More than 30 years of combing the streambed for shark’s teeth has left retired farmer, Bernard Kuehn, from Accokeek, Maryland, with quite a rare find.
A soft shell turtle fossil that lived more than 58 million years ago from the Paleocene epoch was found along the bank of Accokeek Creek in early May.
This is only the third known specimen of this species found.
Kuehn has generously donated the specimen to the Calvert Marine Museum.
Peter Kranz, Paleontologist with Dinosaur Park in Laurel, first investigated the fossil and contacted the Calvert Marine Museum for help in quarrying.
With a majority of the shell preserved in the rock it was impossible to dig out the specimen by the normal methods with hammers and chisels.
Joe and Devin Fernandez from Diamond Core Drilling and Sawing Company located in Riverdale, Maryland came to the rescue with a diamond blade chainsaw to cut the turtle out of the rock.
This job would not have been possible without their help.
See the fossil in the Prep Lab at the Calvert Marine Museum where it will take many months to remove the rock from around the bones. It can then be studied by paleontologists to learn more specific information about this rare specimen.
