Paleontology in Florida

Paleontological research in the U.S. state of Florida

The location of the state of Florida

Paleontology in Florida refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Florida. Florida has a very rich fossil record spanning from the Eocene to recent times.[1] Florida fossils are often very well preserved.[2]

The oldest known fossils in Florida date back to the Eocene. At this time Florida was covered in a sea home to a variety of marine invertebrates and the primitive whales, such as Basilosaurus. During the later Miocene Florida was exposed as dry land again due to geologic uplift and mountain building. In the Florida Keys, however, coral reefs were forming. The marine environments of Pliocene Florida were home to creatures like dugongs, porpoises, sharks, and whales. On land, camels, dogs, horses, relatives of modern elephants, saber toothed cats, enteleodonts (hell pigs), and tapirs inhabited the state. The period of time best documented in the fossil record of Florida is the Pleistocene epoch. Among them were short-faced bears, saber-toothed cats, glyptodonts, mammoths, mastodons, giant ground sloths, and dire wolves.[3]

Florida's state paleontological repository is housed at the University of Florida's Florida Museum of Natural History.

## Prehistory

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Reconstruction of Basilosaurus

Florida has a very rich fossil record.[4] Its geologic history is also complex. The rock underlying Florida was originally part of Gondwana and did not become part of North America until the Permian, when Pangaea formed. During the Mesozoic Pangaea began to divide again and Florida was left attached to North America.[5] However, no dinosaur fossils are known from the state though they likely lived there.[6] In fact, no fossils are known from surface deposits older than the Eocene.[2] However, in the 1950s, eurypterid fossils from the Silurian period were unearthed in Northern Florida.[7][8] Trilobite fossils from the same time period have also been unearthed in Northern Florida.[9] Nevertheless, the geologic record contributes to science's ability to reconstruct the history of Florida's changing Mesozoic environment. During the Cretaceous the Florida peninsula was much wider due to regions now submerged as continental shelf being exposed to the air. Later into the Cretaceous northern Florida was covered by rising seas connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic. This passage of water was called the Suwannee Straits.[2]

A shallow sea grew to cover most of the state during the Paleogene. Clams, echinoderms, and gastropods lived here.[5] Cenozoic limestone formed in such environments is common in Florida and rich in fossils. The oldest fossil-bearing geologic deposits in Florida are of Eocene age.[2] During the Eocene, primitive whales like Basilosaurus swam over Florida. Other inhabitants included large numbers of shelled invertebrates, sharks, and sirenians.[10] Oligocene fossils in Florida provide evidence for a diverse terrestrial fauna.[10][11][12] During the early Miocene uplift and mountain building filled in the Suwannee Strait. At this point coral reefs were forming in the Florida Keys.[2] The Thomas Farm Quarry is the richest source of Miocene mammal fossils in the eastern US.[2] During the ensuing Pliocene, Florida was home to amphibians, bears, a variety of birds, camelids, crocodilians, deer, dogs, dugongs, at least six genera of horses, peccaries, porpoises, relatives of modern elephants, rays, saber toothed cats, seals, sharks, tapirs, turtles, and whales. The remains of all these creatures have been found in a region of Polk County called Bone Valley.[10] Late Tertiary vertebrate fossils are known from southern Florida. during these animals' lifetimes the southern 300 kilometers of Florida was still under water.[13] Late Tertiary sediments of Gilchrist County preserve badgers, Kodiak bears, camels, dogs, horses, rhinos and more.[14] Mammoths, mastodons, sloths, giant beavers, and ungulates were preserved near Gainesville.[15] The relatives of pronghorns also lived in the area.[16]

The Pleistocene limestones of the Florida Keys are rich in fossils.[17] The Pleistocene is the epoch of time best represented in Florida's fossil record.[10] In fact, Florida's Pleistocene sediments are regarded as the best source of Pleistocene fossils in the world, especially for the mammals of that age.[4] Also, Pleistocene Florida had a greater diversity of terrestrial vertebrates than any other place and time in North American history.[18] At the time, the local sea level began to rise and fall along with the amount of water tied up in the glaciers covering the northern part of the continent. When the sea would withdraw savannas formed.[5] Herds of American mastodon and Columbian mammoth browsed and grazed on the local foliage. The gigantic ground sloth Eremotherium was another contemporary large herbivore. Others included the antelope, bison, deer, armored glyptodonts, and the modern horse. These were preyed upon by predators like short-faced bears, jaguars, saber-toothed cats, lions, and dire wolves.[10][19][20]

## History

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In the 19th century, the first record paleontological and geological expeditions to Florida took place.[21][22][23][24] In 1899 the Florida Legislature established the Florida Geological Survey with the first state geologist being Elias Howard Sellards.[25] In 1913, Sellards put an advertisement in newspapers all over Florida inviting citizens to bring in interesting bones or fossils.

