Florida does not have an official fossil. If Florida ever adopts an official fossil, it may be Eupatagus antillarum. This animal was an echinoid, related to modern sea urchins and sand dollars. Scrape the spines off a sea urchin and you will be left with a shell resembling both a sand dollar and Eupatagus.
Eupatagus probably lived in shallow, horizontal burrows on the bottom of the sea. It received food — tiny animals — from the water above through a narrow, vertical tunnel.
The Florida Geological Survey nominated Eupatagus antillarum as the state fossil. It is very common in the Ocala Limestone, which underlies most of Florida. They also chose it because it is so similar to present-day sea urchins, with which many people are familiar.
Eupatagus lived in shallow seas that covered Florida during the Eocene Epoch, about thirty-eight million years ago. It burrowed in the mud.
But no one has tried to have Eupatagus officially declared the state fossil. Florida has a state tree and bird, two state flowers, three official mammals, a state reptile, two official fishes, and many other symbols. Floridians even call orange juice their official beverage! Perhaps fossil fans think Florida has too many symbols already. Or maybe they think Florida already has an official fossil, as agatized coral is the official state stone.
Geology & Fossils
A rhinoceros horn? No, this a giant ground sloth claw core from Florida! Courtesy Fossil Expeditions
Florida is the only state besides Louisiana to lie completely within the Coastal Plain. Almost the entire state was covered by the sea during the Eocene Period, 38 million years ago.
Not all Florida fossils are in rock. Fossils are often found on beaches or in gravel along rivers. Many Florida roads are built on foundations made of fossil sea creatures. Coquina rock — a mixture of crushed shells and coral — is one of Florida’s oldest known building materials. The Spanish explorers who settled Florida used coquina to construct forts in St. Augustine. It is the oldest city built by Europeans in the United States. Everywhere, fossils lie close to the surface in Florida.
Florida fossils represent just the last 50 million years — three quarters of the Cenozoic Era, or Age of Mammals. Any dinosaurs or tilobites in Florida are buried deep underground.
But Florida fossils are not all from mammals. Marine fossils tell us that Florida was underwater during the first 25 of these 50 million years. Then, about 25 million years ago, Florida began to emerge from the sea. But the sea rose time and time again, sometimes covering nearly the entire state. These immersions and erosions scrambled many fossils. Fossils of sea creatures, freshwater animals, and land animals are often jumbled together in Florida. It is hard to guess what kind of fossil might be found in a particular area.
Ancient seas also left an abundance of limestone, ranging from a few thousand to fifty million years old. These limestones harbor fossils of marine animals. Such fossils are commonly exposed in limestone quarries.
Fossils of land animals may also be found in limestone. Such fossils are common in central Florida. Here limestones are riddled with interconnecting holes. They resemble giant sponges, or Swiss cheese. Animals such as bats live in such holes. Other animals fall into limestone sinkholes and are trapped.
Florida’s oldest land animal fossils are generally found along this central ridge. They are also common in higher elevations in the northern third of the state.
The Ice Age
Fossils of animals that lived during the Pleistocene, or Ice Age, are mixed in everywhere. They may be found on river bottoms, in limestone holes, or buried in ancient swamps and lakes. It is rare that an entire skeleton is found, however. Most
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