The fossilized skeleton of a 15-million-year-old snaggletooth shark has been uncovered in Maryland. And to add to the excitement, it\'s the first if its kind ever discovered.
Stephen Godfrey (left) and Shawn Gibson continue to excavate down and around the fossilized shark skull so that a protective cast (a field jacket) can be placed over it before being moved to the museum. (R. Cantrell/Calvert Marine Museum)
R. Cantrell/Calvert Marine Museum
A final shark vertebra unearthed Halloween night. (R. Cantrell/Calvert Marine Museum)
R. Cantrell/Calvert Marine Museum
Standing around the fossilized shark skeleton (from left to right) are John Nance, Donald Gibson, Shawn Gibson, Jo Ann Gibson, and Pat Gotsis. Upon arriving at the Gibson's home, Donald Gibson (second from left) describes to John Nance (left) how he found the first shark vertebra. (S. Godfrey/Calvert Marine Museum)
S. Godfrey/Calvert Marine Museum
Life drawing of what the extinct 8-foot-long snaggletooth shark might have looked like. (Art by J. Schafer; Calvert Marine Museum)
Art by J. Schafer; Calvert Marine Museum
A mouth-full of fossilized Miocene snaggletooth shark teeth as they were first unearthed. Patches of delicate shark skull cartilage are also preserved. (S. Godfrey/Calvert Marine Museum)
S. Godfrey/Calvert Marine Museum
Final bandage-layers are smoothed out to create a rigid cast. (R. Cantrell/Calvert Marine Museum)
R. Cantrell/Calvert Marine Museum
Stephen Godfrey (left) and Shawn Gibson continue to excavate down and around the fossilized shark skull so that a protective cast (a field jacket) can be placed over it before being moved to the museum. (R. Cantrell/Calvert Marine Museum)
WASHINGTON — The fossilized skeleton of a 15-million-year-old snaggletooth shark has been uncovered in Maryland. Adding to the excitement, it’s the first of its kind ever discovered. In a news release, the Calvert Marine Museum says Shawn Gibson found the skeleton near his home in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, while preparing to build a sunroom. When he first found the fossil, Gibson continued digging. Soon, he says, he found vertebrae, a skull and a jaw with teeth. That’s when he contacted Calvert Marine Museum. John Nance, assistant curator of paleontology, and Stephen Godfrey, curator of paleontology at the museum, investigated and according to Godfrey, were “wonderstruck.” It’s not typical for animals to stay intact after they die, the museum says in the release. Animals scavenging for food often scatter the remains. Some of the shark’s cartilage was also preserved, which is even more rare. This particular snaggletooth would have been 8- to 10-feet long, would have had at least 80 vertebrae and hundreds of teeth. Its closest living relative is the Miocene shark, which is often also called a snaggletooth. It, like the snaggletooth discovered in Maryland, would eat crabs, sharks, rays, fish and other seafood. The fossilized skeleton of the snaggletooth now lives at the <a href=”http://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/visiting/”>Calvert Marine Museum where it will be researched and prepared so it can go on display. Follow @WTOP on Twitter and <a href=”https://www.facebook.com/wtopnews”>WTOP on Facebook.
