Countdown

One week until the movie release of Alice in Wonderland - 3D! (March 5th) I'm pre-ordering my tickets!

In the mean time I've added to my own Wonderland jewelry with little post earrings. These tiny silhouettes have been hand cut from 20 gauge sterling silver...and what a feat that was to try to get the tiny details! Yet well worth it... I think ;)

Lastly, I'm still having a good time with ring designs. These follow the slug design, where a cute little creature wraps itself around your finger. So....what do you think?

CHEERS TO THE NEW YEAR

Happy NEW DECADE!
Now that the eating has slowed and new years resolutions struggles with inspiration... I'm going to start by offering a little bit of cheer to the new year with a sale on selected earrings and necklaces.

Treat your self or a loved one with a little cheer or sweet reminder to keep your spirits fresh and snappy with a little bit of style. ;)

Miocene Sharks Teeth of Calvert County

The sharks' teeth collected along the shore of the Chesapeake Bay between Chesapeake Beach and Calvert Cliffs in Calvert County are records of a far distant past when the climate, geography, and living creatures in this area were quite different from those of today. Back in the Miocene Epoch, about 17 million years ago, the sharks that bore these teeth lived in the warm, shallow sea that covered southern Maryland.

The present-day configuration of the Chesapeake Bay emerged, with the deposits of the Calvert Cliffs that were once sea bottom now standing 100 ft. above the water line. Fossil remains of animals from that ancient sea floor are now exposed as wind and water erode the cliffs, and represent the most extensive assemblage of this period in the Eastern United States.

The teeth of extinct sharks most commonly found here belong to the following species: Galeocerdo contortus, and G. triqueter (Tiger Sharks), Hemipristis serra (Requiem Shark), Oxyrhina desorii (Mackerel Shark), Sphyrma prisca (Hammer-head Shark), and the Sand Shark, Odontaspis elegans. Teeth of the spectacular giant White Shark, Carcharondon megalodon, are found here too, but are rare.

From the great number of teeth that have been and are still found here, initially one wonders how so many sharks could have lived in a relatively restricted area.

There are several reasons for this abundance. First, sharks have an unlimited supply of teeth. No cavities, permanently missing teeth, or tooth aches for them! Shark teeth are not set firmly in the jaws, but in the gums, where they occur in layered rows. If a tooth is lost, it is gone but briefly, for another from the reserve layer moves forward to take its place. Also, recent studies indicate that the young of one common modern shark replace their upper teeth every 7.2 days, and the lower ones every 8.2 days! It is possible that this may have held true in fossil sharks.

Check out our Chesapeake bay sharks teeth fossil jewelry and get a little history of your own.