Short trip

[Ajb96ta]

Me and my brother decided to go looking for shark teeth at our regular spot but road ended up being closed and we ended up at another spot along the river. I heard there were fossils there, so we decided to try it because we only had a few hours. Ended up being a nice trip. Can't wait to go back. Can anyone tell me more about these. How old are they?

 

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[Miocene_Mason]

Chesapectens, turritellas, and those brown things I've found but I'm not sure what they are, I've found in the 5-8 million year old Choptank formation.

Btw the species if I remember correctly are

1) Chesapectan nefrens

2) Turritella plebeia

3) some venus clams

4) two scaphapods

[Miocene_Mason]

Check out the Calvert Marine Museums shell identification sheet, should help with any further finds. Miocene epoch btw

[Ajb96ta]

Cool thanks learning alot. Wonder why there aren't any shark teeth in this spot? Just shells. 

[sixgill pete]

29 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

Chesapectens, turritellas, and those brown things I've found but I'm not sure what they are, I've found in the 5-8 million year old Choptank formation.

Btw the species if I remember correctly are

1) Chesapectan nefrens

2) Turritella plebeia

3) some venus clams

4) two scaphapods

 

25 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

Check out the Calvert Marine Museums shell identification sheet, should help with any further finds. Miocene epoch btw

 

 

The formations these shells come from are Yorktown Formation. The Chesapectens are Chesapecten madisonius. Chesapectens ID's from the Calvert area are not the same as from North Carolina. 

[Miocene_Mason]

I don't know if the Choptank reaches down there, but I think that's what you got. It's got teeth, but they are uncommon. Last trip I made to the formation, the only chondricthyian I returned with was a one Ray tooth. Keep a look out though, megs can be found as well as other shark teeth!

Just now, WhodamanHD said:

I don't know if the Choptank reaches down there, but I think that's what you got. It's got teeth, but they are uncommon. Last trip I made to the formation, the only chondricthyian I returned with was a one Ray tooth. Keep a look out though, megs can be found as well as other shark teeth!

Oops, slow typer @sixgill petes got it.

[sixgill pete]

2 minutes ago, Ajb96ta said:

Cool thanks learning alot. Wonder why there aren't any shark teeth in this spot? Just shells. 

 

 

Most likely where you are collecting along the Tar River (or one of it's tributaries) is Rushmere Member of the Yorktown Formation. The shell ID's are not the same as the Miocene Calvert Formation. There are shark teeth in the Rushmere, but they are very uncommon.

[caldigger]

The "brown things" of which you speak are stienkerns, internal casts of clam shells where the sediments that infill the shell harden to stone and the outer shell disintegrates away.

[Miocene_Mason]

Just now, caldigger said:

The "brown things" of which you speak are stienkerns, internal casts of clam shells where the sediments that infill the shell harden to stone and the outer shell disintegrates away.

This is what I thought, it's clearer to see on these ones than mine, which has nothing and I think has had another organism growing on it.

[SailingAlongToo]

1 hour ago, WhodamanHD said:

Chesapectens, turritellas, and those brown things I've found but I'm not sure what they are, I've found in the 5-8 million year old Choptank formation.

Btw the species if I remember correctly are

1) Chesapectan nefrens

2) Turritella plebeia

3) some venus clams

4) two scaphapods

Definitely not Choptank Formation. @sixgill pete is correct, looks like index fossils from the Rushmere Member of the Yorktown Formation.

@MikeR

[MikeR]

11 hours ago, sixgill pete said:

 

 

Most likely where you are collecting along the Tar River (or one of it's tributaries) is Rushmere Member of the Yorktown Formation. The shell ID's are not the same as the Miocene Calvert Formation. There are shark teeth in the Rushmere, but they are very uncommon.

 

Yes Don, they do look like the Chesapectens that come from the Tar River.  Fewer ribs than the ones from Virginia and other parts of North Carolina.  Thomas Waller of the Smithsonian calls these an early form of Chesapecten madisonius found in the base of the Rushmere.

 

Mike