THE FOSSILS OF CALVERT CLIFFS

Where is Calvert Cliffs?

•Calvert Cliffs is located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in Calvert County.

What is Calvert Cliffs?

• Of all the natural resources in the state of Maryland, perhaps none is more famous than the 30 miles of cliffs that dominate the shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County.

Here are some recent photos from Calvert Cliffs.

•

Were the cliffs always there?

The cliffs that now stand 100 feet

above

the water line were

once the bottom of the sea floor

.

Class Discussion

•

If the cliffs were once on the bottom of the sea floor..

What might the person in the raft observe in the cliffs as he glides along the water?

Let’s review our predictions!

• Do you think we will find traces or remains of organisms in the cliff?

• What might we learn from studying the remains of organisms that lived there long ago?

Digging a little deeper…

• For over 150 years, fossils dislodged from the cliffs have been studied by scientists at facilities such as the Smithsonian Institution.

Let’s see what they have found… • In all, fossils of over 600 species of organisms have been identified from Calvert Cliffs. Check out some of these…

Fossils of Calvert Cliffs

A variety of invertebrate fossils such as coral, scallops and snails have been found in the sediments of Calvert Cliffs.

Photos Adapted from: http://www.fossilguy.com/sites/calvert/

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Fossils of Calvert Cliffs, Cont.

Fossils of vertebrate animals such as shark, turtles, porpoises and whales have also been found at Calvert Cliffs.

Megalodon fossil teeth of Calvert Cliffs

Adapted from: http://www.fossilguy.com/sites/calvert/ english.pravda.ru/main/2002/ 10/28/38779.html

Vertebrate Fossils of Calvert Cliffs Sea Turtle Vertebrate Seal Vertebrate

Adapted from: http://www.fossilguy.com/sites/calvert/

www.sportextreme.com/Diving/Scripts www.friendlyplanet.com/popup.asp?imgSrc=image s

Vertebrate Fossils of Calvert Cliffs, Cont.

Porpoise Teeth

www.zuvuya.net/sites/.../ mailbox/e-update-wwf003.htm

Porpoise Inner Ear Bones Porpoise Rib Fragments

Adapted from: http://www.fossilguy.com/sites/calvert/

Vertebrate Fossils of Calvert Cliffs, Cont.

Prehistoric Baleen Whale Bone Fragments Prehistoric Baleen Whale Skull Fragment Prehistoric Baleen Whale Teeth

Adapted from: http://www.fossilguy.com/sites/calvert/

THE WHALE FOSSIL OF CALVERT CLIFFS!

• The whale skull fossil found at Calvert Cliffs was similar in shape and structure to the one shown here.

• The skull is a fossil of a baleen whale. Baleen whales lack teeth. Instead, they have grooves that are used to trap food. Feeding baleen whales swim with their mouths open, taking in vast mouthfuls of water.

THE WHALE FOSSIL OF CALVERT CLIFFS, Cont.!

• Today, baleen whales are the largest animals on Earth, yet they feed on the smallest organisms such as shrimp and plankton.

Humpback Whale http://www.whalecenter.org/album/album27.htm

• Some examples of baleen whales are right whales and blue whales, and humpback whales

Blue Whale www.bergoiata.org/fe/Baleines-Dauphins/10.htm

Class Discussion

• Discuss how the ancient baleen whales like the one found at Calvert Cliffs compare to present day species of baleen whales?

• Make a sketch of what this ancient whale might have looked like.

The Big Question!

• Now that you have some information about Calvert Cliffs and the fossils that have been found there, you will need to focus on the following question throughout the study of this unit: • How do the fossils found in Calvert Cliffs provide evidence that the climate and living things in the area have changed over time?