Meet Dr. Stephen Godfrey
Meet Dr. Stephen Godfrey,
Curator of Paleontology at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, Maryland, and is a fossil replicator as well. Dr. Godfrey received his BS in Biology from Bishop’s University, PhD from McGill University, and Post Doc Fellowship from Univ. of Toronto.
You have had some real adventures excavating fossils. Experienced fossil hunters in Southern Maryland and Northern Virginia all know how treacherous the cliffs are and make a point of warning the inexperienced to be mindful. You actually rappelled down one of those cliffs to excavate a skeleton for the museum! Tell me about that.
Stephen’s Answer: It was many years ago that I rappelled down the cliff face to quarry a fossil dolphin skull. It was my first time ever to rappel and we were guided by a professional. Also with me that day was my assistant at that time, Bill Counterman. The skull was originally spotted by Paul Murdoch, one of our fossil club members and now our club president. Part of the skull had already fallen out of the cliff and had broken up on the beach below…those pieces we collected very carefully. The front part of the skull remained in the cliffs and we spent a day digging it out and wrapping it up to move it safely back to the museum. It turned out to be a new species of a squalodontid dolphin (skull restoration included), an archaic kind of dolphin with jagged-edged teeth. A scientific paper describing that new species of extinct dolphin is in the works and hopefully will be published by the Smithsonian Press in a few years.
Is your whole job like that?
Stephen’s Answer: That experience was unique…I have not had the opportunity or need to rappel down the cliffs since. Every other specimen that I’ve helped quarry has been accessible from just standing on the beach or on a ladder, sometimes a tall one.
Did you sculpt the Meg that’s hanging in the museum? (I have a lovely picture of my daughter staring up at it from many years ago that I may use for illustration.) If so, please tell me about how you made it.
Stephen’s Answer: Although I’ve carved many other skeletons (www.Skullptures.com), I did not sculpt the megalodon skeleton on display in the Calvert Marine Museum. That beautiful work was done by former members of our Exhibit Department, Jimmy Langley and Skip Edwards. The skeleton came about because my predecessor, Curator of Paleontology Dr. Michael Gottfried, went to South Africa to study the skeleton of the extant great white shark. He took lots of photos and measurements of the skeleton and brought all the information back to the Museum. As you may know, the skeleton of sharks, even that of the giant shark megalodon, is composed of various kinds of cartilage. Cartilage does not fossilize as well as does bone. So most of the skeleton of megalodon is not known. Working from the information that Dr. Gottfried brought back, Jimmy and Skipper carved the skeleton of megalodon out of a high-density foam. That is what is now hanging in one of our paleontology exhibits galleries, an amazing best-estimate of what the skeleton of this giant extinct shark would have looked like.
You made yourself an incredibly valuable resource for the fossil community. You have written field guides and you welcome people to bring their fossils to you at the museum for identification. What is one of the most memorable things someone brought you?
Stephen’s Answer: The most memorable fossil brought into my office was a fossilized piece of poop (aka a coprolite) found by local professional fossil collector Douggie Douglass. This was no ordinary coprolite. It was one that had been bitten by an extinct tiger shark…the shark tooth impressions were still preserved in the poop (photo included). It was and still is so amazing because of how unlikely it would be for that kind of fossil to form. What are the chances of a piece of poop having been bitten by a shark to then sink to the bottom of the prehistoric ocean and become fossilized, and then for someone to find it and bring it to my attention? Crazy unlikely! It was also a fun story to tell in the form of a formal scientific paper. This is one of the reasons why I am happy to look at, and help identify fossils for people, because you never know what they might have found.
What happened after they brought it?
Stephen’s Answer: The museum purchased to fossilized poop from Douggie!
What was your first fossil?
Stephen’s Answer: I grew up in the Province of Quebec in Canada. I remember looking for fossils while I was fishing. I think they were of long-extinct marine creatures known as trilobites. As a teenager, I turned by bedroom into my very own museum. I would collect pine cones, sea shells, rocks and minerals, fossils, and road-kill skeletons for my museum. It was a great way to learn about nature! On family road trips, I would scour rock outcrops at road-side rest areas for fossils.
What is one of the coolest things you ever found and why?
Stephen’s Answer: Although I have dug up many fossils, the most amazing ones have been found by other passionate paleontologists, mostly amateur paleontologists! They do paleontology because they just love the science and the trill [sic] of the hunt for nifty fossils. I am very blessed because some of their amazing finds make their way to the Museum and I get to work with them to write up scientific papers describing their finds.
You had a rather unusual upbringing for a paleontologist. Would you like to say anything about that?
Stephen’s Answer: I was raised in a family that believed that the Earth and life was only about 6000 years old. We were Young-Earth Creationists. I tell the story of how I wrestled with that belief and came to a new understanding on the age of the Earth and the evolution of life on it here: https://paradigmsonpilgrimage.com/?order=asc
The original book (entitled: Paradigms on Pilgrimage) and now a free webpage were a collaboration between myself and Dr. Christopher Smith (my theologian brother-in-law). The webpage is a free resource for anyone struggling, as I did, with how to resolve their young-Earth Biblical teaching with our current understanding of the age of the Universe and the evolution of life on this planet.
Is there anything you would like to add?
Stephen’s Answer: I love coming to work. Imaging, I get to collect, preserve, and study fossils most of the time. I am so blessed!
If you would be so kind as to provide a couple picture I can use, I would be most appreciative!
Stephen’s Answer: Photos included: Head shot of me. Hand holding the shark-bitten coprolite, and a restoration of the skull of the new extinct dolphin in dorsal (i.e. top) view.
