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Fossi Hunting for Transitional Shark teeth

View of the Calvert Cliffs along the Chesapeake Bay.

View of the Calvert Cliffs along the Chesapeake Bay. This shows the Calvert and Choptank Formations.


Looking for Transitional shark teeth around the Chesapeake Bay area.

I decided to kick it at the Chesapeake Bay area for my first summer fossil hunting trip. We met up with Paleoscan and Larry Decina of the DVPS. Larry came down in hopes of collecting at Belvedere Beach along the Potomac River. For those who don’t know of the beach, Belvedere Beach was a VERY productive Paleocene site in the past, but is now next to impossible to get to.

On our first day, we took the fossilski out and dropped Amy and Paleoscan off at a secret transitional tooth site. Larry and I then took the fossilski and headed to Belvedere Beach. Unfortunately I misread the map and thought Belvedere was only 10 or so miles from our boat ramp. So, after 10 or so miles on the water and not seeing the beach, I pulled out the GPS, looked up the coordinates and noticed were still about 20 miles away!!!! Eventually we made it only to discover the beach had really changed. New riprap had been added which changed the current dynamics. The beach was tiny and none of the fossil layer was eroding. After spending a half hour or so in disappointment, we hopped on the fossilski and darted back to the boat ramp, sucking fumes and sputtering as we pulled in.
After getting Larry ashore, I headed back out to pick up Amy and Paleoscan, all the time hoping they would do better. Amy found almost nothing, while Paleoscan managed to find a nice transitional otodus fossil tooth (Woohoo!). The Transitional fossil tooth looks like an Otodus tooth, but has partial serrations. Over time, Otodus became serrated, and eventually evolved into the Megalodon. Similar transitional teeth can be found in parts of Russia.

After an extended fossil hunting day, we retired to Paleoscans beach cabin. At the cabin, we shot off fireworks and feasted on a rather large pork shoulder that was brilliantly smoked in a "big green egg" for 20 odd hours.

Day two of our hunt was a little easier. We boated to some Miocene Fossil exposures along the Calvert Cliffs of Maryland in the CHesapeake Bay area. I managed to find a decent mako (Extinct White) shark tooth. Other nice looking extinct whites and a worn megs were also found.

Below are images of the trip and the fossils





Northern Water Snake at Calvert Cliffs.



Another image of fossil bearing cliff exposures along the Chesapeake bay.



Here, we see Larry at Belvedere beach attempting to find land to collect on.



One of the better finds of the trip, a mako slightly over 2 inches.



Here is a close-up of the extinct white shark, C. hastalis



These are a few of Larry's finds. Among them lies a decent extinct white shark, C. hastalis.



These are some of Paleoscans fossil finds. Notice the Otodus looking tooth. It is actually a transitional. It has small serrations running halfway up the blade.



This is a close-up of the transitional tooth. The picture is too blurry to see the serrations, but trust me, they are there! Apparently this is the stage in an otodus (if you want to call it that), when it just started to aquire serrations on its way to a megaolodon tooth. Similar teeth can be found in an area in Russia.



Here are my fossil finds. The fossils below the ruler are Paleocene from the Belvedere beach area.




Recommended Books and Fossils:





Shark Tooth Hunting on the Carolina Coast
By: Ashley Oliphant, 2015
A guide on how to find and identify fossil shark teeth on the North and South Carolina beaches. It also has an easy to use section for shark teeth identification. If you want to find shark teeth in the Carolinas, read this book first!




Get Your Very Own Megalodon Tooth:

These are Authentic Megalodon teeth sold by Fossil Era , a reputable fossil dealer (that I personally know) who turned his fossil passion into a business. His Megalodon teeth come in all sizes and prices, from small and inexpensive to large muesum quality teeth. Each tooth has a detailed descriptions and images that include its collecting location and formation. If you are looking for a megalodon tooth, browse through these selections!


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