Pipe Creek Sinkhole near Swayzee in Grant County, Indiana, is one of the most important paleontological sites in the interior of the eastern half of North America. It is preserved because it was buried by glacial till. Uncovered in 1996 by workers at the Pipe Creek Junior limestone quarry, the sinkhole has yielded a diverse array of fossils from the Pliocene epoch, dating back five million years. Discoveries have been made there of the remains of camelids, bears, beavers, frogs, snakes, turtles, and several previously unknown species of rodents. Two fish taxa, bullhead (Ameiurus) and sunfish (Centrarchidae), have also been found there.
The Gray Fossil Site is an Early Pliocene assemblage of fossils dating between 4.5 and 4.9 million years old, located near the town of Gray in Washington County, Tennessee. The site was discovered during road construction in May 2000, after which local officials decided to preserve the site for research and education. The site became part of East Tennessee State University, and the Gray Fossil Site & Museum was opened on the site in 2007.
Pseudhipparion is an extinct genus of three-toed horse endemic to North America during the Miocene. They were herding animals whose diet consisted of C3 plants. Fossils found in Georgia and Florida indicate that it was a lightweight horse, weighing up to 90 pounds.
Nannippus is an extinct genus of three-toed horse endemic to North America during the Miocene through Pliocene, about 13.3—3.3 million years ago (Mya), living around 11.1 million years. This ancient species of three-toed horse grew up to 3.5 feet and weighed between 165 pounds to 199 pounds, which was around the same size as a domestic sheep.
Cormohipparion is an extinct genus of horse belonging to the tribe Hipparionini that lived in North America during the late Miocene to Pliocene. This ancient species of horse grew up to 3 feet long.
Thalassocnus is an extinct genus of semiaquatic ground sloths from the Miocene and Pliocene of the Pacific South American coast. It is monotypic within the subfamily Thalassocninae. The five species—T. antiquus, T. natans, T. littoralis, T. carolomartini, and T. yuacensis—represent a chronospecies, a population gradually adapting to marine life in one direct lineage. They are the only known aquatic sloths. They have been found in the Pisco Formation of Peru and the Bahía Inglesa, Coquimbo, and Horcón formations of Chile. Thalassocninae has been placed in both the families Megatheriidae and Nothrotheriidae.
Metaxytherium is an extinct genus of dugong that lived from the Oligocene until the end of the Pliocene. Fossil remains have been found in Africa, Europe, North America and South America. Generally marine seagrass specialists, they inhabited the warm and shallow waters of the Paratethys, Mediterranean, Caribbean Sea and Pacific coastline. American species of Metaxytherium are considered to be ancestral to the North Pacific family Hydrodamalinae, which includes the giant Steller's Sea Cow.
The Friasian age is a period of geologic time within the Early Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification of South America. It follows the Santacrucian and precedes the Colloncuran age.
Thinobadistes is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Mylodontidae endemic to North America during the Miocene-Pliocene epochs (Hemphillian). It lived from 10.3 to 4.9 mya, existing for approximately 5.4 million years.
Machairodontini is an extinct tribe of large saber-toothed cats of the subfamily Machairodontinae, that lived in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, during the Middle and Late Miocene.
Aphelops is an extinct genus of hornless rhinoceros endemic to North America. It lived from the Middle Miocene to the early Pliocene, during which it was a common component of North American mammalian faunas along with Teleoceras.
The Hawthorn Group is a stratigraphic unit that includes several geologic formations of Late Oligocene to Pliocene age in North Florida, United States. It is known for its phosphate rock resources, and for its rich assemblages of Neogene vertebrate fossils. It was originally called the Waldo Formation by L.C. Johnson of the United States Geological Survey in 1887, and later became the Hawthorne Group named for Hawthorne, Florida, where its phosphate-rich rock was quarried and processed for use as fertilizer.
The Peace River Formation is a Late Oligocene to Early Miocene geologic formation in the west-central Florida peninsula.
Ochotona spanglei is an extinct species of pika, known from Late Miocene - Early Pliocene fossil from Oregon (USA). Fossils were also found in Nebraska referred to as Ochotona cf. spanglei.
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 Bridger Formation is a geologic formation in southwestern Wyoming. It preserves fossils dating back to the Ypresian Epoch of the Paleogene Period. The formation was named by American geologist Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden for Fort Bridger, which had itself been named for mountain man Jim Bridger. The Bridger Wilderness covers much of the Bridger Formation's area.
The Capistrano Formation is a geologic formation in coastal southern Orange County, California. It preserves fossils dating back to the late Miocene to early Pliocene, with the Oso Member representing a near-shore environment. Fifty-nine species and varieties of foraminifera are recognized from the Capistrano Formation alongside a diverse array of marine mammals including up to five species of walrus.
The Juchipila Formation is a geologic formation in Mexico. It preserves fossils dating back to the Neogene period. Closely corresponding to the other Hemphillian faunal assemblages of North America, it is significant for understanding the palaeofauna of Miocene and Pliocene central Mexico.
The Gracias Formation is a geologic formation in Honduras. The mainly sandstones, siltstones and claystones preserve vertebrate fossils dating back to the Neogene period.
The Urumaco Formation is a formation in Venezuela that includes deposits from the Late Miocene. It is the site of several "giant forms": the turtles, crocodiles, sloths and rodents of Urumaco are among the largest of their groups.