Thank you for taking the time for this interview and for everything you do!
Curator of Paleontology at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, Maryland, and is a fossil replicator as well. Dr. Godfrey received his BS in Biology from Bishop’s University, PhD from McGill University, and Post Doc Fellowship from Univ. of Toronto.
You have had some real adventures excavating fossils. Experienced fossil hunters in Southern Maryland and Northern Virginia all know how treacherous the cliffs are and make a point of warning the inexperienced to be mindful. You actually rappelled down one of those cliffs to excavate a skeleton for the museum! Tell me about that.
Stephen’s Answer: It was many years ago that I rappelled down the cliff face to quarry a fossil dolphin skull. It was my first time ever to rappel and we were guided by a professional. Also with me that day was my assistant at that time, Bill Counterman. The skull was originally spotted by Paul Murdoch, one of our fossil club members and now our club president. Part of the skull had already fallen out of the cliff and had broken up on the beach below…those pieces we collected very carefully. The front part of the skull remained in the cliffs and we spent a day digging it out and wrapping it up to move it safely back to the museum. It turned out to be a new species of a squalodontid dolphin (skull restoration included), an archaic kind of dolphin with jagged-edged teeth. A scientific paper describing that new species of extinct dolphin is in the works and hopefully will be published by the Smithsonian Press in a few years.
Is your whole job like that?
Stephen’s Answer: That experience was unique…I have not had the opportunity or need to rappel down the cliffs since. Every other specimen that I’ve helped quarry has been accessible from just standing on the beach or on a ladder, sometimes a tall one.
Did you sculpt the Meg that’s hanging in the museum? (I have a lovely picture of my daughter staring up at it from many years ago that I may use for illustration.) If so, please tell me about how you made it.
Stephen’s Answer: Although I’ve carved many other skeletons (www.Skullptures.com), I did not sculpt the megalodon skeleton on display in the Calvert Marine Museum. That beautiful work was done by former members of our Exhibit Department, Jimmy Langley and Skip Edwards. The skeleton came about because my predecessor, Curator of Paleontology Dr. Michael Gottfried, went to South Africa to study the skeleton of the extant great white shark. He took lots of photos and measurements of the skeleton and brought all the information back to the Museum. As you may know, the skeleton of sharks, even that of the giant shark megalodon, is composed of various kinds of cartilage. Cartilage does not fossilize as well as does bone. So most of the skeleton of megalodon is not known. Working from the information that Dr. Gottfried brought back, Jimmy and Skipper carved the skeleton of megalodon out of a high-density foam. That is what is now hanging in one of our paleontology exhibits galleries, an amazing best-estimate of what the skeleton of this giant extinct shark would have looked like.
You made yourself an incredibly valuable resource for the fossil community. You have written field guides and you welcome people to bring their fossils to you at the museum for identification. What is one of the most memorable things someone brought you?
Stephen’s Answer: The most memorable fossil brought into my office was a fossilized piece of poop (aka a coprolite) found by local professional fossil collector Douggie Douglass. This was no ordinary coprolite. It was one that had been bitten by an extinct tiger shark…the shark tooth impressions were still preserved in the poop (photo included). It was and still is so amazing because of how unlikely it would be for that kind of fossil to form. What are the chances of a piece of poop having been bitten by a shark to then sink to the bottom of the prehistoric ocean and become fossilized, and then for someone to find it and bring it to my attention? Crazy unlikely! It was also a fun story to tell in the form of a formal scientific paper. This is one of the reasons why I am happy to look at, and help identify fossils for people, because you never know what they might have found.
What happened after they brought it?
Stephen’s Answer: The museum purchased to fossilized poop from Douggie!
What was your first fossil?
Stephen’s Answer: I grew up in the Province of Quebec in Canada. I remember looking for fossils while I was fishing. I think they were of long-extinct marine creatures known as trilobites. As a teenager, I turned by bedroom into my very own museum. I would collect pine cones, sea shells, rocks and minerals, fossils, and road-kill skeletons for my museum. It was a great way to learn about nature! On family road trips, I would scour rock outcrops at road-side rest areas for fossils.
What is one of the coolest things you ever found and why?
Stephen’s Answer: Although I have dug up many fossils, the most amazing ones have been found by other passionate paleontologists, mostly amateur paleontologists! They do paleontology because they just love the science and the trill [sic] of the hunt for nifty fossils. I am very blessed because some of their amazing finds make their way to the Museum and I get to work with them to write up scientific papers describing their finds.
You had a rather unusual upbringing for a paleontologist. Would you like to say anything about that?
Stephen’s Answer: I was raised in a family that believed that the Earth and life was only about 6000 years old. We were Young-Earth Creationists. I tell the story of how I wrestled with that belief and came to a new understanding on the age of the Earth and the evolution of life on it here: https://paradigmsonpilgrimage.com/?order=asc
The original book (entitled: Paradigms on Pilgrimage) and now a free webpage were a collaboration between myself and Dr. Christopher Smith (my theologian brother-in-law). The webpage is a free resource for anyone struggling, as I did, with how to resolve their young-Earth Biblical teaching with our current understanding of the age of the Universe and the evolution of life on this planet.
Is there anything you would like to add?
Stephen’s Answer: I love coming to work. Imaging, I get to collect, preserve, and study fossils most of the time. I am so blessed!
If you would be so kind as to provide a couple picture I can use, I would be most appreciative!
Stephen’s Answer: Photos included: Head shot of me. Hand holding the shark-bitten coprolite, and a restoration of the skull of the new extinct dolphin in dorsal (i.e. top) view.
Thank you for taking the time for this interview and for everything you do!
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