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Paleontology in Florida

The location of the state of Florida

Paleontology in Florida refers to paleontological re-search occurring within or conducted by people from theU.S. state of Florida . Florida has a very rich fossil recordspanning from the Eocene to recent times. Florida fossilsare often very well preserved. [1]

The oldest known fossils in Florida date back to theEocene . At this time Florida was covered in a sea hometo a variety of marine invertebrates and the primitivewhales Basilosaurus and Pontogenous . During the laterMiocene Florida was exposed as dry land again due togeologic uplift and mountain building . In the FloridaKeys , however, coral reefs were forming. The marine en-vironments of Pliocene Florida were home to creatureslike dugongs , porpoises , sharks , and whales . On land,camels , dogs, horses , relatives of modern elephants , sabertoothed cats , and tapirs inhabited the state. The periodof time best documented in the fossil record of Florida isthe Pleistocene epoch . In fact, Florida is the best sourceof Pleistocene mammals in the world. Among themwere short-faced bears , saber-toothed cats , glyptodonts ,

mammoths , mastodons , giant ground sloths , and wolves .

1 Prehistory

Florida has a very rich fossil record .[2] Its geologic his-tory is also complex. The rock underlying Florida wasoriginally part of Gondwana and did not become part ofNorth America until the Permian , when Pangaea formed.During the Mesozoic Pangaea began to divide again andFlorida was left attached to North America. [3] However,no dinosaur fossils are known from the state. [4] In fact

no fossils are known from surface deposits older than theEocene .[1] Nevertheless, the geologic record contributesto science’s ability to reconstruct the history of Florida’s

Reconstruction of Basilosaurus

changing Mesozoic environment. During the Cretaceousthe Florida peninsula was much wider due to regionsnow submerged as continental shelf being exposed to theair. Later into the Cretaceous northern Florida was cov-ered by rising seas connecting the Gulf of Mexico to theAtlantic . This passage of water was called the SuwanneeStraits .[1]

A shallow sea grew to cover most of the state dur-ing the Tertiary . Clams , echinoderms , and gastropodslived here. [3] Cenozoic limestone formed in such en-vironments is common in Florida and rich in fossils.The oldest fossil-bearing geologic deposits in Florida areof Eocene age. [1] During the Eocene, primitive whaleslike Basilosaurus and Pontogenous swam over Florida.Other inhabitants included large numbers of shelled in-vertebrates, sharks , and sirenians .[5] Oligocene fossils inFlorida provide evidence for a diverse terrestrial fauna. [5]

During the early Miocene uplift and mountain buildinglled in the Suwannee Strait. At this point coral reefswere forming in the Florida Keys .[1] The Thomas FarmQuarry is the richest source of Miocene mammal fos-sils in the eastern US. [1] During the ensuing Pliocene ,Florida was home to amphibians , bears , a variety of birds ,camelids , crocodilians , deer , dogs, dugongs , at least sixgenera of horses , peccaries , porpoises , relatives of mod-ern elephants , rays, saber toothed cats , seals, sharks ,

tapirs , turtles , and whales . The remains of all thesecreatures have been found in a region of Polk Countycalled Bone Valley. [5] Late Tertiary vertebrate fossils

1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polk_County,_Floridahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whalehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtlehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapirhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharkhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinnipedhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saber_toothed_cathttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_(fish)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proboscideanshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proboscideanshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porpoiseshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peccaryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dugonghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crocodilianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camelidhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birdhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphibianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliocenehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Keyshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_reefshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_buildinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tectonic_uplifthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miocenehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligocenehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirenianshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharkshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontogenoushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilosaurushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eocenehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limestonehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cenozoichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastropodshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinodermshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tertiaryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suwannee_Straitshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suwannee_Straitshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexicohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_shelfhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceoushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesozoichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilosaurushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic_recordhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eocenehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaurhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesozoichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangaeahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondwanahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_recordhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolveshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_ground_slothshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodonshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammothshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyptodontshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saber-toothed_cathttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short-faced_bearhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammalshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocene_epochhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapirshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saber_toothed_cathttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saber_toothed_cathttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proboscideanshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camelhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaleshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharkshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porpoiseshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dugongshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliocenehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_reefshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Keyshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Keyshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_buildinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic_uplifthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miocenehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontogenoushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilosaurushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaleshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eocenehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eocenehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_recordhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floridahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._statehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleontologicalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Florida

