Peace River Fossils

Ungulates

Ungulate fossils are perhaps the most common mammal fossils to be found in the Peace River and represent a wide array of species from the incredibly diverse past of the Florida Fossil record. I will break them down by order, in this case Artiodactyls and Perissodactyls. Artiodactyla have an even number of toes while Perissodactyla have an odd number.

Artiodactyla

Deer

Peccary

Perissodactyla

Horses

Teeth:

Petrosals:

Petrosals are dense bones that house both the inner and middle ear in horses and can be found well preserved and isolated. They are bulbous with an almost ear like shape as well as multiple tunnels through (as visible in the photos). This type is unique to perissodactyl and likely useful for identifying to a family level but may not be exact for genus level identification (Goodchild et al, 2026). They are relatively large, similar in size to a porpoise ear bone at around a few wide and tall.

Equus petrosal (ear bone) from the Peace River, compare this to porpoise periotics and it is a huge difference but still retains the many different tunnels that help echo sound. Scale bar is 1cm.

Tapir

Tapir are pig-like animals that were present during the Pleistocene in Florida and went locally extinct at the end of the Pleistocene approximately 11,000 years ago. While the species present in Florida is extinct there are still 4 species around the world, in Central America, South America and Malaysia. Tapirus veroensis is the most common species found in the Peace River but there are likely multiple species. Upper jaw (maxillary) teeth are wider and closer to squares while lower jaw (mandibular) teeth are more rectangular. They had sharp canines that can be mistaken for carnivore teeth.

A beautifully colored maxillary tooth. The wider side is complete with the narrower side being more worn, this shows the position as being near the back of the upper jaw. Compare with the mandiblular examples below. Scale bar is 1cm
2 more maxillary teeth. The first tooth is from the back of the jaw compared to the second tooth being closer to the front of the maxilla. To determine jaw position look for which of the two cusps is wider. Also of note is how these preserved as just the enamel cap with no root remaining. Scale bar is 1cm
2 mandibular teeth, note the more narrow, vaguely rectangular shape as compared to maxillary teeth. They are often found as individual cusps but a complete tooth contains two primary cusps (humps). Scale bar is 1cm
Tapir P2 ( the tooth first behind the canines). Note the unique shape when compared to the other positions. Scale bar is 1cm

Citations

Goodchild, O. A., Rosen, S. N., Mennecart, B., Meng, J., & Tissier, J. (2026). The petrosal and bony labyrinth of extinct horses (Perissodactyla, Equidae) and their implications for perissodactyl evolution. PeerJ, 14, e20484. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.20484