Inglis, Florida

[Smmessineo]

We took a drive over to Inglis to check out the Cross Florida barge canal . hiked and looked around in the old dredge piles along the sides.

Here are some finds, in their rough state.

I'm working on identifying them, ( I think I have the basics .... Echinoid, Echinoid, Gastropod , sponge ) but need to learn details.

The second one intrigued me. It is so worn, yet I like how the pattern still is visible.

[Plax]

Am thinking Eupatagus and Periarchus for the echinoids.

[Khyssa]

Did you go along the gravel road back to the equestrian trail that is on the southern side of the barge canal by the bridge or were you on the north side? Or was it somewhere else?

[abyssunder]

I think you're right with the ID.

Am thinking Eupatagus and Periarchus for the echinoids.

[Smmessineo]

This was on the south side, we drove/hiked all the way down to the end of the path. Definitely a place to revisit!

[MikeR]

From left to right

Eupatagus antillarum (Cotteau, 1875)

Periachus lyelli floridanus Fischer, 1951

Velates floridanus Richards, 1946 a gastropod internal cast

The last is a trace fossil; an echinoid burrow. Muriel Hunter a very active Florida geologist in the 60s-80s called these something that would get me kicked off the forum should I reveal it.

[Khyssa]

I've never gone all the way to the end of the path, just looked along the sides of the gravel road itself. I live in Citrus county and everytime I go to the barge canal I feel like kicking myself for not having spent more time looking for fossils there when they had the area torn up replacing the bridge. At the time I was concentrating on hauling large limestone and dolomite rocks home to use in the garden. I've found plenty of smaller echinoids, a few larger echinoids, small sand dollars (the largest intact one was about 2.5" across), molds/castings, urchin spines, bits of starfish, and the occasional piece of turtle shell there.

You're Periarchus is the most intact larger one that I've seen found in that area.

[Diceros]

Two quick questions, in case MikeR is still checking this post:

Isn't the Inglis Lmst. middle Eocene, and the oldest surface rock in Florida?

Isn't the wierd snail Velates a Tethyan form, also seen in the European m. Eocene?

Thanks.

[Sacha]

The last is a trace fossil; an echinoid burrow. Muriel Hunter a very active Florida geologist in the 60s-80s called these something that would get me kicked off the forum should I reveal it.

I go to Yankeetown frequently and also assumed the last item, which are common and retain little diagnostic detail, were sponges. The explanation that these are echinoid burrows sounds kind of weird since current sand dollars and sea biscuits, which we find all the time in soft bottom off beaches around Florida, don't create burrows, but bury themselves in the sand. I think they graze at night and hide during the day to avoid Helmets, conchs and other predators.

[Sacha]

Two quick questions, in case MikeR is still checking this post:

Isn't the Inglis Lmst. middle Eocene, and the oldest surface rock in Florida?

Isn't the wierd snail Velates a Tethyan form, also seen in the European m. Eocene?

Thanks.

According to the Florida geologic map, Inglis is solidly part of the Ocala Limestone which is mid to late Eocene. The oldest Florida surface rock is the Avon Park Formation, early to mid eocene. It is found nearby, but away from the coast

Edited June 7, 2015 by Sacha

[MikeR]

I go to Yankeetown frequently and also assumed the last item, which are common and retain little diagnostic detail, were sponges. The explanation that these are echinoid burrows sounds kind of weird since current sand dollars and sea biscuits, which we find all the time in soft bottom off beaches around Florida, don't create burrows, but bury themselves in the sand. I think they graze at night and hide during the day to avoid Helmets, conchs and other predators.

Spantangoid echinoids are deep burrowers. These include Eupatagus from the Lower Ocala and Schizaster and Plagiobrissus in the Upper Ocala. The identification and story are from Thomas Scott formerly the Assistant State Geologist at the Florida Geological Survey who led a field trip I attended last year with the Southeast Geological Society.

Edited June 14, 2015 by MikeR

[MikeR]

Two quick questions, in case MikeR is still checking this post:

Isn't the Inglis Lmst. middle Eocene, and the oldest surface rock in Florida?

Isn't the wierd snail Velates a Tethyan form, also seen in the European m. Eocene?

Thanks.

Florida Geological Society currently uses the terminology applied by Thomas Scott for the Ocala as the Lower Member containing what used to be called the Inglis Formation and the Upper Member containing the older Williston and Crystal River Formations. Both are Upper Eocene Priabonian Stage. Velates is a Tethyan form and Katherine Palmer had noted quite a few Tethyan taxa particularly in the Inglis nee Lower Member. The oldest surface unit in Florida is the Avon Park Formation which is Middle Eocene Bartonian Stage. Although I haven't dived into the Avon Park as of yet, the molluscan species at least in passing from the material I collected last year, bears little resemblance to the famous Claiborne faunas (Lisbon and Gosport) of similar age in Alabama.

Mike