Dolphins swam in ancient seas

 

The Washington Post recently reported on the discovery of a ancient dolphin near Calvert Cliffs (which I'm quite familiar with).

As the title notes, the current cliffs are where an ancient sea once was, and the area is well-noted for an abundance of shark teeth. (I have a couple.) So where there were sharks, it makes sense that dolphins where there, too.

Late at night on a deserted beach, she found a 15 million-year-old fossil

[Fossil hunter Emily] "Bzdyk snapped a photo and quickly sent it to Stephen Groff, an assistant paleontology collection manager at the museum. The fossil, it turned out, was a remarkably intact skull of a 15 million-year-old, now-extinct dolphin-like crature that once swam in a shallow sea that covered most of Maryland.

Groff said the Aug. 5 discovery was like hitting the fossil jackpot.

Rarely are skulls found in such complete condition, and Bzdyk just happened on it at the right moment, while it was exposed but before it was damaged by waves. What’s more, there’s a small possibility that the specimen is from a yet undiscovered species."

Eurhinodelphis is a Miocene dolphin that has been found in the cliffs before.