paleontological sites Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

are assemblages of

Early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to ...

invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...

and vertebrates of

Leon County, Florida Leon County () is a County (United States), county in the Florida Panhandle, Panhandle of the U.S. state of Florida. It was named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population w ...

, United States.

Age

Era An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...

Period Period may refer to: Common uses * Period (punctuation) * Era, a length or span of time *Menstruation, commonly referred to as a "period" Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (o ...

Faunal stage In chronostratigraphy, a stage is a succession of rock strata laid down in a single age on the geologic timescale, which usually represents millions of years of deposition. A given stage of rock and the corresponding age of time will by conven ...

Arikareean The Arikareean North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 30,600,000 to 20,800,000 years BP, a period of . It is usuall ...

, ~23.1–21.9 Ma, calculates to a period of approximately .

Geological Formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics (lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock expo ...

: Torreya Formation.

Sites

Leon County paleontological sites are represented by the following: *Griscom Plantation Site. Located in Killearn Lakes Plantation, south-southeast of

Lake Iamonia Lake Iamonia is a large, subtropical prairie lake in northern Leon County, Florida, United States, created during the Pleistocene epoch. History Forming Iamonia Lake Iamonia's base was established during the Early Pleistocene through submergen ...

on the southeast most section of

Luna Plantation Luna Plantation was a quail hunting plantation located in northeastern Leon County, Florida, United States established by Lloyd C. Griscom. Lloyd C. Griscom was the son of Clement A. Griscom from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Clement was a shi ...

during a well drilling operation. Time period: ~23.6–18.8 Ma. ( AEO). Coordinates: *Seaboard Air Line Railroad Site. Location was south of the center of

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

during a dredging operation for a roadway. Time period: ~21.7 Ma. (AEO, Alroy). Coordinates: *St. Marks River site. Located along the St. Marks River in southern Leon County. Time period: ~23.1–21.9 Ma. (AEO, Alroy).M. C. Coombs, R. M. Hunt, Jr., E. Stepleton, L. B. Albright, III, and T. J. Fremd. 2001. Stratigraphy, chronology, biogeography, and taxonomy of early Miocene small chalicotheres of North America. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 21(3):607–620 Coordinates: *Tallahassee Waterworks Sites. Locations were just south of the center of Tallahassee. Time period: ~23.03–15.99 Ma. Coordinates: **USGS 2302 **USGS 3423 aka J.C. Henderson's well **USGS 395 Griscom Plantation Site = GPS. Seaboard Air Line Railroad = SALR. St. Marks River site = SMRS. Tallahassee Waterworks Site = TWWS.

Specimens

Invertebrates

*'' Anomia suwaneensis'' (bivalve) TWWS 3424 *''

Chlamys The chlamys (; genitive: ) was a type of ancient Greek cloak. It was worn by men for military and hunting purposes during the Classical, Hellenistic and later periods. By the time of the Byzantine Empire it was part of the state costume of the ...

'' (scallop) TWWS 2302 *''

Ostrea ''Ostrea'' is a genus of edible oysters, marine bivalve mollusks in the family Ostreidae, the oysters. Fossil records Although molecular studies suggest that ''Ostrea'' first appeared around the Eocene and originated no earlier than the Cre ...

normalis'' (oyster) SALR *'' Lucina janus'' (bivalve) TWWS 2302 *'' Mercenaria langdoni'' TWWS 395 *''

Metis Metis or Métis, meaning "mixed" in French, may refer to: Ethnic groups * Métis, recognized Indigenous communities in Canada and the United States whose distinct culture and language emerged after early intermarriage between First Nations peopl ...

chipolana'' (bivalve) TWWS 2302 *''

Turritella ''Turritella'' is a genus of medium-sized sea snails with an operculum, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turritellidae.Vos, C.; Gofas, S. (2013). Turritella Lamarck, 1799. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www. ...

alcida'' (seal snail) TWWS 2302

Fish

*'' Carcharhinidae'' (requiem shark) SALR *'' Myliobatidae'' (eagle ray) SALR *''

Pristis ''Pristis'' is a genus of sawfish of the family (biology), family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and Fresh water, freshwater lakes and rivers. Sawfish have ...

'' (sawfish) SALR *''

Sciaenidae Sciaenidae is a family (biology), family of ray-finned fishes belonging to the Order (biology), order Acanthuriformes. They are commonly called drums or croakers in reference to the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make. The family co ...

'' (croaker) SALR

Reptiles

*''

Alligatoridae The family (biology), family Alligatoridae of crocodylians includes alligators, caimans and their extinct relatives. Phylogeny The superfamily Alligatoroidea includes all crocodilians (fossil and extant) that are more closely related to the Am ...