State Geologist Elias Howard Sellards invites citizens to report unique paleontological discoveries in Florida.

As a result, one of Sellards most famous projects became the Vero Man; the first time human remains were found in context alongside the extinct animals of the Pleistocene.

In 1931, a farmer uncovered some bones while plowing his field. He thought he had stumbled on a Native American graveyard. However, the bones turned out to be fossils and were bought by the University of Florida. The prehistoric creatures whose remains were preserved here include a large dog-like bear, two different kinds of camels, several different species of horse, and a pig-like animal.[26] In 1963 several new Miocene fossil sites were discovered. One was found in the far northern region of the state, near its border with Georgia. Another was found near Ocala and a third discovery occurred in Hernando County. The Hernando County site preserved the remains of animals like alligators, members of the dog family, oreodonts, rhinoceroses, and tapirs.[27]

## Protected Areas

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* Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park

## Florida Fossil Permit Program

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Since the 1980s, under Florida Statutes chapter 1004, citizens have been able to acquire a $5 permit from the University of Florida's paleontological department to collect fossils. Through this permit, regular citizens may collect fossils from sovereign submerged lands and, at the end of one year, report all collected fossils to the department. If after 60 days the Florida Museum of Natural History who administers the program does not request any fossils to be donated, ownership of the specimens will transfer to the finder.

Through collaborative efforts, Florida has enjoyed a major scientific boon from work between professionals and amateurs. Although the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) has the authority to request fossils be donated, the museum has never taken a fossil from a finder by force. Instead, the museum has operated from a position of mutual respect for amateur paleontologists which has resulted in strong amateur-professional relationships and led to many new discoveries to science through the program.

In 2025, international news broke of a discovery by a pair of divers who under the fossil permit program had found a rare, 500,000 year old Irvingtonian site in northwest Florida.[28] This discovery would not have been made without the Florida Fossil Permit Program as the location was very remote.

Many have drawn comparisons between the Fossil Permit Program and the Isolated Finds Program which formerly existed in Florida and allowed for citizens to collaboratively collect and report isolated artifacts. The Isolated Finds Program, or IFP, existed from 1996-2005 and was seen by most to be a success. However, mostly due to a few disgruntled high ranking archaeologists, even in the face of public outcry[29], the Isolated Finds Program was discontinued. This had an immediate effect of developing a rift between professional archaeologists and amateur fossil/artifact collectors. Unlike the Florida Fossil Program which has seen several important citizen-led discoveries over the last 20 years, the cancellation of the Isolated Finds Program has led to nearly no significant archaeological discoveries being reported in the same time frame.

## Notable Paleontologists

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* Elias Howard Sellards 1875-1961: Florida's 1st State Geologist and Father of Florida Paleontology.[citation needed]
* Dr. S. David Webb: Former curator for the University of Florida's paleontological department from 1964-2003.[30]
* Dr. Richard C. Hulbert: Author and former collections manager for the University of Florida paleontological department.[31]
* Dr. Robert W. Sinibaldi: Amateur paleontologist, author, and past president of the Tampa Bay Fossil Club.[citation needed]
* Frank Garcia: Author and discoverer of the famed Leisey Shell Pit in 1984.
* Walter Auffenberg
* Pierce Brodkorb
* Cesare Emiliani

## Natural History Museums

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* Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville
* Bishop Museum, Bradenton
* Mulberry Phosphate Museum, Mulberry
* Orlando Science Center, Orlando
* Palm Beach Museum of Natural History, Wellington
* Paleo Preserve Fossil Museum, Ruskin

