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Finds From Flag Ponds


Twiggy

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Hi everyone, 

 

Newbie fossil hunter here.  I visited Flag Ponds Nature Park yesterday (June 10, 2018) and came up with some finds that I am having a difficult time identifying.  The park is on the west side of the Chesapeake bay near cliff formations from the Miocene epoch.  All of these fossils were found in/along the water.  Most interesting to me is a small pointed black fossil with deep crevices.  I've never come across any like it and I haven't been able to find anything at all online to even give me a hint as to what it may be.  The other bone fragments I found seem to come from flat bones, which suggest to me that they might be part of ribs or jaws. My best guess for the larger chunky bone in my pictures is that it might be part of an epiphysis, perhaps also from a rib.  Another little find was a portion of something that looks like a tooth, but perhaps not a shark tooth.  I also picked up a portion of what would have been a nice sized shark tooth, but I'm just not sure what kind of shark.  Finally, I also found a couple of small white disks and am not sure what those are. I wanted to share these finds with you to see what you think they are!  More detailed pictures to follow. Any help is much appreciated!

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The tooth is an upper anterior Hemipristis serra:

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This:

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is a bit of a stumper. Is there a 'bony' structure in edge view? If so, maybe it's a beat-up fragment of turtle shell.

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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Thanks for the feedback so far! Auspex, yes, there seems to be bony looking material when looking at the side view of the fossil in question. Here’s a cross section view with the scaly looking surface oriented at the top. The long view is of the opposite side from the pictures I posted previously. Also, attached are more pics of the tooth.

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AEAF8EE0-4691-4FD8-8B7B-DB0903150183.jpeg

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50 minutes ago, Auspex said:

 

The tooth is an upper anterior Hemipristis serra:

~~~.jpg

 

Thanks! I originally suspected that it might be the end of a ray barb, but eliminated that possibility since the serrations were facing downward. 

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7 hours ago, Twiggy said:

Finally, I also found a couple of small white disks and am not sure what those are

They are pieces of sand dollars, Abertella aberti. The strange little black pieces could be lignite, are they crumbly? If not then it’s bone, and I’ve found a few like that which I have not been able to place, as they are too thick for a cookie but similar in texture.

“...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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The odds seem to favor some of the bone pieces being marine mammal (dolphin, whale) and I wouldn't be surprised if if a couple were turtle. Especially the one Auspex noted.

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