ToothMan Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 I found what I believe to be a rather interesting specimen in the form of a Megalodon tooth. I have never seen one this color, or, rather, no color at all! Do these come from albino sharks? Just kidding . I was up at my mom's house in St. Leonard helping to dig out some post holes for a new fence construction. After taking a short break, lo and behold this tooth pops up in the dirt pile from our excavations! I couldnt believe my eyes. Her house is a few miles inland from the coast of the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. I thought this was a pretty unique find. For one, its the only tooth ive ever found not at a beach or the cliffs. And two, I've never seen a white or colorless fossilized shark tooth before! Uncommon, in my opinion. I was doing some reading and found that tooth colors of this nature occur when found in areas where there is a lot of groundwater running through. The ground water will leach the sediments and minerals back out of the tooth, leaving it colorless. Pretty interesting. This makes total sense. The area it was found is up on a hill where a lot of rainwater runs off and down a slope, there's got to be a lot of groundwater running through too. This makes my fourth Megalodon tooth found recently! Im so excited! Ive been finding some really cool teeth lately including a beautiful little smaller, cream colored Meg, some nice hastalises, and some of the biggest hemi's ive ever found. I'll have to do another trip report soon! Here are some pictures below of the colorless meg! -Toothman 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calvert Cliff Dweller Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 Very cool probably from the Choptank or even the St. Mary’s formation. I would start digging more holes.LOL 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 Nice find. I would screen the dirt before it goes back in the hole. 3 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...
Miocene_Mason Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 That’s a beauty! As th others said, if I were you, I’d be searching that dig pile furiously. 1 “...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...
Troodon Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 Nice find and like Calvert Cliff Dweller said most likely from a younger Miocene deposit. Not uncommon to find shark material while digging. Check this out, that made the news, also from Calvert County https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-family-uncovers-15-million-year-old-shark-skeleton-during-backyard-dig/2014/11/07/931435f8-66c4-11e4-bb14-4cfea1e742d5_story.html 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 2 hours ago, Troodon said: Nice find and like Calvert Cliff Dweller said most likely from a younger Miocene deposit. I wonder if it might be reworked into Pleistocene sediments. “...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...
Troodon Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 5 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said: I wonder if it might be reworked into Pleistocene sediments. Anything is possible but the Shark find in that news article specifically said Miocene deposits so have to believe most of the area above the cliffs is early miocene. So buy some property and dig, dig and dig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 Just now, Troodon said: Anything is possible but the Shark find in that news article specifically said Miocene deposits so have to believe most of the area above the cliffs is early miocene. I meant @ToothMans, it would be strange if the whole skeleton reworked together, but who knows. A little update: as the article indicated I think the owners of the land have the shark back now. It was extensively studied beforehand 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 2 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said: I meant @ToothMans, it would be strange if the whole skeleton reworked together, but who knows. A little update: as the article indicated I think the owners of the land have the shark back now. It was extensively studied beforehand though. That find was in Chesapeake Beach which is further north of St Leonards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToothMan Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share Posted June 15, 2018 9 hours ago, Calvert Cliff Dweller said: Very cool probably from the Choptank or even the St. Mary’s formation. I would start digging more holes.LOL Thanks! Makes me want to rent a bobcat..lol 8 hours ago, ynot said: Nice find. I would screen the dirt before it goes back in the hole. I did sift through a little bit more, sadly nothing else intetesting yet. 4 hours ago, WhodamanHD said: That’s a beauty! As th others said, if I were you, I’d be searching that dig pile furiously. Thank you! I'm definitely going to be keeping an eye out. I'm digging out the septic tank lids next so they can come clean it out, man wouldn't it be cool to find some more stuff!! 4 hours ago, Troodon said: Nice find and like Calvert Cliff Dweller said most likely from a younger Miocene deposit. Not uncommon to find shark material while digging. Check this out, that made the news, also from Calvert County https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-family-uncovers-15-million-year-old-shark-skeleton-during-backyard-dig/2014/11/07/931435f8-66c4-11e4-bb14-4cfea1e742d5_story.html Thanks @Troodon!! Ive read that article! Very very cool find. Its amazing what treasures lie underground. Thats what makes fossil hunting so fascinating and extremely addicting you just never know whats out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calvert Cliff Dweller Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 Very interesting you should bring up the Hemipristis shark the Gibson family found. At the time I was working with Shawn Gibson on his Charterboat the woundtight when one day he brought a shark vert to the boat. I immediately identify it as a shark vert and went to Shawn’s parents house at the community Bayveiw hills which is about a mile west of the present day Chesapeake shoreline. Shawn and Caleb took me to the back yard and showed me the 4’ square hole and I could easily recognize the that it was a snaggletooth shark by its teeth and was so well preserved that you could see the yellowish orange cartilage around the throratic and skull area. WOW I immediately told Shawn to contact Dr. Godfrey and gave him his Cell #. That was I believe 2 days prior to Dr. Godfrey and John Nance doing there excavation on Halloween. Anyway I did have a small part in the discovery and I have a honorable mention in the Chesapeake bay Magazine article concerning the historic find. By the way the excavation site is on a hilltop probably about 100 ft. Above sea level. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 Yes, off-white to white teeth are pretty uncommon. I've seen a few out of Summerville sites (Chandler Bridge Formation), Ridgeville, both being in South Carolina and Bone Valley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aplomado Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 It is amazing that the "damage" makes the tooth much more interesting! Neat find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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