Calvert Cliffs Dolphin Skull / Lophocetus Pappus

[Gizmo]

It was great to be on the dig and nice to see the article. http://www.washingto...wprss=rss_local

[hokiehunter]

I was about to post the same. Here is a link with video.

http://cnsmaryland.org/2012/04/20/rare-fossil-highlights-need-to-preserve-calvert-cliffs/

[DeloiVarden]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing!

[hokiehunter]

Btw... very cool that you were on the dig. Congrats and thanks for the work. I'm sure it was cool to see in person. Also, from the video it appears this was a "toothed dolphin". Was it recovered complete with all/most of the teeth? An image on the video makes it look like the sockets are empty.

Edited April 25, 2012 by hokiehunter

[PaleoRon]

That was my first excavation with CMM. I'm looking forward to seeing the skull after it has been fully prepped.

[Lloyd]

This is pretty incredible. Nice that the amateur hunter recognized the importance and turned it over to the pros.

[Bill]

Agreed! It's such a pity there are so many 'pro's' who want amateur collecting banned.

[Auspex]

...It's such a pity there are so many 'pro's' who want amateur collecting banned.

This one had a good outcome, because the finder alerted the folks who could do the job.

The number of significant specimens destroyed there every year by folks who don't know how to collect them properly would stun you; I have seen the carnage. I certainly don't think amateur collecting should be banned, but when extraction is beyond the capability of the private collector, and they try it anyway, nobody wins.

[Gizmo]

That was my first excavation with CMM. I'm looking forward to seeing the skull after it has been fully prepped.

Ron did all the heavy lifting!

[Gizmo]

Btw... very cool that you were on the dig. Congrats and thanks for the work. I'm sure it was cool to see in person. Also, from the video it appears this was a "toothed dolphin". Was it recovered complete with all/most of the teeth? An image on the video makes it look like the sockets are empty.

No teeth on this one, they almost never do.

[hokiehunter]

This one had a good outcome, because the finder alerted the folks who could do the job.

The number of significant specimens destroyed there every year by folks who don't know how to collect them properly would stun you; I have seen the carnage. I certainly don't think amateur collecting should be banned, but when extraction is beyond the capability of the private collector, and they try it anyway, nobody wins.

100% spot on. The bones from the cliffs are almost always mushy/brittle and break into 100's of pieces when you disturb them while in matrix. I've messed with verts in the surf zone before and never get them out clean even when working slow. The only solution is to jacket or pull out a piece with enough matrix and both ways usually weigh 100+ lbs and takes a professionals eye/experience. When I see something now I just stop and stare for a while and them move on knowing I'd make a mess of things if I even thought of trying.

[Gizmo]

Some extra pics-

[Boesse]

Awesome news! The holotype specimen of Lophocetus calvertensis has been known for about 150 years, and is kind of a crappy specimen - the holotype of Lophocetus pappus (originally named by Remington Kellogg in 1955) is quite a bit better. This specimen, however, may not have a destroyed basicranium like the type specimen, and will be a serious contribution to the field when it is prepared. Good going, guys. Also good to see pictures of Stephen Godfrey in the field, thanks for posting those. It looks chilly!

Bobby

[DD1991]

On 4/26/2012 at 4:45 AM, Boesse said:

Awesome news! The holotype specimen of Lophocetus calvertensis has been known for about 150 years, and is kind of a crappy specimen - the holotype of Lophocetus pappus (originally named by Remington Kellogg in 1955) is quite a bit better. This specimen, however, may not have a destroyed basicranium like the type specimen, and will be a serious contribution to the field when it is prepared. Good going, guys. Also good to see pictures of Stephen Godfrey in the field, thanks for posting those. It looks chilly!

Bobby

Godfrey and Lambert (2023) have erected the new name Miminiacetus for Lophocetus pappus based on comparisons of the holotype skull with a skull of Liolithax reported by Flores-Trujillo et al. (2000) from the middle Miocene of Baja California, Mexico. Although the Liolithax specimen mentioned by Flores-Trujillo et al. (2000) has not yet been described, it will be helpful to morphologically discriminating Liolithax from Lophocetus and Miminiacetus when it's formally described in detail.

 

Flores-Trujillo, J. G., F. J. Aranda-Manteca, and L. G. Barnes. 2000. Identificación del Delfín Fósil del Mioceno Medio, Liolithax kernensis Kellogg 1931. [The Identity of the Fossil Middle Miocene Dolphin, Liolithax kernensis Kellogg 1931.] Paper presented at XXV Reunión Internacional para el Estudio de los Mamíferos Marinos, Sociedad Mexicana para el Estudio de los Mamíferos Marinos, La Paz, Mexico, 7–11 May.

 

Godfrey, S. J., and Lambert, O., 2023. Miocene Toothed Whales (Odontoceti) from Calvert Cliffs, Atlantic Coastal Plain, USA. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 107: 49–186. doi:10.5479/si.23847438.