Baleen whale jaw

[VBlake]

Hi all, we found what we believe to be a fossilized baleen whale jaw, while out on an artifact hunt on the Nansemond river, in Carrollton, Va. If anyone has an information for us about what exactly we have found, it would be much appreciated. Very interested in which position of the mouth this would have been, lower, upper? Also, any insight on why we might have found it where we did? It did erode out of a cliff but it we don’t find any other fossils in this formation. Thanks for the help

[Fossildude19]

@Boesse

[FossilDAWG]

Wow!

Don

[Fin Lover]

@Fossildude19, I don't think your @ to Bobby worked, so I'll do it.  @Boesse

[shark57]

This certainly appears to be a lower jawbone of a baleen whale. The Pliocene Yorktown Formation is exposed in several of the cliffs along waterways in that area. You say no other fossils are found here, but I see what appear to be fossil snails eroding out of the clay in your pictures.

[VBlake]

51 minutes ago, shark57 said:

This certainly appears to be a lower jawbone of a baleen whale. The Pliocene Yorktown Formation is exposed in several of the cliffs along waterways in that area. You say no other fossils are found here, but I see what appear to be fossil snails eroding out of the clay in your pictures.

Thank you for the confirmation. I haven’t seen the snail shells eroding from the cliffs, I have just seen them on the beach so I didn’t know for sure if they were fossils, but that makes sense, I will look into it more. Thanks for reply!

[shark57]

It looks like there is still a little bit of that grayish clay on the jawbone. My guess is that it came out of the clay around beach level, and that most of the cliff above that may be younger and unfossiliferous. Am I correct that the snails are completely white and not very glossy? If so, that's a sign that they are definitely fossilized.

[VBlake]

42 minutes ago, shark57 said:

It looks like there is still a little bit of that grayish clay on the jawbone. My guess is that it came out of the clay around beach level, and that most of the cliff above that may be younger and unfossiliferous. Am I correct that the snails are completely white and not very glossy? If so, that's a sign that they are definitely fossilized.

I honestly hadn’t paid much attention to the snails I’ll have to get a better look next time but I do believe they are fossils now that you mentioned it. The idea that the whale bone came from bottom of cliff was my assumption as well. But you can guarantee I’ll be out there this weekend trying to find the rest!

[Coco]

I think these shells are recent, there are really many on the French beaches of the Atlantic. It can be either Euspira or another naticidae.

 

Coco

[Masonk]

12 minutes ago, Coco said:

I think these shells are recent, there are really many on the French beaches of the Atlantic. It can be either Euspira or another naticidae.

 

Coco

 

They look to be Moon Snails (Naticidae), which are saltwater snails, if I'm not mistaken.

 

Possible they washed in from the Atlantic through the Bay, but the white color is giving me fossil vibes. Similar to those coming out of the Calvert Formation. 

 

I'm still new to this, so could be mistaken. 

 

 

[Sjfriend]

Very cool whale jaw pieces! Congratulations on a great find. 

[Boesse]

Whoa! Spectacular, huge specimen. The middle of a left mandible of a balaenid whale, aka right whale. It's got a very well defined mylohyoid groove on one side. Definitely keep visiting until you find the rest of it! Should be nearby. Here's a specimen of modern Eubalaena glacialis from the Field Museum: