Over 1,000 different species of vertebrate animals are known to have lived in Florida over the past 35 million years. Florida has the richest fossil record of vertebrate animals of the eastern United States.
This website is designed to provide basic information about each of these species, images of fossils in the Florida Museum collection, and citations to the primary scientific literature to provide a guide to those seeking further information. The species accounts are linked with the Vertebrate Fossil Sites of Florida, which provide information on the localities which have produced these fossils. The intended audiences are students and educators, amateur and professional paleontologists, and any others interested in paleontology.
When possible, the references will include links to online versions of the papers, although not all of them will have free open-access. An online glossary will provide definitions for technical terms. The book, The Fossil Vertebrates of Florida, will also be a good reference to those with little or no training in paleontology.
This website will frequently use names of land mammal ages to describe the relative age of a fossil site or a species. View a complete description of land mammal ages, how they are used, and which ones are found in Florida.
| Species | Taxonomy | Common Name |
|---|---|---|
| Aepycamelus major | Mammalia | Leidy’s giraffe camel |
| Alligator mississippiensis | Reptilia | American alligator |
| Alligator olseni | Reptilia | Olsen’s alligator |
| Amebelodon britti | Mammalia | Britt’s shovel-tusker; gomphothere |
| Amphicyon longiramus | Mammalia | White's bear-dog |
| Aquila bivia | Aves | extinct golden eagle |
| Archaeohippus blackbergi | Mammalia | Blackberg’s dwarf horse |
| Arctodus pristinus | Mammalia | lesser short-faced bear |
| Barbourofelis loveorum | Mammalia | Loves’ false sabercat |
| Batrachosauroides dissimulans | Amphibia | gaint salamander |
| Bufo defensor | Amphibia | Inglis toad |
| Canis dirus | Mammalia | dire wolf |
| Ciconia maltha | Aves | asphalt stork |
| Desmodus stocki | Mammalia | Stock's vampire bat |
| Didelphis virginiana | Mammalia | Virginia opossum |
| Enhydritherium terraenovae | Mammalia | extinct giant otter |
| Epicyon haydeni | Mammalia | giant hyena-dog |
| Eremotherium eomigrans | Mammalia | Wandering giant ground sloth |
| Floridaophis auffenbergi | Reptilia | extinct snake |
| Floridatragulus dolichanthereus | Mammalia | extinct long-jawed camel |
| Haliaeetus leucocephalus | Aves | sea eagle; bald eagle |
| Hemiauchenia macrocephala | Mammalia | large-headed llama |
| Neofiber alleni | Mammalia | round-tailed muskrat |
| Osbornodon iamonensis | Mammalia | Iamonia dog |
| Pandion lovensis | Aves | Love Site osprey |
| Panthera onca | Mammalia | jaguar |
| Sylvilagus webbi | Mammalia | Webb's marsh rabbit |
| Tapirus polkensis | Mammalia | Olsen's dwarf tapir |
| Tapirus webbi | Mammalia | Webb's tapir |
| Teleoceras proterum | Mammalia | Archer short-legged rhino |
| Xenosmilus hodsonae | Mammalia | Hodson's saber-tooth cat |
| Carcharodon hastalis (= Isurus hastalis) | Chondrichthyes | ancestral white shark |
| Cormohipparion ingenuum | Mammalia | noble hipparion; 3-toed horse |
| Dasypus bellus | Mammalia | beautiful armadillo |
| Kyptoceras amatorum | Mammalia | protoceratid; sling-shot horn |
| Mesoreodon floridensis | Mammalia | Florida oreodont |
| Metaxytherium floridanum | Mammalia | Florida dugong |
| Neohipparion eurystyle | Mammalia | hipparion; 3-toed horse |
| Ontocetus emmonsi | Mammalia | Emmon’s walrus |
| Pomatodelphis inaequalis | Mammalia | long-snouted dolphin |
| Pseudemys williamsi | Reptilia | Williams’ cooter |
| Rhizosmilodon fiteae | Mammalia | Fite’s saber-tooth cat |
| Siren lacertina | Amphibia | greater siren |
| Smilodon fatalis | Mammalia | saber-toothed cat |
| Tapirus haysii | Mammalia | Hays' tapir |
| Thecachampsa americana (= Gavialosuchus americanus) | Reptilia | North American false gharial |
| Titanis walleri | Aves | Waller’s terror bird |
| Tremarctos floridanus | Mammalia | Florida spectacled bear |
| Hemipristis serra | Chondrichthyes | snaggle-tooth shark |
| Carcharocles megalodon | Chondrichthyes | megalodon |
Sponsorship and Funding Opportunities
Funds are needed to hire advanced UF undergraduate and graduate students to write these accounts, take the images, and put them in proper format to post online. Individuals, families, and organizations who want to sponsor one or more species accounts should contact Richard Hulbert. For a donation of $150 or more, you can help sponsor the web page of a particular fossil species, and your support will be acknowledged on that species web page. For a donation of $500 or more, you can be the exclusive sponsor of a species webpage. Donations are tax deductible.
National Science Foundation Grant
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number CSBR 1203222, Jonathan Bloch, Principal Investigator. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.as part of an initiative funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (CSBR 1203222).
Text and Images Copyright © Florida Museum of Natural History