Purse Park. How big?

[Ted37]

Hello 

 

I had been to Purse Park one time and found some small teeth.  I had read that there are a lot of teeth but they are mainly small. Realistically, how big of a tooth can I find there (being lucky of course)? Has anyone found any teeth there 2-3 inches or bigger? Is it possible to find a small meg?  On a side note, when I was there I was sifting at different places on the beach. This 7 year  old was watching me, looking into the pan with me. He did not say a word. I would maybe find one or two or maybe none. When finished looking I poured out the pan. And sure enough nearly every time the kid would reach down to what I poured out and pull out another tooth or two. My older eyes were no match for his. 

Edited October 29, 2018 by Ted37

[FossilsAnonymous]

It really depends, but I have never seen teeth bigger than a bit smaller than an inch, never seen a 2-3 inch tooth. Try Matoaka or Brownies? Other experienced Calvert Dwellers can surely attest or change my statements.

[Wolf89]

@WhodamanHD

[PaleoNoel]

I believe the largest tooth I ever found at Purse was a worn sand tiger probably an inch long. I'm aware that Otodus has been found around there and those can reach well over an inch, but I had no such luck in finding one. If you're bringing kids along that park is great for fossil hunting as I was able to find tons of little teeth even without sifting. Plenty of fossils to find. 

[Darktooth]

I have seen an Otodus between 2-3 inches come out of Douglas point which is near purse but that is very rare. This was my last trip there 2 summers ago. The guy who found it past by me twice walking far in each direction. When he came back the 3rd time he had the tooth which filled his palm. It was huge even with a broken tip.

[Woopaul5]

You can find some otodus and large sand tigers there. Mostly worn unless it’s a fresh fall. 2-3”.... possible but unlikely. The tooth to find there are the paleocarcharodon’s the Pygmy white shark. Super rare. 

[Littlefoot]

I love taking my kids to Purse, as they get discouraged when they go long periods of time without finding a fossil, and the sheer number of fossils makes it so easy for them to keep the excitement going!

 

My son actually brought home a random bucketful of stuff he shoveled from the shell line. One rainy day, we decided to sift through it, and sure enough, we discovered teeth and the smallest vertebrae I've ever seen. 

 

My kids and I have been going to Purse frequently the past two summers, and the largest tooth we've found was one inch. I don't think megalodons can be found at Purse, as the fossils at Purse come from the Paleocene Era, before the megalodon swam the seas.

[Darktooth]

On 10/29/2018 at 7:06 PM, Woopaul5 said:

You can find some otodus and large sand tigers there. Mostly worn unless it’s a fresh fall. 2-3”.... possible but unlikely. The tooth to find there are the paleocarcharodon’s the Pygmy white shark. Super rare. 

My very first trip to Purse I got lucky and found two of the paleos but one was very poorly worn and really only half a tooth. The other was in ok shape but the serrations were mostly worn away. I have always wanted to go back and find a better quality one and an Otodus as they have eluded me so far.

[caldigger]

8 minutes ago, Darktooth said:

I have always wanted to go back and find a better quality one.

Somewhere out there is a nice one just waiting for you with your name on it!

[Darktooth]

9 minutes ago, caldigger said:

Somewhere out there is a nice one just waiting for you with your name on it!

Finding one that nice would totally make my day!

[Fossil-Hound]

I have a couple Otodus obliquus from that location that are over an inch.

[Miocene_Mason]

The only Otodus I’ve found there were very small but I don’t spend much time there. I’ve seen two inchers, but again I don’t look at many. There shouldn’t be any Megalodon teeth but the occasional O.  aksuaticus and O. auriculatus are found (Very rarely)

 

i have found a good one inch sand tiger

[Shark Tooth Hunter]

Found this a few years ago at Douglass point, which is minutes away from purse. I forget the exact measurement, and am away from my collection, but it’s a hefty one for the area.

I would ditch sifting, and maybe try walking in the foot or so deep water and looking at the larger sized gravel. That’s where bigger teeth are usually sitting. 

But honestly 90 percent of it is being in the right place at the right time. 