'' (alligator) SALR *''

Boidae The Boidae, commonly known as boas or boids, are a family of nonvenomous snakes primarily found in the Americas, as well as Africa, Europe, Asia, and some Pacific islands. Boas include some of the world's largest snakes, with the green anaconda ...

'' (boa or constricting snake) SALR *''

Crocodylidae Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include all extant membe ...

'' (crocodile) SALR *''

Emydidae Emydidae (Latin (freshwater tortoise) + Ancient Greek (, "appearance, resemblance")) is a family of testudines (turtles) that includes close to 50 species in 10 genera. Members of this family are commonly called terrapins, pond turtles, or mar ...

'' (pond turtle) SALR *''

Testudinidae Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like ot ...

'' (land tortoise) SALR

Birds

*'' Gruidae'' (crane) SALR *'' Ciconiidae'' (stork) SALR

Mammals

*''

Anchitherium ''Anchitherium'' (meaning ''near beast'') is a genus of Extinction, extinct Equidae, equid with a three-toed hoof. ''Anchitherium'' was a browsing (predation), browsing (leaf eating) horse that originated in the early Miocene of North America, ...

clarencei'' (horse) SALR *'' Aphelops'' (rhinoceros) SALR *''

Archaeohippus ''Archaeohippus'' (Greek: "ancient" (archaios), "horse" (hippos)) is an extinct three-toed member of the family Equidae known from fossils of early Oligocene to middle Miocene age. The genus is noted for several distinct skeletal features. The sk ...

blackbergi'' (horse) SALR *''

Camelidae Camelids are members of the biological family Camelidae, the only currently living family in the suborder Tylopoda. The seven extant members of this group are: dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, wild Bactrian camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas ...

'' (family of camel) GPS *'' Floridatragulus'' (camel) SALR *''

Menoceras ''Menoceras'' ("Crescent Horns") is a genus of extinct, small rhinocerotids endemic to most of southern North America and ranged as far south as Panama during the early Miocene epoch. It lived from around 23.1-12.5 Ma, existing for approximately ...

'' (rhinoceros) SALR *''

Moropus ''Moropus'' (meaning "slow foot") is an extinct genus of large perissodactyl mammal in the chalicothere family. They were endemic to North America during the Miocene from ~20.4–13.6 Mya (unit), Mya, existing for approximately . ''Moropus'' belo ...

'' SMRS *'' Osbornodon iamonensis'' (proto-dog) GPS *''

Oxydactylus ''Oxydactylus'' is an extinct genus of camelid endemic to North America. It lived from the Late Oligocene to the Middle Miocene (28.4–13.7 mya), existing for approximately . The name is from the Ancient Greek οξύς (oxys, "sharp")and δ ...

'' (camel) *''

Parahippus ''Parahippus'' ("near to horse"), is an extinct equid, a relative of modern horses, Donkey, asses, and zebras. It lived from 24 to 17 million years ago, during the Miocene epoch. It was very similar to ''Miohippus'', but slightly larger, at aroun ...

'' (horse) SALR *''

Parahippus leonensis ''Parahippus leonensis'' is an extinct proto-horse of the family Equidae that was endemic to North America during the Miocene from 23.03 to 16.3 million years ago, living for approximately . ''Parahippus leonensis'' was named for Leon or more sp ...

'' (horse) GPS, SALR *''

Prosynthetoceras ''Prosynthetoceras'' is an extinct genus of Artiodactyla, of the family Protoceratidae, endemic to North America. It lived from the Early to Middle Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period a ...

texanus'' (deer-like ungulate) SALR *'' Nothokemas floridanus'' (camel) SALR *'' Proheteromys floridanus'' (rodent) SALR *''

Ruminantia Ruminants are herbivorous grazing or browsing artiodactyls belonging to the suborder Ruminantia that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by Enteric fermentation, fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principa ...

'' (unknown ruminant) GPS

References

{{reflist *E. H. Sellards. 1916. Fossil vertebrates from Florida: A new Miocene fauna; new Pliocene species; the Pleistocene fauna. Florida State Geological Survey Annual Report 8:79–119. *S. J. Olsen. 1964. The stratigraphic importance of a Lower Miocene vertebrate fauna from north Florida. Journal of Paleontology 38(3):477–482. Collected by S. J. Olsen, R. Cantwell, C. Cox. *J. R. Gardner. 1947. The Molluscan Fauna of the Alum Bluff Group of Florida. United States Geological Survey Professional Paper (142A-H)1–709. Paleontological sites of Florida Geography of Leon County, Florida Cenozoic paleontological sites of North America Miocene paleontological sites