Paleontology in Georgia (U.S. state) facts for kids
Paleontology in Georgia is all about studying ancient life in the U.S. state of Georgia. This includes finding and researching fossils. For a long time, Georgia was covered by oceans. Even though no huge discoveries have been made from the earliest times, Georgia's fossils show a wide variety of ancient creatures.
Early seas in Georgia were home to corals, stromatolites (which are like layered rocks made by tiny living things), and trilobites (ancient sea bugs). Later, during the Carboniferous period, sea levels dropped. This created huge, swampy deltas with lots of plants. Early four-legged animals called tetrapods lived in these swamps. They left behind footprints that turned into fossils.
We don't know much about Georgia during the Triassic period. The Jurassic period isn't found in Georgia's rocks at all. But during the Cretaceous period, southern Georgia was under a sea. This sea had many invertebrates (animals without backbones) and fish. On land, a tree called Araucaria grew, and dinosaurs roamed the state.
Southern Georgia stayed covered by shallow seas into the Cenozoic era. These seas had small coral reefs and many other sea creatures. By the Pleistocene Ice Age, most of Georgia was dry land. It was covered in forests and grasslands. Here, huge mammoths and giant ground sloths lived. Interestingly, shark teeth are the official state fossil of Georgia!
Contents
Ancient Life in Georgia's Past
Life in Ancient Oceans: The Paleozoic Era
Georgia's fossil story begins in the Paleozoic Era. No fossils from the even older Precambrian time have been found here. During the Cambrian period, Georgia was covered by a warm, shallow sea. Creatures like corals, stromatolites, and trilobites lived in these waters.
Similar conditions continued into the early Ordovician period. Later in this period, wide, flat tidal flats formed. Through the Silurian period, northern Georgia remained under a shallow sea. But during the Devonian period, sea levels rose, making the water deeper across the state.
The Carboniferous period is often called the "age of amphibians" or the "age of coal swamps." Early in this period, Georgia's waters became shallow again. As time went on, huge deltas formed next to the sea. These deltas had rich, green swamps, especially in northwestern Georgia. These swamps created the large coal beds we see today. The thick plants in these swamps also left many fossils. Four-legged animals called tetrapods left footprints that later turned into fossils.
During the Permian period, rocks were being worn away instead of new ones forming. Because of this, no fossils from the Permian have been found in Georgia. Other ancient sea creatures found in Georgia from the Paleozoic include blastoids, bryozoans, cephalopods, crinoids, and gastropods.
Dinosaurs and Ancient Trees: The Mesozoic Era
There are very few rocks from the Triassic period in Georgia. And the Jurassic period is completely missing from the state's rock record.
However, during the Cretaceous period, southern Georgia was covered by a sea. This sea was home to clams, fish, oysters, and burrowing shrimp. On land, a type of tree called Araucaria gladenensis grew in Georgia. The coastal areas were home to crocodilians and dinosaurs. Some dinosaurs found in Georgia include Hadrosaurs (duck-billed dinosaurs), ornithomimosaurs (ostrich-like dinosaurs), and tyrannosaurs.
Mammoths and Giant Sloths: The Cenozoic Era
Southern Georgia remained under shallow seawater during the Paleogene and Neogene periods of the Cenozoic Era. These seas had smaller coral reefs. During the Paleocene epoch, Georgia was home to tiny foraminiferans, mollusks, and sea urchins. The mollusks were preserved as molds, and the sea urchins left behind fossil spines.
Life in Georgia during the Eocene epoch included pectens (scallops), oysters, and many tiny living things. Sea urchins were still common. Plant fossils have also been found in Eocene rocks. Later, in the Oligocene epoch, Georgia had corals and many types of pelecypods (like clams) and gastropods (like snails). The most common fossils from the Miocene epoch are gastropods and pelecypods.
By the Quaternary period, most of Georgia was dry land. Sea levels went up and down a lot as glaciers far to the north grew and melted. Georgia's land had forests and grasslands. These were home to amazing creatures like mammoths, mastodons, and giant ground sloths. An unusually large type of chipmunk called Tamias aristus also lived in Georgia during the Pleistocene Ice Age.
Discovering Fossils in Georgia
Since the time of the Industrial Revolution, coal mining in Georgia has helped uncover many fossil trackways from the Carboniferous period. These discoveries often happen when miners dig out coal. This removes the rock underneath the trackway, leaving the fossil footprints visible on the ceiling of the mine tunnel.
Several important fossil finds happened in the early 1960s. In 1961, unusually large blastoids (ancient sea creatures) were found on a farm in Floyd County, near the border with Alabama.
In the fall of 1963, Warren Moore and his family found some fossil bones and shells in a limestone quarry at Ladds, in Bartow County. They told Shorter College about their discovery. It turned out that the Moores had found a brand new place full of Pleistocene fossils! Shorter College worked with the Smithsonian to dig up the fossils. The Moore family was very involved in finding more fossils, along with local teachers, and students and staff from Shorter College. The dig uncovered about forty different kinds of vertebrate animals (animals with backbones). A special find was a new type of large fossil chipmunk, Tamias aristus.
Places to See Fossils in Georgia
You can learn more about Georgia's ancient past and see fossils at these museums:
- Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Atlanta
- Georgia Museum of Natural History, Athens
- Georgia Southern University Museum, Statesboro
- Tellus Science Museum, Cartersville