 

Good luck,

 

Conor 

[MarcoSr]

Teeth 2" to 3" are not common at all at Purse State Park especially now.  The biggest shark teeth would be Otodus obliquus.  I have a 2.75" SH anterior Otodus and a number of them over 2".  However when I started collecting the site in the early 1970s  I would find 17 to 20 Otodus each trip and have over 700 of them  (the vast majority are water worn or damaged in some way).  With all of the collectors there today, you definitely won't find that number and you are lucky to find a couple per trip.  I've seen two other Otodus while I was there, collected by other collectors, slightly over 3" in 45 years of collecting the site.  You won't even find many croc teeth there over 2" unless they still have the root which is pretty rare.

 

Marco Sr.

[hokiehunter]

I forget the poster but about 6 or 7 years ago someone on here posted a trip he and his daughter took where the daughter found a 2.5"+ (I want to say it was 3+) perfect Otodus at Purse.  I also know of a complete croc skull from there as well collected by another old poster from here.  I think the regulars there probably still find 1 or 2 in the range and condition per year but when I was searching there regularly 1.5" was about as big as you could find for teeth with any certainty with the occasional busted tooth that would have been 2+.  I have found plenty of 2+ croc teeth there though and have a few close to 3".  You need a low tide and a willingness to walk a long ways to get em though.

[MarcoSr]

11 hours ago, hokiehunter said:

  I have found plenty of 2+ croc teeth there though and have a few close to 3".  You need a low tide and a willingness to walk a long ways to get em though.

 

If you go a good ways downriver of Purse you can find bigger croc teeth.  I have never seen a close to 3 " croc tooth from Purse itself.  Can you post a picture?  I have over 300 croc teeth from Purse and only have a couple larger than 2" and they have roots.

 

Marco Sr.

[Scylla]

Here are a couple I've posted before. My son once found one about 1 and a half times larger than the ones pictured here.

 

 

 

[hokiehunter]

Will try to dig them out this weekend Marco.  The vast majority of my collection is in the attic still in storage.  When my wife and I started having kids I lost my display areas and figured it safest anyways to put that sort of thing out of the way until all the curious hands get a bit older.  The few I have in that size range if memory serves and I haven't fish storied them are all probably technically not from Purse.  That would just we where I walked in.  I think for the most part they all would have come from a mile or two to down river and are going to all be the narrow fang like teeth.  Been a while though since I've actually laid eyes on them myself.

[MarcoSr]

9 hours ago, hokiehunter said:

Will try to dig them out this weekend Marco.  The vast majority of my collection is in the attic still in storage.  When my wife and I started having kids I lost my display areas and figured it safest anyways to put that sort of thing out of the way until all the curious hands get a bit older.  The few I have in that size range if memory serves and I haven't fish storied them are all probably technically not from Purse.  That would just we where I walked in.  I think for the most part they all would have come from a mile or two to down river and are going to all be the narrow fang like teeth.  Been a while though since I've actually laid eyes on them myself.

 

The vast majority of croc teeth found on the BLM property, Purse State Park, and downriver of Purse are Eosuchus minor.  I have a good number of crowns that are 1.5 inches.  So you could get 3” Eosuchus teeth if the tooth has a good bit of the root remaining.  There is another “narrow profile” (i.e. laterally compressed) croc tooth found there that is not described but it is smaller than Eosuchus.

 

There is a much larger croc from the Aquia Formation, which compares favorably toThoracosaurus clavirostris, which has much bigger teeth than Eosuchus minor.  This croc could have a front fang tooth with just the crown alone close to 3”.  This croc has been reported from the both Piscataway Member of the Aquia Formation (which is in Purse State Park) and from the Paspotansa Member of the Aquia Formation which is on the Virginia side of the Potomac River.  I’ve never found teeth from this croc at Purse State Park but they could be there.  Mel has found a number of these a good walking distance downriver of Purse.

 

So if your close to 3” croc teeth have a lot of root in addition to the crown, they are most likely Eosuchus minor.  If they are just the crown, they are most likely Thoracosaurus clavirostris. 

 

Marco Sr.

 

[paxhunter]

These 2 are from Purse the bigger Otodus is right at 2" so they are there just have to keep going!

 

[PaleoRon]

These are my largest, both are 2 3/4 inches slant length.