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2 8 FOOTNOTES

are known from southern Florida. during these ani-mals’ lifetimes the southern 300 kilometers of Floridawas still under water. [6] Late Tertiary sediments ofGilchrist County preserve badgers , Kodiak bears , camels ,dogs , horses , rhinos and more. [7] Mammoths , mastodons ,sloths , giant beavers , and ungulates were preserved nearGainesville .[8]

The Pleistocene limestones of the Florida Keys are rich infossils. [9] The Pleistocene is the epoch of time best repre-sented in Florida’s fossil record. [5] In fact, Florida’s Pleis-tocene sediments are regarded as the best source of Pleis-tocene fossils in the world, especially for the mammalsof that age. [2] Also, Pleistocene Florida had a greater di-versity of terrestrial vertebrates than any other place andtime in North American history. [10] At the time, the localsea level began to rise and fall along with the amount ofwater tied up in the glaciers covering the northern partof the continent. When the sea would withdraw savannasformed. [3] Herds of American mastodon and Mammuthus oridanus browsed and grazes on the local foliage. Thegigantic ground sloth Eremotherium was another contem-porary large herbivore. Others included the antelope ,bison , deer, armored glyptodonts , and the modern horse .These were preyed upon by predators like short-facedbears , saber-toothed cats , lions, and wolves .[5]

2 History

In 1931 , a farmer uncovered some bones while plow-ing his eld. He thought he had stumbled on a NativeAmerican graveyard. However, the bones turned out tobe fossils and were bought by the University of Florida .The prehistoric creatures whose remains were preservedhere include a large dog-like bear , two different kindsof camels , several different species of horse , and a pig-like animal. [11] In 1963 several new Miocene fossil siteswere discovered. One was found in the far northern re-gion of the state, near its border with Georgia . Anotherwas found near Ocala and a third discovery occurred inHernando County . The Hernando County site preservedtheremains of animals like alligators , members of the dog

family , oreodonts , rhinoceroses , and tapirs .[12]

3 Protected areas

• Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park

4 Notable paleontologist

4.1 Deaths

• Walter Auffenberg died in Gainesville on January17, 2004 at age 75.

• Pierce Brodkorb died in Gainesville on July 18,1992.

• Cesare Emiliani died in Palm Beach Gardens on 20July 1995

5 Natural history museums

• Florida Museum of Natural History , Gainesville

• South Florida Museum , Bradenton

6 Notable clubs and associations

• Bone Valley Fossil Society [13]

• Florida Fossil Hunters [13]

• Florida Paleontological Society [13]

• Fossil Club of Miami [13]

• Southwest Florida Fossil Club [13]

• Tampa Bay Fossil Club [13]

7 Events

• Fossil Fair [14]

8 Footnotes

[1] Murray (1974); “Florida”, page 119.

[2] Murray (1974); “Florida”, page 118.

[3] Portell, Hulbert, Springer, and Scotchmoor (2005); “Pa-leontology and geology”.

[4] Brown (2008); “Florida: A Great Place to Find Fossils”,

page 14.

[5] Murray (1974); “Florida”, page 121.

[6] Picconi (2003); “Ancient Seascapes of the Coastal Plain:Muddy, oxygen-rich environments & Silty-sandy environ-ments preserved as gray shale”, page 99.

[7] Picconi (2003); “Terrestrial Environments: Intertidal ar-eas, rivers, lakes, land preserved as sand, silt, clay”, page100.

[8] Picconi (2003); “Ice Age environments recorded by un-consolidated sediment”, page 101.

[9] Picconi (2003); “Ancient Seascapes of the Coastal Plain:Clear, shallow environments preserved as limestone”,page 99.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradenton,_Floridahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Florida_Museumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainesville,_Floridahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Museum_of_Natural_Historyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_in_paleontologyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Beach_Gardens,_Floridahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesare_Emilianihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierce_Brodkorbhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_in_paleontologyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainesville,_Floridahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Auffenberghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windley_Key_Fossil_Reef_Geological_State_Parkhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapirhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceroshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merycoidodontoideahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canidaehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canidaehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligatorshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_Countyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocala,_Floridahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleontology_in_Georgiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miocenehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_in_paleontologyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pighttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camelhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Floridahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_Stateshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_Stateshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1931_in_paleontologyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_lionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saber-toothed_cathttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short-faced_bearhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short-faced_bearhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equus_(genus)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyptodontshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antelopehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eremotheriumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_slothhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammuthus_floridanushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammuthus_floridanushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_mastodonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Keyshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocenehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainesville,_Floridahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ungulateshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaverhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slothhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodonshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammothshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camelhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodiak_bearhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badgerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilchrist_County,_Florida

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[10] Murray (1974); “Florida”, pages 118-119.

