Carnivora

Carnivora fossils are incredibly rare and heavily sought after.

Felidae

Panthera onca: Jaguar

Panthera onca is the modern species of jaguar but goes back to the Middle Pleistocene in Florida, originally coming across the Bering Sea land bridge. It was larger than the modern day jaguar and as far as carnivore fossils go they are more common (though still rare to find in personal experience).

Jaguar premolar, unfortunately this tooth is damaged but represents the only carnivore fossil I have from the Peace River! Scale bar is 1cm

Other

Procyon lotor: Raccoon

Raccoons were present in Florida’s Pleistocene and remain to this day around the Peace River area, another lasting animal from the ice age. Their teeth are still uncommon for me but represent an interesting find and a piece of the environment at the time. For modern species such as the raccoon this guide may help but modern jaw photos are a truly useful resource where this guide may lack examples.

Raccoon canine, scale bar is 1cm. These are significantly smaller than the more sought after canines of large carnivores