The Calvert Marine Museum is a maritime museum located in Solomons, Maryland.The museum has three main themes:Among its exhibits are the Drum Point Light, the bugeye Wm. B. Tennison, and the J. C. Lore Oyster House; the latter two are National Historic Landmarks. It also houses artifacts from the old Cedar Point Light, and maintains the Drum Point Light and grounds.The museum also features several aquatic exhibits including an outdoor habitat for the North American river otter, and indoor aquarium exhibits for the sting ray, skates, the non-native lionfish, and numerous other species native to the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries..
Abstract A new fossil pinnotheroid crab, Pinnotheres prochowniki n. sp., from the upper Miocene (Tortonian) Little Cove Point Member of the St. Marys Formation of Maryland, USA, and St. Marys or Eastover Formation of Virginia, USA, is described based on sixteen specimens, marking the first occurrence of a pinnotheroid from the Chesapeake Group. These pinnotheroids exhibit remarkable preservation, many specimens of which are fully articulated, and at least one specimen retains preserved pleopods and gills. These crabs also appear to exhibit preferential association with the surf clam Mactrodesma subponderosa Ward, 1992, with all but two being found within their shells and none being found in association with any other potential host species. The exceptional preservation of these pea crabs can be attributed in part to this symbiotic relationship, as the host clam served to protect the crabs from being destroyed by taphonomic processes.
Extensive collecting of bulk samples at six sites in the Piscataway and Paspotansa members of the Aquia Formation (Palaeocene, approximately 61.0-56.0 Ma based on the upper P3b-P5 and NP5-NP9) in Maryland, U.S.A. resulted in the recovery of 9647 teleostean otoliths, primarily sagittae (99.13%). The assemblage consisted of 20 different teleostean families that represent 23 unequivocal species, four identified to genus, and six assigned to the family level (total of 33 taxa). This makes the Aquia Formation the most diverse and abundant Palaeocene otolith-based assemblage known presently in North America. The otolith assemblage contains two new genera and seven new species. Of special note are Primitivusscomber triangulum and 'Scomberomorus' sp. that represent the oldest otolith-based scombrids (family Scombridae) known in the palaeontological record. Percentage similarity measurement indicates that the two Aquia Formation members were extremely alike and represented fish assemblages and palaeoenvironments that were quite similar to one another. The otolith assemblage reveals a palaeoenvironment of mainly normal salinity, marine waters with depths most likely less than 100 m (inner to middle shelf), tropical climate (some indications of possible subtropical climate), soft sea bottoms, and a short surface residence time for the otoliths.urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:73342A4B-4CC3-47A8-85D2-0EDC88DD41F5
Tooth structural integrity is critical for animals whose diets include hard substrates such as bone and shell. Because tooth material properties may be shaped by natural selection, they are important to consider in addition to morphological changes during studies of shark tooth evolution. We hypothesize that the megatooth shark Otodus megalodon evolved a structural adaptation by selectively incorporating zinc (Zn) into its fluorapatite enameloid to reinforce regions subjected to high stress. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine zinc enrichment in mechanically stressed regions of Otodus spp. teeth. Micro X-ray fluorescence (mu -XRF) spectroscopy was used to spatially resolve zinc levels in the labial enameloid of 12 O. megalodon and five O. obliquus teeth. Statistical analyses show significantly lower Zn levels in basal regions of O. megalodon enameloid, near the root. Conversely, the highest Zn levels were observed along the outermost cutting edges and crown apex, regions associated with the highest stress levels during simulations of puncture and draw. In contrast, O. obliquus, a presumed primarily piscivorous ancestor of O. megalodon, showed less pronounced spatial variation of Zn overall, though O. obliquus also showed lower levels of Zn in the basal enameloid compared to other parts of the cusp. Notably, O. obliquus showed no consistent enrichment of Zn along the tooth edges compared to the interior regions. These results suggest that as otodontid sharks transitioned from a fish-based diet to preying on marine mammals, natural selection favored a chemical reinforcement of their teeth in response to increased functional demands.
The Squalodontidae are one of the most historic families within the Cetacea, given that Squalodon was first named in 1840. Since Squalodon' s initial description, workers in the 1800s were eager to assign heterodont cetacean teeth to this family; as a result, it became a wastebasket with many species based on fragmentary remains. Taxa represented by well‐preserved specimens demonstrate that the Squalodontidae possess a mixture of ancestral and derived traits: they exhibit polydonty as most modern odontocetes do, but their teeth are still differentiated into incisor, canine and molariform types. Despite their position as a transitional form, the Squalodontidae have been neglected in the scientific literature and much of this is due to their poorly resolved taxonomy. While revisional work has been done for the North American record, the European record has remained a wastebasket. We assess here the taxonomic status of the 22 species in two squalodontid genera recorded from Europe spanning from the Chattian to the Serravallian. Both species of Eosqualodon bear diagnostic name‐bearing specimens. However, of the 20 species of Squalodon , only six bear diagnostic types, and of those, one is a junior synonym. Our literature review of historic papers shows that the other 14 species of Squalodon have non‐diagnostic name‐bearing types, are synonymous with other species of Squalodon , or never had a specimen associated with the name. We also call into question the assertion that the Squalodontidae persist into the Serravallian, given that the youngest family‐diagnostic specimens are found in units straddling the Langhian–Serravallian boundary.
The shells of muricoid gastropod Ecphora gardnerae from the Miocene St. Marys Formation of Maryland, USA, have been shown to contain polymeric sheets within the calcareous matrix. These membranes were found to have amino acids and complex sugar compounds. To explore these biomolecular features further, four new E. gardnerae shells were collected and analyzed for proteins and sugar compounds. Using direct analysis in real time (DART) mass spectrometry, we were able to show that the membranes contain chitin. With mass spectrometry-based paleoproteomic techniques utilizing a hydroxylamine extraction or sample preparation by easy extraction and digestion (SPEED), we found preserved peptides from all four shells including peptides that are specific to Gastropoda or Mollusca. The membranes derive from the calcitic layer of the shell and are likely analogous to chitin membranes used by other extant mollusks to control nucleation, growth, and physical properties in the calcareous layers, but future research in gastropod biology will help to address the function of these membranes.
