The weblog GeorgiaBeforePeople has some interesting info about the discovery of fossils in the Tampa Bay region and I believe this is the source of a lot of the Museum's exhibits.
During the late 1970s, Frank Garcia and other amateur fossil collectors often searched the spoil piles of the Leisey Shell Pit located about a mile east of Tampa Bay, Florida. The Leisey family owned the site and mined the sand and seashells which are used in construction to make concrete and other building materials. One day, Mr. Garcia discovered a wall of fossils exposed when a bulldozer stripped away a large layer of sand. After Mr. Garcia’s discovery, professional paleontologists descended on the site and excavated over 50,000 fossils in a decade of work, gaining valuable information about the early Pleistocene. When the shell pit was closed for business, there was no reason to keep the pumps running and the property is now under water. However, thanks to Mr. Garcia, we have access to a lot of prehistoric remains that would otherwise have remained unknown.
The weblog GeorgiaBeforePeople has some interesting info about the discovery of fossils in the Tampa Bay region and I believe this is the source of a lot of the Museum's exhibits.
During the late 1970s, Frank Garcia and other amateur fossil collectors often searched the spoil piles of the Leisey Shell Pit located about a mile east of Tampa Bay, Florida. The Leisey family owned the site and mined the sand and seashells which are used in construction to make concrete and other building materials. One day, Mr. Garcia discovered a wall of fossils exposed when a bulldozer stripped away a large layer of sand. After Mr. Garcia’s discovery, professional paleontologists descended on the site and excavated over 50,000 fossils in a decade of work, gaining valuable information about the early Pleistocene. When the shell pit was closed for business, there was no reason to keep the pumps running and the property is now under water. However, thanks to Mr. Garcia, we have access to a lot of prehistoric remains that would otherwise have remained unknown.