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My first trip to Brownies beach


Miocene_Mason

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Yesterday I took my first trip to brownies (which is free this time of year). It was about two o’clock so the tide was rising, so I didn’t take a walk to far south (also I didn’t have any water footwear, so I was bare foot in the murky water that people were pulling horse shoe crabs out of so I wasn’t to keen on stepping on one of their spines). It was pretty good for a first trip with the confines I kept to. The biggest tooth was a half inch hypotodus, and I like this one honey colored lemon. Most were lemons. I found one hemi and a fish tooth (or I think that’s what it is). I also took a few Ray teeth and Ecphora pieces ( saw a 1/4 complete one but It was in the cliff and I’d rather not become a fossil myself) as well as some turritella. Few chunkosauruses as well. A peccary tooth was the last find, I don’t have a picture right now but I’ll get one. The first picture (if it comes out in the order I want it to) is my first Miocene sharks tooth (found by me). Will definitely be back there soon.

  Jim (AKA the shark tooth guy) sells fossils he finds on route 4, so I stopped by for my second time to buy some fossils and have a conversation (which is very rewarding, I’ve learned a lot in the combined hour I’ve spoke with him). I had a choice between a small but very nice and reasonably priced chub and another fossil. I had to choose the other fossil because it was so cool: A whale vertabra with a shark bite in it! I bought that from him, as well a lightly colored (and orange near the root on the back) posterior meg that has the tip broken off and a stress fracture, must’ve bitten off more than it could chew so to speak (P.S. sharks do not chew). He gifted me three more fossils as well, a (caudal?) cetacean vert and a worm tube. At one point in the conversation I mentioned @eannis6s super small baby meg, and he pulled a super tiny meg out his pocket and said “I found this earlier, add this to your collection”. I off course thanked him profusely, for the fossils and the information. I hope I’ll be seeing Jim again soon as well. So, over all a nice trip! Here’s the pictures, may take a bit to get them all in.

 

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“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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From Jim’s stand:

 

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“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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That's it for today other than the mammal tooth which I’ll try to take a picture of later. Thanks for reading!

“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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@WhodamanHD yes finding intact Ecphora along the Calvert Cliffs (St. Mary's Formation) is not a trivial thing to do as @SailingAlongToo and I can attest to, but it is worth it once you find one. Gorgeous looking vertebrae and I do see some hammer head teeth. @eannis6 is way to nice. Excellent report!

Do or do not. There is no try. - Yoda

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1 minute ago, Fossil-Hound said:

@WhodamanHD yes finding intact Ecphora along the Calvert Cliffs (St. Mary's Formation) is not a trivial thing to do as @SailingAlongToo and I can attest to, but it is worth it once you find one. Gorgeous looking vertebrae and I do see some hammer head teeth. @eannis6 is way to nice. Excellent report!

If I found a full echphora, you’d be able to hear me in the surrounding states! I thought brownies was Calvert fm (zone 4 with the teeth if memory serves)? Didn’t get to meet @eannis6 there, but he’s nice a person from what interactions I’ve had with him before! I bought the vert from Jim (who sells fossils along route 4) and he gave me the baby meg, he is also really nice!

“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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2 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

If I found a full echphora, you’d be able to hear me in the surrounding states! I thought brownies was Calvert fm (zone 4 with the teeth if memory serves)? Didn’t get to meet @eannis6 there, but he’s nice a person from what interactions I’ve had with him before! I bought the vert from Jim (who sells fossils along route 4) and he gave me the baby meg, he is also really nice!

 

Yeah the first time I pulled out a complete E. gardnerae out of the sand and mud was exhilarating. Brownies is Calvert Formation based so you're working with 19-14 MYA. Ecphora was around from the Eocene (33 MYA) to Piacenzian (a couple million years ago) but these fossils are more abundant in the St. Mary's formation. Here's some additional information:

 

http://www.mgs.md.gov/geology/fossils/calvert_cliffs_fs.html

 

Do or do not. There is no try. - Yoda

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13 minutes ago, Fossil-Hound said:

 

Yeah the first time I pulled out a complete E. gardnerae out of the sand and mud was exhilarating. Brownies is Calvert Formation based so you're working with 19-14 MYA. Ecphora was around from the Eocene (33 MYA) to Piacenzian (a couple million years ago) but these fossils are more abundant in the St. Mary's formation. Here's some additional information:

 

http://www.mgs.md.gov/geology/fossils/calvert_cliffs_fs.html

 

Ah, that make sure sense. Do you know how to distinguish between quadricostrata and gardenerae? I’m kind of confused on it.

“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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39 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

Ah, that make sure sense. Do you know how to distinguish between quadricostrata and gardenerae? I’m kind of confused on it.

