MGS Fossil Gallery 2007
send me your pics at: dkjjserafin@comcast.net
Submitted by Dave Oeffinger: Below is a series of images that Dave sent in showing some of his finds from some recent collecting along Calvert Cliffs.
Submitted by Dan Pierson: Dan writes..."Attached are photos of teeth found on our last trip to North Carolina, July 7-8, to Green Mill Run with a side excursion to the Aurora Museum spoil piles for a few hours. The second tray is what I call the junk tray of broken teeth. My son likes to keep the large broken pieces since they are pieces of Megs."
Submitted by Christopher Ryan: Below is a series of images that Chris sent in showing some of his finds from the last 6 months of collecting along Calvert Cliffs.
Some nice Sandtigers...these are about max size too!
Some nice mako's...say, I think that 5th tooth from the left is an Isurus retroflexus?
I see is finding some of my favorite cowshark teeth !!
And some nice Megs too!
Some nice hemi's from a variety of positions ...
... and to top it off a nice assortment of some uncommon goodies such as ray dermal scutes, croc teeth, porpoise teeth, a Squalodon tooth, a sperm whale tooth, and what I believe is a Peccary tooth (top right) showing the wearing of one side where the top teeth come down and meet.
Submitted by Jim & Jennifer Bilott: Below is a picture of a decent Meg that Jim & Jennfier found while collecting for the first time along Calvert Cliffs. I met this nice couple at the beach and it was fun giving them a few pointers and helping to identify the different species of shark and ray teeth that they were finding.
Submitted by Various MGS Members: Here are some pics of various fossils that MGS members had on display at our last club meeting in July. Unfortunately my batteries gave out before I could get pictures of the rest of the stuff that other folks brought. There's always a really nice mixture of fossils for sale and fossils just for show. If you have something you want to show or need help getting it identified, bring it to one of club meetings, there's always folks there with a vast knowledge of everything from rocks and minerals to fossils including invertebrates (shells) and vertebrates (sharks, fish, porpoise, birds, etc...). There's something for everyone!
I believe the MEGs in the picture above are from New Caledonia.
The next set of pictures are from Dave Seigert. The fossils are a variety of whale teeth and possibly porpoise teeth.
Submitted by Dale & Kim Buchanan: Here are some links to pictures of some nice finds by Dale and wife Kim from their Calvert Cliffs collection. Among their finds, Dale found a nice Peccary (Pig) molar and some nice porpoise teeth, and Kim found some really nice Tiger shark teeth (Galeocerdo contortus) and a tiny Sharpnose shark tooth. I'll have a close up of the Peccary tooth posted soon too.
Image1 Dale's finds
Image2 close up of Dale's nicer finds
Image3 Kim's finds
Image4 close up of Kim's nicer finds
Submitted by Dan Pierson: Here are some links to pictures that Dan sent in from some trips this past Spring with his son Dillon to Green Mill Run, and Lee Creek. Dillon was to young for Lee Creek, but had fun at GMR.
Image1 The combined haul from Lee Creek and Green Mill Run
Image2 A really nice white Great White
Image3 A nice shell and shark vertebra
Image4 A nice Meg found by digging all day - just 15 min before the bus left
Image5 A nice mako
Image6 A super nice Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier)
Submitted by Gerald Elgert: Here are some links to pictures Gerald sent in from some MGS collecting activities.
Image1 Red Hill, PA trip
Image2 Doug Rowe, Timothy Foard, Donald Greaves at Red Hill
Image3 Timothy Foard at Red Hill
Image4 hyner scale from Red Hill
Image5 Shamokin Dam trip: Blastoid theca found by Gerald
Image6 Bowie trip: Piece of Turtle shell found by Susan Elliot
Image7 Bowie trip: Croc tooth and Crow shark tooth found by Dave Hacker
Submitted by Mark Bennett: Here are some cool pics Mark sent in for your viewing pleasure!
A 5 9/16" Meg recovered while diving down south. This shark forgot to brush and floss!
A nice GW trying to hide among the gravels...
A nice Otodus trying to hide among the gravels...
A nice Split-Tip Otodus ...
A nice Split-Tip great white tooth!
Submitted by Dale Buchanan: Dale found the specimen below while collecting along the Potomac River near Indian Head, MD. It sure looks like a type of porpoise tooth, but I thought that area produced only Paleocene material, not Miocene. I'm fairly certain it's fossilized and not not some sort of modern tooth.
Update: Upon further inspection and review by other collectors, this tooth is probably belonged to a dog/fox/wolf type of animal. I'll look into dentitions of these animals to see if I can find a match.
Submitted by Mark Bennett: Below are some really awesome teeth tht Mark brought to our last MGS meeting
The fossils below are shark "Noses" - Rostral nodes.
The next four pics are of pathological/deformed teeth !
Submitted by Mark Bennett: Below are some really awesome teeth tht Mark brought to our last MGS meeting. Tooth in lower right corner is a huge Parotodus benedini. All of these teeth are from Lee Creek. Tooth in lower right corner is a huge Parotodus benedini. All of these teeth are from Lee Creek.
Submitted by Daryl Serafin: Below are three pics of some really nice specimens I found along Calvert Cliffs between 5 and 10 years ago. The first is of one of my most favorite Megalodon teeth in my collection. It is absoultely perfect and measures 3 inches long. I found it one day on the beach while walking towards another couple of fossil collectors, about 100 feet in front of me, who were walking towards me. When I found it I was shocked that they had missed it (they already walked in and passed this area earlier). All I saw was the crown sticking up out of the dirt at first. I plucked it out slowly, ran over to the water to wash it off, and then wrapped it in a few paper towels. I didn't have the heart to show them what they missed!
The second tooth is a very unusual Mako (Isurus retroflexus). Retro's are very uncommon to almost rare at the beach. In over 10 years of collecting I probably only have between 10 and 15 of them, whereas I have hundreds of "regular" makos. To add to the rareity of the tooth, this one has "3 cusps" on each side of the crown. Over the years I have found what appear to be juvenile makos with maybe one small cusp on each shoulder, but never two or three. I took this tooth and showed it to the folks at the Smithsonian (Museum of Natural History) who said they never saw a mako quite like this one.
The third tooth is also a rare find at the beach. This tooth is from the shark-toothed whale Squalodon atlanticus. It's an incisor I believe. At the most I probably have about 10 squalodon teeth, maybe less. What makes this one extra special is the white coloring of the enamel crown. White teeth of any kind are fairly uncommon/rare at the beach. They only come from one layer - and I know which one! So when I see this layer lying around, I go through it. It has paid of not only with this tooth, but a really nice white Meg as well.
Submitted by Daryl Serafin: To kick off the new year I thought I'd start with a pic one of my favorite teeth from my Muddy Creek collection. This particular species of shark tooth was very rare at Muddy Creek. Over the three years that I collected there I only found two of these uppers. I think I also have a couple lowers, but they are hard to differentiate between other serratolamna species. This tooth is in mint condition! Look at those long triangular cusps!
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