a nice find :) I’m happy to help, hope I got it right!

they do look like miocene species so that would seem right, I wonder if it is still the Calvert fm. 
 

thanks, my avatar is one of my favourite teeth, it isn’t complete but its massive, if complete, the tooth would have been around 8-10cm long!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...