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It was a glorious day to fossil hunt. Warm with a soft breeze and still slightly chilly water. See, I had gotten incredibly lucky. I had gotten a connection to Dr Stephen Godfrey and he invited me to hunt today at a classified location (sorry I am not allowed to spill the beans). Our friend Mr Eric came along as well as MomAnonymous. As soon as we had gotten there, interesting things began to appear. Dr Godfrey began to point out things i'd never had understood without being told. At the bottom of the cliff face, Dr Godfrey pointed to a strange indentation and then told us a story about he and other paleontologists finding completely intact fish skulls at the cliffs, which are nigh on impossible to find. Then he told us that the skulls were a type of tilefish, which as some may know burrow through mud. These tilefish buried themselves in these burrows and they became a kind of tomb, which is why they stayed intact and weren't destroyed. At this time, the Hobbit (movie) had just came out and when Dr Godfrey was given the ok to name the species, he went from something from the Hobbit. Dwarves tunneled, and their mountain was named the Lonely Mountain, and Erebor in the elvish language, and the species became Eraborensis.

 

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On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus!

 

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Dr Godfrey also pointed out a choice section of zone 10 which contained multiple ecphora and some in situ teeth.

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On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus!

 

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We continued to wander. The cliffs were quite steep.

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On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus!

 

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Dr Godfrey also pointed out instances of Bioturbation, where animals had burrowed through the sediment and their burrows had been filled in with younger sediment. When you start to look, there are a lot!

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On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus!

 

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There were simply massive slumps along the cliffs. Some were quite interesting to climb around, although they did provide some cool fossils i'll get to in a moment.

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On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus!

 

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The finds got better and better. Huge Chesepacten Nefrens littered the slumps.

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On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus!

 

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Here comes the fun part. Dr Godfrey pointed out a Juvenile Dolphin Tail Vertebra, which was pretty cool. Dolphin rib bones, skull fragments, and the tip of a baleen whale jaw all joined the pile.

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On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus!

 

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Next, Mr Eric found a gigantic hemi in a bootprint! Someone must not like hemis very much. A couple nice makos and other assorted teeth made their way into my holder, and then we had to retreat because of the rising tide. Not a bad hunt, with the Head Curator of the Calvert Marine Museum as well!

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On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus!

 

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59 minutes ago, FossilsAnonymous said:

Next, Mr Eric found a gigantic hemi in a bootprint! Someone must not like hemis very much. A couple nice makos and other assorted teeth made their way into my holder, and then we had to retreat because of the rising tide. Not a bad hunt, with the Head Curator of the Calvert Marine Museum as well!

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If only those beatifull hemi's where not so extremly rare in Europe.
Probaly one of the most beatifull sharkteeth that you can find if you asked me. Here is one from Belgium Antwerp that i have found to compare.

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We’re lucky enough to find them regularly here. The one above is quite rare though 

On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus!

 

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36 minutes ago, xxxhalsteren said:

one of the most beatifull sharkteeth that you can find

I agree completely, and am partial to Paleocarcharodon also.

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"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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Glad to hear that you are getting some field time. ...And with Dr Godfrey, no less!

 

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12 minutes ago, sharkdoctor said:

Glad to hear that you are getting some field time. ...And with Dr Godfrey, no less!

 

We chatted about meeting you at Brownies to Dr Godfrey and would love a joint trip if you have the time.

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On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus!

 

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10 minutes ago, Auspex said:

I agree completely, and am partial to Paleocarcharodon also.


I'm a hugh fan of the small teeth like Somniosus, Megachasma, Alopias, Sym Notorynchus or Hexanchus (for people without teeth knowledge sym it's the middle tooth of the shark) Just a question is the Somniosus found in Us? Megalodon's enough to buy online but, Rarely are species I fancy offered for sale.

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@FossilsAnonymous looks like you had a good trip. I've always wanted to hunt with Dr. Godfrey. He's done great things for the community and the CMM is a wonder to behold.

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Do or do not. There is no try. - Yoda

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Man, you must have been having the day of all days... :envy:

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If you're a fossil nut from Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Redondo Beach, or Torrance, feel free to shoot me a PM!

 

 

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9 hours ago, Al Tahan said:

Super cool!! Great trip :envy:

It really was.

7 hours ago, Fossil-Hound said:

@FossilsAnonymous looks like you had a good trip. I've always wanted to hunt with Dr. Godfrey. He's done great things for the community and the CMM is a wonder to behold.

He really is a great and extremely informative man.

7 hours ago, Macrophyseter said:

Man, you must have been having the day of all days... :envy:

I got lucky indeed. Beats the usual slog through the rain.

On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus!

 

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17 hours ago, FossilsAnonymous said:

We chatted about meeting you at Brownies to Dr Godfrey and would love a joint trip if you have the time.

Sounds like a plan. let's do that sooner rather than later?  Also, didn't we talk about y'all having a look at my collection at some point?  Send a PM?

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