Inglis quarry


The Inglis quarry or Inglis quarry sites 1A and 1C are assemblages of vertebrate fossils dating from the Pleistocene ~1.8 Mya—300,000 years ago, located in the phosphate quarries near the town of Inglis, Citrus County, northern Florida.
Inglis sites FCi-1, FCi-2, Inglis Formation, Florida Geological Survey C-11, Inglis Member, Moodys Branch Formation, and Dunnellon Phosphate Company pit no. 5 are composed of a variety of bivalves, echinoderms, gastropods, crustaceans, crinoids dating from the Eocene to Early Oligocene of ~48–33.9 Mya.
Inglis site 1A was originally a sinkhole spanning 10 by 20 meters. From bottom to top, the sequence comprises a basal conglomerate, a thin clay bed, a lower sand unit, a second thin clay bed, an upper sand unit, and a cemented quartz sandstone.
Inglis 1A has been correlated with the earliest Irvingtonian North American Land Mammal Age, dated approximately 2.0 to 1.6 Mya. The assemblage includes a combination of species and fauna characteristic of both late Blancan and early Irvingtonian faunas.
The Inglis Quarry is operated by Cemex Inc., who was also fined 29,000 USD for violations against its 2005 environmental resource permit.

History

Site 1A

The site was discovered in 1967 during construction of the Cross Florida Barge Canal. In January 1974, staff from the Florida Museum of Natural History excavated and screened approximately 300 cubic meters of fossil bearing sediment from the sinkhole.

Site 1C

Site 1C was also uncovered during construction of the Cross Florida Barge Canal, although an unknown portion of the sinkhole’s sediments had already been removed. The remaining deposits were later excavated by students from Western State College.

Species uncovered

Mammals

Bats

  • Antrozous
  • Eptesicus
  • Myotis
  • Desmodus, D. archaeodaptes
  • Lasiurus intermedius
  • Phyllostomidae
  • Pipistrellus subflavus
  • Plecotus

    Carnivores

  • ''Procyon''
    Canidae
  • †Borophagus
  • Canidae
  • †Canis edwardii
  • †''Urocyon citrinus''
    Bears
  • †''Arctodus pristinus''
    Feliformia
  • Felinae indet.
  • †Xenosmilus hodsonae
  • Lynx
  • †Miracinonyx inexpectatus
  • †''Smilodon gracilis''
    Hyena
  • †Chasmaporthetes ossifragus
    Mustelids
  • Lontra canadensis
  • Spilogale
  • †Trigonictis macrodon

    Herbivores

Even-toed ungulates
  • Bovidae indet.
  • †Capromeryx
  • †Hemiauchenia macrocephala
  • †Mylohyus floridanus
  • Odocoileus
  • †Platygonus bicalcaratus, ''P. vetus''
    Odd-toed ungulates
  • †Equus leidyi
  • †''Tapirus lundeliusi''

    Proboscidea

  • †''Mammut americanum''

    Xenarthra

  • †Eremotherium eomigrans
  • †Megalonyx leptostomus
  • †Paramylodon harlani
  • †Dasypus bellus
  • †Holmesina floridanus
  • †''Glyptotherium texanum''

    Rabbits

  • ''Sylvilagus''

    Rodents

  • Baiomys
  • Erethizon, E. kleini
  • Geomys pinetis
  • Glaucomys
  • Neochoerus aesopi
  • Neotoma
  • Ondatra idahoensis
  • Orthogeomys propinetis
  • Peromyscus, P. sarmocophinus
  • Reithrodontomys H. wetmorei
  • Sciurus carolinensis
  • Sigmodon, S. curtisi

    Moles and Shrews

  • Blarina
  • Blarina carolinensis
  • Cryptotis parva
  • Scalopus aquaticus
  • Sorex longirostris

    Birds

Cariamiformes

  • †''Titanis walleri''