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Hi everyone, I visited one of my old MD early cretaceous footprint sites (where I found my old footprint for those who remember) just to have a look around and I found something that immediately stuck out due to its poopy appearance. I'm going to use the pinned coprolite ID guide to give some basic info before the photo dump (no pun intended). Location: - it was found in a creek around College Park, MD, an area known for Early Cretaceous ichnofossils, specifically dinosaur tracks - Formation: Patuxent Formation (Potomac Group) Shape: - It is not the most obvious poop-shaped rock, but its lack of sharp-terminating edges and lack of sedimentary layering cannot be ignored - Has a lot of interesting features that indicate it being an ichnofossil (impressions of various structures like wood), this could mean it is a coprolite, or it also could just be a freak rock that is preserving other activity Texture: - it is not granular, it's the typical ironstone/siderite found in the Potomac Group except instead of the flat, somewhat-layered ironstones typical of the Patuxent Fm - has a lot of cross hatching akin to mudcracks Inclusions: - No visible vertebrate inclusions - a couple small surface mineral inclusions (one tiny grain of what looks like quartz, one shard of what looks like chert) - interesting note: a small layer of lignite seems to be pressed into certain areas, it is the dark-brown/black flaky stuff on certain areas. This confirms it is most probably a fossil of some sort? It has the impression of the wood still on the rock behind the flakes of lignite. Could this be non-digested material? Did plant material get pressed into the excrement? Or is it a fluke bit of mud that fossilized with the wood attached? Composition: - I initially thought it could be a herbivore coprolite because I didn't see any obvious sphincter marks but *IF* it is indeed a coprolite it is way more well-defined than pictures of herbivore coprolites I've looked at - Lick test? Yeah no . I found this in a creek next to a major road in an area that definitely has runoff pollution. I am not licking that rock, haha. Thanks for taking a look! Photos: Other side with lignite presence: Both ends (cross section?):
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Hi folks, We had a major low tide here in Calvert County Maryland last week and beachcombers nailed these beautiful Megs on the Patuxent river according to the Maryland DNR Facebook page. The river holds excellent quality teeth as seen the photo. Just goes to prove you don’t have to to Bayfront park to find quality Megs in Maryland. Enjoy Regards Cliff Dweller