Alachua Formation

Alachua Formation
Stratigraphic range: Early-Late Miocene (Hemingfordian-Hemphillian) ~20–5.3 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type	Formation
Lithology
Primary	Claystone, sandstone
Other	Phosphorite
Location
Coordinates	29°42′N 82°36′W / 29.7°N 82.6°W / 29.7; -82.6
Approximate paleocoordinates	29°48′N 80°54′W / 29.8°N 80.9°W / 29.8; -80.9
Region	Florida
Country	United States
Type section
Named for	Alachua, Florida
Alachua Formation (the United States) Show map of the United States Alachua Formation (Florida) Show map of Florida

The Alachua Formation is a Miocene geologic formation in Florida. The claystones, sandstones and phosphorites of the formation preserve many fossils of mammals, birds, reptiles and fish, among others megalodon.

The formation has provided the following fossils.^[1]

Rodents

Carnivora

Ground sloths

• Pliometanastes protistus
• Thinobadistes segnis

Gomphotheres

• Amebelodon (Konobelodon) britti
• Amebelodon sp.

Artiodactyls

Soricomorpha

Perissodactyls

Sirenians

• Metaxytherium cf. floridanum

Lipotyphla

• Talpidae indet.

Theriiformes

• Vespertilionidae indet.

Turtles

Crocodiles

Snakes

• Anilioides minuatus
• Boa constrictor
• Calamagras floridanus
• Ogmophis pauperrimus
• Paraoxybelis floridanus
• Pseudocemophora antiqua
• Pterygoboa sp.

Lizards

• Peltosaurus floridanus
• Gekkonidae indet.
• Scolecophidia indet.

Anurans

Salamanders

• Siren hesterna

Sharks

Rays

• Pristis sp.

Others

• Hemipristis serra
• Lepisosteus sp.

• C. Pimiento. 2014. Carcharocles megalodon unpublished collections from Natural History Museums around the world
• Hulbert, Richard C., Jr. (1988). "Calippus and Protohippus (Mammalia, Perissodactyla, Equidae) from the Miocene (Barstovian-early Hemphillian) of the Gulf Coastal Plain" (PDF). Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences. 32 (3): 221–340.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Webb, S. David; MacFadden, Bruce J.; Baskin, Jon A. (May 1981). "Geology and paleontology of the Love Bone Bed from the Late Miocene of Florida". American Journal of Science. 281 (5): 513–544. Bibcode:1981AmJS..281..513W. doi:10.2475/ajs.281.5.513.
• Hirschfeld, Sue E.; Webb, S. David (1968). "Plio-Pleistocene Megalonychid Sloths of North America" (PDF). Bulletin of the Florida State Museum. 12 (5): 213–296.
• Webb, S. David (August 1966). "A Relict Species of the Burrowing Rodent, Mylagaulus, from the Pliocene of Florida". Journal of Mammalogy. 47 (3): 401–412. doi:10.2307/1377681. JSTOR 1377681.
• Auffenberg, Walter (1963). "Fossil testudinine turtles of Florida: genera Geochelone and Floridemys" (PDF). Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences. 7 (2): 53–97.
• Pirkle, E. C. (December 1956). "The Hawthorne and Alachua Formations of Alachua County, Florida". Quarterly Journal of the Florida Academy of Sciences. 19 (4): 197–240. JSTOR 24315224.
• White, T. E. (1942). "The Lower Miocene mammal fauna of Florida". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 92 (1): 1–49.
• Simpson, George Gaylord (1930). "Tertiary Land Mammals of Florida". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 59 (3): 1–64.