North American Species
Horses evolved in North America and traveled south during the interchange, later becoming extinct in the Americas before Spaniards reintroduced…
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Leisey Shell Pit Specimens
In the early 1980s, amateur paleontologists discovered fossils at a commercial shell pit near Tampa. Public volunteers aided museum staff…
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Gracile Saber-toothed Cat
This object is on permanent display in the Florida Fossils: Evolution of Life and Land exhibit, located in the Pleistocene…
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Columbian Mammoth Jaw
Mammoths once roamed Florida but went extinct about 10,000 years ago, in part due to human hunting. This is the…
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Columbian Mammoth Exhibit
This object is on permanent display in the Denny Family Gallery, located in the main Museum lobby. Summary Columbian Mammoth…
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Britt’s Shovel-tusker
Shovel-tuskers were among the largest proboscideans (related to elephants) to live in North America. Paleontologists once believed they used their…
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Ancient Horses
Museum scientists have discovered nearly 500 Parahippus jaws from the Thomas Farm Fossil site, allowing study of differences between juveniles…
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Southeastern Beach Mice
Florida’s beach mouse populations are specialized to certain climatic conditions and coastal habitats unique to the small areas where they…
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Sherman’s Fox Squirrel and Trap
In the 1930s, professor H.B. Sherman studied small mammals in North Central Florida, during which time he invented the Sherman…
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Humpback Whale
Many whale species swim near Florida shores. They sometimes become stranded and die on Florida beaches, as did this juvenile…
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