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rappahannock creek trip


Rowboater

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Finally back from Singapore, so decided to brave (the much cooler) weather.  Been away for three months and seemed to be a fair amount of collecting while I was away, hope they did well.  I hunted hard for an hour or so with nothing but shells (which I don't usually pick up, but better than nothing!)  Found a spot which produced maybe 75 small teeth (two angel shark, a broken cow shark, and teeth with very few cusplets, maybe washed more in millennial tides than those I usually find?) and a few interesting things that maybe I should post on the ID request section (?).  Good to get my clothes muddy and my feet wet again.  Will take a while (had just acclimated to Singapore) but don't notice much when digging / hunting.

The first photo is most of the stuff collected.   "2-3-18-teeth" shows the two angel shark teeth, some typical tiny teeth, and two things I cannot identify.  "teeth 2 and 3" is a weird concave piece, have no idea what it could be(?), never noticed anything similar.  "teeth 4" is a small oval piece with radial striations on the more flat side; two others are shown but the scanner couldn't capture the striations. Whatever it is it's fairly common.  Thanks for any help.   I think I'll try to get the bone ID'ed in the other section (will need to get better photos).

2-3-18-sharkteeth2.pdf

2-3-18-teeth3.pdf

2-3-18-teeth2.pdf

2-3-18-teeth.pdf

2-3-18-teeth4.pdf

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Wow, didn't realize that cartilage fossilized.  Thanks so much Al Dente!

Have to keep my eyes open for more I guess, probably have overlooked other pieces while focused on shiny black fossil pieces and teeth.  Probably find more interesting stuff when teeth are hard to find.  

 

Thanks for displaying my photos PFooley.  The kidney bean shaped piece in the fourth and fifth photos show radial striations, but are difficult to scan.  Whatever these things are, they are usually the same radiating lines on one side, but usually gray and black, sometimes with glossy black spots.

 

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Nice little haul for your first outing after returning,

What is the object that looks like a bone in the lower left of the picture.

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Thanks oldtimer!  It's a 4" fossilized bone piece, different from any I've found in the past (but not much experience with bone).  I just posted cell phone photos in the ID section looking for help from someone more experienced.

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Nice finds! I have a soft spot for the Ecphoras(ecphorae?) especially. How big is the umbilicus compared to the shell? I’m wondering what species of Ecphora it is (guessing quadricostata)

“...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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Unfortunately it is missing part of the shell (frustrating that almost of these are broken).  But I picked up a few other pieces, hopefully you can see more than me(!), probably they are all the same species.   

IMG-20180204-WA0000.jpg

IMG-20180204-WA0001.jpg

IMG-20180204-WA0002.jpg

IMG-20180204-WA0003.jpg

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Nah, umbilicus is a bit too worn for me to tell (and I don’t know the Virginian species too well). They are still cool though! 

“...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:

Nah, umbilicus is a bit too worn for me to tell (and I don’t know the Virginian species too well). They are still cool though! 

WhodamanHD,

Went out again today (probably a mistake, still adjusted to the temp and humidity of Singapore, and it was cold and windy).  Same spot, but nothing much the first hour.  Digging produced about the same number of teeth but slightly bigger and more broken.  Two more angel shark teeth, a broken cow shark teeth, a broken tiger or cow shark tooth, and a big sand shark tooth.  Did pick up two more tiny ecphoras but missing their tips.  

2-6-18-teeth.pdf

2-5-18-teeth.pdf

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@Rowboater Interesting, from looking at all of these I’m gonna say they are not Ecphora gardenerae gardenerae, but possibly one of the other subspecies of Ecphora gardenerae. Do you know what formation these are from? Also the white tube is a risk shell I believe. Sharks teeth ain’t to shabby either:D

Very different climate in Virginia than Singapore, also a lot less gliding snakes in Virginia.: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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Unfortunately I am not digging them out of the sides but rather collecting from holes below giant tree oysters with scallops and frilly oysters above those; have no idea which strata the Ecphora are from.  Fortunately, despite intense competition with local kids for shark teeth, they have little interest in 'sea shells' and there are a fair amount around, although the bigger ones are mistreated or just very fragile.  I'm making an effort to pick up those that I see now.

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Yesterday the weather was about as close as it's going to get to Singapore for a while (60 F, 15 C), so I spent a pleasant morning tooth hunting in the same spot.  No big (i never find big teeth) but a decent cow shark tooth and lots of angel shark teeth.  Dig crush a pretty little ecphora when I tried to scan (fragile; need to be more careful).

Water super cold, but saw lots of big crayfish, salamanders and scuds/ fresh water shrimp, must not mind the cold.

 

2-8-18-2.jpg

 

2-8-18-teeth.jpg

 

 

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Some nice teeth, you probably know the cow is a Notorynchus cepedianus (Broadnose Sevengill shark). The fragility (as well as the cool-looking-ness) is the allure of the Ecphora (at least for me). Wish more people cared but then again, more for us:D

“...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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I recognize the genus but had no idea of the species.  Seems there are less complete Ecphora laying around, so someone must be picking them up.  30 years ago I remember giant whale vertebrae laying around, but at the time it seemed to much effort to haul them out!  Fortunately I'm happy with the tiny stuff, but always looking for interesting big or small.

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Got out early when temp was in the low 60s F (16 C), very nice even in the rain, but started shivering two hours later when the temps dropped to 43F (6 C).  Just put most of what I found on the scanner.  Same stuff per usual, a lot of small or broken... 

 

2-12-18 teeth.jpg

 

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On 2/9/2018 at 5:51 AM, WhodamanHD said:

Some nice teeth, you probably know the cow is a Notorynchus cepedianus (Broadnose Sevengill shark). The fragility (as well as the cool-looking-ness) is the allure of the Ecphora (at least for me). Wish more people cared but then again, more for us:D

I thought the little white shells are Dentalium, tusk shells?  Is Risk shell a specific species?  Thanks 

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Hi,

 

Certainly Dentaliidae, but there are many species in this family... https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dentaliidae

 

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

 

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17 minutes ago, Rowboater said:

I thought the little white shells are Dentalium, tusk shells?  Is Risk shell a specific species?  Thanks 

 I feel like spell check messes me up when I type things right and fails to fix them when I do them wrong. Sorry, meant tusk shells.

“...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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55 minutes ago, Coco said:

Hi,

 

Certainly Dentaliidae, but there are many species in this family... https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dentaliidae

 

Coco

Thanks Coco,

I notice as they dried the little tubes are banded (as well as the longitudinal ridges).  Perfect for jewelry beading, as the Native Americans recognized long ago.

 

46 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

 I feel like spell check messes me up when I type things right and fails to fix them when I do them wrong. Sorry, meant tusk shells.

 

Know the feeling!  My phone drives me nuts!

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