[11] Murray (1974); “Florida”, pages 121-122.

[12] Murray (1974); “Florida”, page 122.

[13] Garcia and Miller (1998); “Appendix C: Major Fossil

Clubs”, page 198.

[14] Garcia and Miller (1998); “Appendix B: Major FossilShows”, page 196.

9 References

• Brown, R.C. (2008). Florida’s Fossils: Guide toLocation, Identication, and Enjoyment (third ed.).Pineapple Press. ISBN 1-56164-409-9 .

• Garcia; Frank A. Garcia; Donald S. Miller (1998).

Discovering Fossils . Stackpole Books. p. 212. ISBN0811728005 .

• Murray, Marian. 1974. Hunting for Fossils: AGuide to Finding and Collecting Fossils in All 50States. Collier Books. 348 pp.

• Picconi, J. E. 2003. The Teacher-Friendly Guide tothe Geology of the Southeastern U.S. Paleontologi-cal Research Institution, Ithaca, NY.

• Portell, Roger, Richard Hulbert, Dale Springer,Judy Scotchmoor. June 29, 2005. " Florida, US .”The Paleontology Portal . Accessed September 21,2012.

• Renz, Mark (1999). FOSSILING IN FLORIDA: AGuide for Diggers and Divers (Third ed.). UniversityPress of Florida. p. 202. ISBN 978-0-8130-1677-1.

• Renz, Mark (2005). Giants in the Storm (First ed.).PaleoPress. p. 263. ISBN 0-9719477-2-4 .

• Renz, Mark (2006). MEGALODON: Hunting theHunter (Third ed.). PaleoPress. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-9719477-0-2 .

10 External links

• Geologic units in Florida

• Florida Department of Environmental Protection

• Florida Fossil Hunters

http://www.floridafossilhunters.com/http://www.dep.state.fl.us/geology/geologictopics/fossil.htmhttp://tin.er.usgs.gov/geology/state/fips-unit.php?state=FLhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-9719477-0-2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-9719477-0-2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-9719477-2-4https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8130-1677-1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8130-1677-1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://www.paleoportal.org/http://www.paleoportal.org/index.php?globalnav=time_space&sectionnav=state&name=Floridahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0811728005https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Numberhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-56164-409-9https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number

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4 11 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

11 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

11.1 Text• Paleontology in Florida Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleontology_in_Florida?oldid=680261434 Contributors: Tim!,

TDogg310, Hmains, Bazonka, Abyssal, R'n'B, Cbl62, Invertzoo, The Bushranger, Ulric1313, DPL bot, Mark O. Renz, Fafnir1, Monkbot,Waters.Justin and Anonymous: 3

11.2 Images• File:Abyssal_Brachiopod_00148.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Abyssal_Brachiopod_00148.jpg

License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Myself

• File:Basilosaurus.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Basilosaurus.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Con-tributors: Own work by Pavel Riha (see also the paleo-gallery by Pavel Riha ) Original artist: Pavel Riha = user Pavel.Riha.CB (e-mail )

• File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contribu-tors: ? Original artist: ?

• File:Flag_of_Florida.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Flag_of_Florida.svg License: Pub-lic domain Contributors: SVG based in this image Original artist: Unknown

• File:Map_of_USA_FL.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Map_of_USA_FL.svg License: CC BY 2.0Contributors: own work by uploader, based on Image:Map of USA without state names.svg Original artist: This version: en:User:Huebi

11.3 Content license• Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_4//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Huebihttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_4//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_USA_without_state_names.svghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Map_of_USA_FL.svghttp://www.50states.com/flag/flflag.htmhttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Flag_of_Florida.svghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svgmailto:Pavel.Riha.CB@centrum.czhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_4//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Pavel.Riha.CBhttp://tomcat.bf.jcu.cz/rihapa01/Index.htmhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_4//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Pavel.Riha.CBhttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Basilosaurus.jpghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Abyssal_Brachiopod_00148.jpghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleontology_in_Florida?oldid=680261434