## Footnotes

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1. ^ Ray, Clayton E. (2005-12-31). "An Idiosyncratic History of Floridian Vertebrate Paleontology". Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History. 45 (4): 143–170\. doi:10.58782/flmnh.kbpj7372. ISSN 0071-6154.
2. ^ a b c d e f Murray (1974); "Florida", page 119.
3. ^ Simpson, George Gaylord (1930). "Tertiary land mammals of Florida. Bulletin of the AMNH; v. 59, article 3". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. hdl:2246/344.
4. ^ a b Murray (1974); "Florida", page 118.
5. ^ a b c Portell, Hulbert, Springer, and Scotchmoor (2005); "Paleontology and geology".
6. ^ Brown (2008); "Florida: A Great Place to Find Fossils", page 14.
7. ^ Kjellesvig-Waering, Erik N. (1950). "A New Silurian Eurypterid from Florida". Journal of Paleontology. 24 (2): 229–231\. ISSN 0022-3360.
8. ^ Kjellesvig-Waering, Erik N. (1955). "A New Phyllocarid and Eurypterid from the Silurian of Florida". Journal of Paleontology. 29 (2): 295–297\. ISSN 0022-3360.
9. ^ Pojeta, John; Kriz, Jiri; Berdan, Jean Milton (1976). "Silurian-Devonian pelecypods and Paleozoic stratigraphy of subsurface rocks in Florida and Georgia and related Silurian pelecypods from Bolivia and Turkey". Professional Paper. doi:10.3133/pp879. ISSN 2330-7102.
10. ^ a b c d e Murray (1974); "Florida", page 121.
11. ^ Patton, Thomas H. (1969). "An Oligocene Land Vertebrate Fauna from Florida". Journal of Paleontology. 43 (2): 543–546\. ISSN 0022-3360. JSTOR 1302330.
12. ^ "I-75 Site". Florida Museum. 2017-03-27. Retrieved 2021-09-07.
13. ^ Picconi (2003); "Ancient Seascapes of the Coastal Plain: Muddy, oxygen-rich environments & Silty-sandy environments preserved as gray shale", page 99.
14. ^ Picconi (2003); "Terrestrial Environments: Intertidal areas, rivers, lakes, land preserved as sand, silt, clay", page 100.
15. ^ Picconi (2003); "Ice Age environments recorded by unconsolidated sediment", page 101.
16. ^ Webb, S. David (1973). "Pliocene Pronghorns of Florida". Journal of Mammalogy. 54 (1): 203–221\. doi:10.2307/1378880. ISSN 0022-2372.
17. ^ Picconi (2003); "Ancient Seascapes of the Coastal Plain: Clear, shallow environments preserved as limestone", page 99.
18. ^ Murray (1974); "Florida", pages 118-119.
19. ^ "Pleistocene Fossil Canid Ratios Recorded in the University of Florida Database". GeorgiaBeforePeople. 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
20. ^ "Pleistocene Fossil Felid Ratios from the University of Florida Database". GeorgiaBeforePeople. 2012-01-16. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
21. ^ "ART. XXI.--Geological Observations upon Alabama, Georgia and Florida; - ProQuest". www.proquest.com. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
22. ^ "ART. IV.--Some facts respecting the Geology of Tampa Bay, Florida; - ProQuest". www.proquest.com. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
23. ^ Leidy, Joseph; Leidy, Joseph; Lucas, Frederic A. (1896). Fossil vertebrates from the Alachua clays of Florida. Philadelphia: Wagner Free Institute of Science.
24. ^ Leidy (1889-07-24). "Description of Vertebrate Remains from Peace Creek, Florida".
25. ^ Rupert, Frank. "Elias Howard Sellards" (PDF). The Florida Geological Survey.
26. ^ Murray (1974); "Florida", pages 121-122.
27. ^ Murray (1974); "Florida", page 122.
28. ^ Hulbert, Richard C. (November 15, 2024). "An Equus-Dominated Middle Pleistocene (Irvingtonian) Vertebrate Fauna from Northcentral Florida, USA". Fossil Studies. 2: 294–339 - via ResearchGate.
29. ^ State of Florida Public Records (2004). Bureau of Archaeological Research Public Meeting Transcription.
30. ^ "Remembering lifelong paleontology expert S. David Webb". Research News. 2019-09-27. Retrieved 2025-07-25.
31. ^ Hulbert, Richard (2025). "Richard Hulbert Profile". ResearchGate.

## References

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* Paleontology portal
* Florida portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paleontology in Florida.

* Brown, R.C. (2008). Florida's Fossils: Guide to Location, Identification, and Enjoyment (third ed.). Pineapple Press. ISBN 978-1-56164-409-4.
* Murray, Marian (1974). Hunting for Fossils: A Guide to Finding and Collecting Fossils in All 50 States. Collier Books. p. 348\. ISBN 9780020935506.
* Picconi, J. E. 2003. The Teacher-Friendly Guide to the Geology of the Southeastern U.S. Paleontological 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: A Guide for Diggers and Divers (Third ed.). University Press 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 the Hunter (Third ed.). PaleoPress. p. 161\. ISBN 978-0-9719477-0-2.

## External links

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