 

Yeah sort of. There are four ribs on every Ecphora, but I believe you have to look at the shape of the ribs on the end as they are T-shaped and different species have more pronounced ribs. According to:

 

http://fossilsandotherlivingthings.blogspot.com/2010/09/fragility-of-ecphora.html

 

It says,

"Most important for those collecting Ecphora in Maryland, Wilson stripped the state of the Ecphora quadricostata(Say).  He asserted that “t is now well known that most if not all of the fossils described by [Thomas] Say in 1824 came from Virginia rather than Maryland . . . .” (p. 22)  As a result, he wrote, the “common Ecphora of the St. Marys Miocene of Maryland masquerad[ed] under the name ‘Ecphora quadricostata,’ which properly belongs to the Yorktown species of Virginia.”  (p. 23)  The specific species of Ecphora with four ribs coming from the St. Marys Formation along the Chesapeake that had been misidentified all these years, he renamed as Ecphora gardnerae.  The species name gardnerae is in honor of Julia A. Gardner (1882-1960), a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and a specialist in molluscs."

 

From that I gather that Maryland Ecphora are E. gardnerae and that makes sense as it is the state fossil. Here's another interesting article:

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/4495-question-about-ecphora-quadricostata/

 

Similar to shark evolution and classification, Ecphora classification can also be a bit grey at times. @SailingAlongToo supports Dr. Ward's research of these beautiful gastropods and I'm sure he could shed some more light on the subject.

Do or do not. There is no try. - Yoda

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10 minutes ago, Fossil-Hound said:

 

Yeah sort of. There are four ribs on every Ecphora, but I believe you have to look at the shape of the ribs on the end as they are T-shaped and different species have more pronounced ribs. According to:

 

http://fossilsandotherlivingthings.blogspot.com/2010/09/fragility-of-ecphora.html

 

It says,

"Most important for those collecting Ecphora in Maryland, Wilson stripped the state of the Ecphora quadricostata(Say).  He asserted that “t is now well known that most if not all of the fossils described by [Thomas] Say in 1824 came from Virginia rather than Maryland . . . .” (p. 22)  As a result, he wrote, the “common Ecphora of the St. Marys Miocene of Maryland masquerad[ed] under the name ‘Ecphora quadricostata,’ which properly belongs to the Yorktown species of Virginia.”  (p. 23)  The specific species of Ecphora with four ribs coming from the St. Marys Formation along the Chesapeake that had been misidentified all these years, he renamed as Ecphora gardnerae.  The species name gardnerae is in honor of Julia A. Gardner (1882-1960), a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and a specialist in molluscs."

 

From that I gather that Maryland Ecphora are E. gardnerae and that makes sense as it is the state fossil. Here's another interesting article:

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/4495-question-about-ecphora-quadricostata/

 

Similar to shark evolution and classification, Ecphora classification can also be a bit grey at times. @SailingAlongToo supports Dr. Ward's research of these beautiful gastropods and I'm sure he could shed some more light on the subject.

Intresting. Jim had a number of small Ecphora (only two bucks per shell!) and I asked if any were gardenera (I’ve already bought a quad from him) and he said no, they were all quads or tris. He said he used to have someone come along every week and buy every Ecphora he had, I can see why now! 

“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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42 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

Intresting. Jim had a number of small Ecphora (only two bucks per shell!) and I asked if any were gardenera (I’ve already bought a quad from him) and he said no, they were all quads or tris. He said he used to have someone come along every week and buy every Ecphora he had, I can see why now! 

That's awesome. I may need to PM him. :drool:

Do or do not. There is no try. - Yoda

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58 minutes ago, Fossil-Hound said:

That's awesome. I may need to PM him. :drool:

He’s not on the forum, but he may get a website. He used to work with computers but haven’t had the time lately to put one up yet. If you ever find yourself back here, he’s out on route four on sundays part of the year I think. He’s very good at fossil hunting (which he claims has no luck involved). He mostly sells what he finds to museums, though (as some fossil hunters do) he is irratated by them due to prior unsatisfactory experiences with them (the cliffs museum has confiscated things from him twice and a friend of his at the Smithsonian took half a whale he found) but he he also sells some to the public. He’s normally got Ecphora (1-10) megs, chubs, Angys, and other things found round here and in SC were he used to have access to the mines. All his stuff is normally cheaper than market price and better quality p.

“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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4 hours ago, WhodamanHD said:

He’s not on the forum, but he may get a website. He used to work with computers but haven’t had the time lately to put one up yet. If you ever find yourself back here, he’s out on route four on sundays part of the year I think. He’s very good at fossil hunting (which he claims has no luck involved). He mostly sells what he finds to museums, though (as some fossil hunters do) he is irratated by them due to prior unsatisfactory experiences with them (the cliffs museum has confiscated things from him twice and a friend of his at the Smithsonian took half a whale he found) but he he also sells some to the public. He’s normally got Ecphora (1-10) megs, chubs, Angys, and other things found round here and in SC were he used to have access to the mines. All his stuff is normally cheaper than market price and better quality p.

Well pick up a couple of Ecphora's from him and I'll hook you up with some trilobites or throw some dollars your way! :drool: :wub:

Do or do not. There is no try. - Yoda

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22 hours ago, Fossil-Hound said:

Well pick up a couple of Ecphora's from him and I'll hook you up with some trilobites or throw some dollars your way! :drool: :wub:

I’ll get some next time, my fossil budget was dwindling a little then, But it will soon refill!

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Mammal tooth and other sharks tooth, the mammal is being IDed currently on a separate thread.

 

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“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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