Black River Fossil Forums

	Register Login
	Save this page to del.icio.us Bookmark this page search

December 3, 2008

Home

Forums

Features

Go Fossil Hunting

Trip Reports

Forums

A quick note about the forums

In order to post on these forums, you must be a registered member of this site. Membership is free and open to all. Use the register link to apply.

Here are two links to posts dealing with how to post pictures on Black River Fossils forums.

1. How to Post Pictures on Black River Fossils Forums by ditchweezil

2. How to Post Pictures on Black River Fossils Forums by Daryl

Forums

Forum Home

Fossils

Shark Teeth

What got you st...

What got you started?

10/9/2003 6:26:15 PM

legacyForum

725 posts

What got you started?

Hey guys, Ive got a neat topic to start. What got you started in fossil hunting? Or for that matter, shark teeth, megaldon, etc. Did someone introduce it to you, or did you just have the urge to go fossil hunting one day? Oh, and what was the first fossil/shark tooth that you found? Lets see, myself, ever since i was two, i was always interested in dinosaurs. I was crazy over dinos, heh, i even wanted to become a paleontologist. Not that i wouldnt now, but it involves alot of work. But as the years went by, i kinda forgot about them. Then in 6th grade, four years ago, i read a book by Steve Alten called Meg. Now i have to say this book was awsome, it still is, and after i read it and realized there was once actually a megalodon shark, i was hooked. It became a hobby id say, looking stuff up on megs, shark teeth etc. And four years later im still very much interested, to the point that i have my own collection of meg teeth. Now, ive been hunting for sharks teeth before, unfortunetly i havent officially found a meg, but hopefully very soon i will :P Now basically, megs are kinda an obsession, to the point that im doin a research paper on them for school. Hobby, passion, obsession, heh, whatever you would call it, i still cant get over the fact there was a shark with 7 inch teeth roaming the oceans. Amazing stuff. As for my first fossil shark tooth, i found it about 6 years ago in florida, while i was there for the summer. We have a condo right on the ocean on the east coast, and naturally im on the beach practically every day for the month that we're there. Now, in all the years ive been there, ive only found 3 shark teeth. And my first was a pretty beat up extinct mako. The tip is round, theres basically no root, but besides that, all the enamel is there and the colors are amazing! Blues, green, orange, red, one of the coolest teeth that i have, even if its only 3/4 of an inch. Nowadays im all for sharks teeth, megs etc etc. heh, thats it in a nutshell. What about you guys? Mike

10/9/2003 10:28:27 PM

legacyForum

725 posts

Re: What got you started?

Great topic. I went through the standard dino stage of childhood, but what really got me interested in amatuer paleontology was when I found my first. I don't remember how old I was, but it was young. My family was vacationing in North Carolina. We had taken a ferry off somewhere for the day and had missed the one back too our campsite. Waiting for the next one, we were just kinda hanging in the parking lot.Then, all of a sudden, we started finding sharks teeth, urchin spines and other fossils in the gravel. We talked to a guy working the toll booth and he said that the gravel was regularly dumped along the side of the road and was froim some little place I'd never heard of called Aurora (foreshadowing!). Noticeing my enthusiasm, my parents tracked down the piles. This was my first locality, and the rest is history. Drew

10/10/2003 2:55:29 AM

scubapaul

70 posts

Re: What got you started?

First, if you are looking for more research on Megs, let me recommend a couple of articles that are free and may be good background. (1) http://www.megalodonteeth.com/html/article2.html and (2) http://www.megalodonteeth.com/html/article1.html. Both are by Steve Alter (not Alten, the guy that wrote Meg). There is also a book by Mark Renz, called Megalodon: Hunting the Hunter, which is worth the price just for the pictures, but also has some ancestry and other info. I also - as about 90% of boys - wanted to be a paleontologist and loved dinosaurs. I also watched a lot of "wild kingdom" and discovery channel. I went on my first fossil dive in 1998 in the cooper river and that was all it took. It combined my love of sharks, treasure hunting, diving, and fossils all in one nice package. I now hunt on land as well and more frequenty than I dive for them. My favorite find (which you didn't ask for but I will share anyway) is a Meg, a shade under 6" but I call it a 6" anyway. I found it in the Morgan river in SC, burried in the clay bed. It is not perfect, but damn nice anyway and the centerpiece of my collection. One other thing to add. In general, I have met a lot of very nice people hunting teeth. Some are understandibly protective of "their" hunting sites, but I have met a lot of nice ones willing to share info, finds, and some even hunting areas. -paul

10/10/2003 7:02:08 AM

legacyForum

725 posts

Re: What got you started?

Thanks for the articles Paul. Ive actually already been to his site and read them, heh. Alter's got some good ideas and he has the data to back it up. Mark Renz, i must say he wrote a great book. I bought it in florida when we went last february for spring break. Heh, ironically we went on one of his fossil hunts for megs to the peace river, and i brought the book with me for the drive out there, not knowing the author and our guide was one in the same. I was pretty astonished when i learned it was him, and he was nice enought to sign it for me as well. Speaking of the book though, ive also used that for some of my research, and its got a good deal of info in it. Especially some of the evolutionary links and theories. I guess we could broaden the topic a little, sounds good. So, what is your favorite find, and/or your core collection piece? So far, i would have to say my core collection piece, would be a 3.7 intermediate meg tooth from the St. Marys river. The shades are amazing, its basically a uniform orange yellowish color, and its got blue streaks running through the enamel. Unfortunetly i didnt find it, i bought it, but its still a very neat tooth. ~Mike

10/12/2003 1:07:11 AM

legacyForum

725 posts

Re: What got you started?

My brother and I started in the late 70's combing the banks of the Neuse River for sharks teeth while waiting for our turn to water ski. My husband also enjoys looking for sharks teeth and we 'compete' for the largest tooth. I'm ahead with a 4" Meg.

10/12/2003 5:27:42 PM

ditchweezil

342 posts

Re: What got you started?

That is a good topic. I started hunting when I was a kid. I've lived in SC for 27 years, and my dad used to take my brother and me all over the place. If only we knew then what we knew now, huh? I took about a 10 year break over my teens and early 20s, and I picked it up again when I was 22 when I took my girlfriend's (now my wife) kids hunting teeth to give her a mother's day to herself. 7 years later, and I'm still a raving lunatic about it!
My favorite find ever is a toss up between this pleistocene beaver jaw
and this Paleo spear point

10/22/2003 5:44:55 AM

da f0ssZ

31 posts

Re: What got you started?

I like this topic. Brings back fond memories. My grandparents lived in Beaufort SC, and I collected fossils as a kid at Port Royal where the port authority dumped dredge. Also, we would stay at Edisto BEach and collect fossils there. I aslways loved the thrill of the hunt. I lived in Tennessee most of my life, but my wife and moved to Columbia in '94 and I started beach combing and quarry collecting. Once I did enough research, I found that diving and creek collecting were great sources. I like all the methods so long as I am hunting fossils. My best find has to be the associated archaeocete teeth. The whale was scattered, smothered, and covered by machinery in the pit, but somehow a lower jawbone section, some vertebrae, and some teeth survived. I dug for about 8 hours through hard limestone and green cap (mostly limestone), and then had 3 weeks of prep work at home. It was worth it. The hobby is great. It is outdoors, and the thrill of the hunt keeps you coming back for more. DF

Page 1 of 1