Williamb55 Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 (edited) As request by WhodamanHD, here is a post of my recent sperm whale tooth find from Brownies Beach over the weekend and some other cetacean teeth. I also included a very cool red squalodon tooth I found at Stratford hall along with another tooth which I believe is also Squalodon. I like how the Squalodon tooth is split in half, I wouldn't have found it if I didn't notice what looked like a root of a tooth underwater. I also included a cool dolphin vertebrae I found at Stratford Hall Edited February 13, 2018 by Williamb55 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Williamb55 Posted February 13, 2018 Author Share Posted February 13, 2018 Here are some other Cetacean teeth I found over the weekend 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 6 minutes ago, Williamb55 said: WhodamanTV I’d watch that! nice teeth and vert! “...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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Williamb55 Posted February 13, 2018 Author Share Posted February 13, 2018 1 minute ago, WhodamanHD said: I’d watch that! nice teeth and vert! Oh haha I misread the name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Nice finds. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 A very nice little collection of cetacean pieces! Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 I really like the dolphin vert- thanks for posting your finds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokiehunter Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Awesome sperm whale tooth. Think your squalodon from Stratford is actually a worn piece of croc tooth though. Not much squalodon in that section. What little you find usually comes from way upriver and is worn but it does exist. Still think croc on your though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 I agree with @hokiehunter that the "red" tooth is croc, not squalodon. The whale tooth is fantastic, that is a great find. 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 May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 On 2/12/2018 at 10:15 PM, Williamb55 said: I also included a very cool red squalodon tooth I found at Stratford hall along with another tooth which I believe is also Squalodon. I like how the Squalodon tooth is split in half, I wouldn't have found it if I didn't notice what looked like a root of a tooth underwater. You won't find Squalodon at Stratford Hall. The Miocene Formations aren't old enough. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Williamb55 Posted February 15, 2018 Author Share Posted February 15, 2018 2 hours ago, MarcoSr said: You won't find Squalodon at Stratford Hall. The Miocene Formations aren't old enough. Marco Sr. So is it a croc tooth as mentioned by hokiehunter? It sure is from a big animal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowboater Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 Nice finds! Really like the vertebra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 14 hours ago, Williamb55 said: So is it a croc tooth as mentioned by hokiehunter? It sure is from a big animal. It is hard to tell for sure with the specimen so worn and damaged from pictures. This picture alone looks like croc: However the croc teeth that I have don't typically wear like in the below picture at the very top. Plus the taper of the tooth doesn't look right for croc but this could be caused by tooth wear. In this picture the tooth looks more like the tip of a sperm whale tooth. Marco Sr. 2 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokiehunter Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 20 hours ago, MarcoSr said: You won't find Squalodon at Stratford Hall. The Miocene Formations aren't old enough. Marco Sr. I was under the same impression regarding Squalodon but then saw this regarding at squalodon find at Westmoreland. Says a partial Skull was found at Westmoreland State Park in the early 90s. Agree with your call on Sperm whale though. It's really hard to say for sure whether the piece above is croc or sperm whale but I'm leaning back toward worn sperm whale at second glance. http://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/DocumentCenter/View/653 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 3 hours ago, hokiehunter said: I was under the same impression regarding Squalodon but then saw this regarding at squalodon find at Westmoreland. Says a partial Skull was found at Westmoreland State Park in the early 90s. Agree with your call on Sperm whale though. It's really hard to say for sure whether the piece above is croc or sperm whale but I'm leaning back toward worn sperm whale at second glance. http://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/DocumentCenter/View/653 I am aware of that specimen. I work with Dr. Weems, a USGS emeritus, on dating the cliffs in WSP, Stratford Hall, Stratford Harbour and other cliffs on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. The cliffs at WSP at the base are older, especially in one small area, than those at the base in Startford Hall. The specimen at the link is the only Squalodon specimen ever confirmed from the area that I'm aware of. Dr. Weems and I have discussed it several times because Squalodon should not be in that time frame.. George Powell also found an associated specimen minus the skull and jaws in the base clay from the area. He believes that it is Squalodon. But with ribs and verts only that is a tough call. Maybe his specimens were related to that skull. I've collected the area for 45 years and never found, or saw or heard of another squalodon specimen from the area. Several Squalodon specimens were found just up-river of Washington's Birthplace in situ in the base of the cliffs which several researchers thought extended the time range for Squalodon in MD/VA because they thought the base of the cliffs was younger than it really is. Dr. Weems had pollen and other analysis done on the base of these cliffs and they turned out to be zone 10/11 which was within the time range known for Squalodon. Those are the only Squalodon specimens ever reported on that part of the Potomac River. There are a good number of Squalodon specimens reported from the area of the Potomac River around the Nice Bridge. But those formations are much older, zone 3 of the Fairhaven and zone 4 of the Calvert. That one WSP specimen in the link is a real mystery. Marco Sr. 3 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokiehunter Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 Great info Marco. Thank you. When I was looking into this a while ago I also noted that the Smithsonian has a Westmoreland specimen that was collected in 1969. It says it is out of Zone 14 though so could be a mistake based on Dr. Weems reasearch? https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/search/paleo/?ark=ark:/65665/391a2f68ace3740e8a6f14f6fa4569b3a Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 On 2/19/2018 at 9:20 AM, hokiehunter said: Great info Marco. Thank you. When I was looking into this a while ago I also noted that the Smithsonian has a Westmoreland specimen that was collected in 1969. It says it is out of Zone 14 though so could be a mistake based on Dr. Weems reasearch? https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/search/paleo/?ark=ark:/65665/391a2f68ace3740e8a6f14f6fa4569b3a The base of the cliffs at WSP can be either zone 14 or zone 15 of the Calvert Formation. So if the specimen in 1969 and the specimen in the early 1990s and George Powell's specimens are indeed Squalodon it would extend their time range in MD/VA as far as I know. I've seen George Powell's associated verts and ribs. Next time I see Rob I'll see if he wants to check out the specimens at the Smithsonian and CMM. I want to verify the specimens are really true Squalodon and to see if all three occurrences in the area could be from the same animal. There have been a number of changes in cetacean genera since the 1990s. There was a cetacean called prosqualodon (it's name has since been changed) that can be found in the WSP/Stratford Hall area. Researchers previously had tried to extend the Squalodon time range using true Squalodon specimens found at Wakefield (upriver from Washington's birthplace) believing the formations were younger then they actually are. Through Dr. Weems the formations have been dated as zone10/11. It is really strange with all of the collectors in the WSP/Stratford Hall area for many years, they are not finding at least some loose Squalodon teeth over time. My sons and I have a good number of what was called prosqualodon teeth from the area. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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