Georgia Before People

[MarkGelbart]

Hello,

I decided to skip the introduction area and just introduce myself here.

I'm researching a non-fiction book entitled Georgia Before People. It's primarily focused on late-Pleistocene ecosystems of the Southeastern part of North America. I study scientific papers so I know quite a bit about the topic, but the book is intended for the layman.

I would appreciate any information about Pleistocene fossils of Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, etc. that might not be published (yet) in a scientific journal.

Thanks

[Gatorman]

Welcome to the forum Mark! It may be easier for us to help if you were to ask for specific details, since you have already done research we do not know what information would be useful to you.

[MarkGelbart]

Welcome to the forum Mark! It may be easier for us to help if you were to ask for specific details, since you have already done research we do not know what information would be useful to you.

Any fossil species found in Georgia but not listed in any palaeobiology base.

There are only about 5 good fossil sites in Georgia for Pleistocene mammals: Ladds, the Altmaha River Site near Brunswick, Little Kettle Creek, Skidaway Island, and Watkins Quarry. I'm looking for information collected by amateurs from sites not listed in scientific publications.

Here's the list of extinct Pleistocene megafauna that I have for Georgia. Can anyone add any species to this list?

Eremotherium

Jefferson's Ground Sloth

Mammoth

Mastodon

bison

horse

tapir

long-nosed peccary

flat-headed peccary

jaguar

Also there was a 47,000 year old fossil beaver dam found in a kaolin mine in Deepstep, Georgia. I'd appreciate any photos in situ of fossil beaver dams.

I know the list for megafauna fossils from Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee is much longer. I include most of those species as living in Georgia during the Pleistocene though they don't show in Georgia's fossil record because of the acidic soils which destory the evidence. For example three specimens of Smilodon fatalis have been recovered from South Carolina and the evidence is abundant from Florida and Tennessee, so undoubtedly the animal lived in Georgia, though no one's reported any finds of it from the state.

[PrehistoricFlorida]

There's a small amount of Pleistocene material in the Flint River. Mastodon, mammoth, bison, horse, etc.

[MarkGelbart]

Thanks.

I bet some good fossil collecting areas in Georgia would be in deep holes in the river valleys that are now flooded by the ocean. Too bad I'm not able to take up scuba diving.

[worthy 55]

I have some Dire Wolf material from the Santa Fe River in north Florida. So I would guess they were in Georgia also. And some Dugong ribs from the Florida/Georgia border in the Suwannee River. I will look to see what else I can find for you out of my collection. Oh I also have some Camel, Bear material from thoes two rivers . They are close enough to Georgia that they had to be there too. Hope this helps.

[MarkGelbart]

Thanks

Yes, I do consider dire wolf and llama as living in Georgia even though there's no direct fossil evidence because their fossils have been found in Florida and South Carolina, so unless they could fly they had to have occurred in state.

Incidentally, South Carolina is home to the third largest dire wolf skull ever found. This is noteworthy because it outsizes thousands of dire wolf skulls found in the La Brea tar pits, indicating that the eastern subspecies was larger.