Miocene Gannet Skeleton Discovery along Calvert Cliffs, Maryland

Premiered Aug 17, 2023

Curator of Paleontology Dr. Stephen Godfrey and long-time Calvert Marine Museum volunteer Mike Ellwood recount the exciting and remarkable discovery of a gannet skull and partial skeleton from the Miocene epoch, estimated to be 12-13 million years old. While gannets are one of the more common fossilized birds along Calvert Cliffs, no complete skull had ever been found in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed until this specimen was unearthed. The fossilized skull shares skeletal features of modern-day northern gannets (Morus bassanus), creating a window into the ancient ocean environment that once covered the area we now call home.