Come Explore Georgia's Natural History
  • Home: Georgias Fossils
  • 1: Georgia's Oldest Fossils; Archaeocyathids, At 513 Million Years Old
  • 2: Trilobites; 500 Million Years Ago
    • 2A; Murray County Stromatolites
    • 2B; A Trilobite Nest in Georgia
  • 3: Geologic Time
  • 4: Georgia's Oldest Vertebrate?
  • 5: Georgia Before the Dinosaurs
    • 5A; Georgia’s Pennsylvanian Plant Fossils
    • 5B: Carpentertypus durhami, Georgia’s Giant Insect, 315 Million Years Ago
    • 5C: Mississippian Trilobites in Northwest Georgia Describing the New Species Australosutura georgiana
    • 5D: Crinoids & Blastoids Of Northwest Georgia
    • 5E; Fossils of Northwest Georgia
  • *New* 5F: Pennsylvanian Plant Fossils of NW Georgia
  • 6: 200 Million Years Ago
  • 6A: Birth of the Atlantic Ocean
  • 7: Cretaceous Georgia, Dinosaurs & more
    • 7A: Georgias Pterosaur
    • 7B: So Many Sharks
    • 7C: Coelecanths
    • 7D: Xiphactinus vetus
    • 7E: Side-necked turtles
    • 7F: Marine Reptiles
    • 7G: Dinosaurs in Georgia
    • 7H: Deinosuchus schwimmeri in Recognition of Dr. David Schwimmer
    • 7I; The Blufftown Formation
    • 7J: New Species of Cretaceous Flowers Reported From Crawford County
    • 7K: Field Trip, Chattahoochee River Valley 1980
    • 7L: The Eutaw Formation
    • 7M: The Pio Nono Formation
    • 7N: Plant Fossils of Crawford County, GA
    • 7O; 1914 Report Georgia Plant Fossils From the Upper Cretaceous
    • 7P: Bill Montante's Mega "Gator" Tooth Discovery
  • 8: Suwannee Current, Gulf Trough, & Bridgeboro Limestone
  • 9: 60 million years ago, The Paleocene's Clayton Formation, A Report; By Hank Josey
    • 9A: The Georgia Turtle
    • 9B; Sassafras Hill Quarry Huber Formation Plant Fossils in Kaolin
  • 10: The Eocene; Georgia's Oldest Mammals
    • 10A: The Origins of Whales
  • 11: A Whale For Georgia
  • 12: Basilosaurids; The First Modern Whales
    • 12A: Basilosaurus cetoides
    • 12B: Basilotritus
    • 12C: Cynthiacetus (Revised)
    • 12D: Chrysocetus
    • 12E: The Redmond Mandible of Albany Ga
    • 12F: Houston County's Famous Great Whale Goes to the Smithsonian
  • 13: Ziggy and The Museum of Arts & Sciences, Macon, GA
  • 14: Late Eocene
    • 14A: Eocene Fossils & Stratigraphy
    • 14B; Fossils, Impacts, & Tektites Dating the Clinchfield Formation
    • 14C: The Tivola Limestone
    • 14C1: Oldest Oreodont in the Southeast & Georgia's first!
    • 14D: Twiggs Clay Vertebrates
    • 14E: Ocmulgee Formation Vertebrates
    • 14F; Sandersville Limestone, By Hank Josey
    • 14I: Dating Late Eocene Sediments
    • 14J: Georgia's Tektites; Georgiaites
    • 14K; Shell Bluff; Georgia's Most Historic Paleontology Site
    • 14L; Taylors Bluff, Paleo Paddling the Ocmulgee River
    • 14M; Eocene Terrestrial Mammals From Gordon, GA
    • 14N: Fossil Ridge, A Stratigraphic Study in Oaky Woods Wildlife Management Area
    • 14O; Georgia's First Entelodont
    • 14P: Historic Rich Hill
    • 14Q; Bibb County's Christy Hill, Clinchfield Formation Hilltop
    • 14R: Browns Mount, The Fall Line, Elevations, Uplifts, & Native Middle Georgians
  • 15: Early Oligocene
    • 15A: The Marianna Limestone
    • 15B; The Glendon Limestone
    • 15C: Undiffereniated Oligocene Residuum
    • 15D; Brissus bridgeboroensis; A New Echinoid Species From Georgia’s Bridgeboro Limestone
    • 15E: The Curious Steinkern Sea Biscuits of Red Dog Farm Road
    • 15F: Early Oligocene Gordian Knot
  • 16: Bonaire GA Entelodont
  • 17: The Whale Eating Shark
  • 18: Miocene Epoch; 23.3 to 5.3 Million Years Ago
    • 18A; Miocene Terrestrial Vertebrates
    • 18B; Paul Fell, Rockhouse Cave
    • 18C: The Marks Head Formation
    • 18D: Miocene Terrestrial Vertebrates of the Marks Head Formation
    • 18E: The Statenville Formation
    • 18F: Georgia’s 13 Million Year Old Dugong Metaxytherium calvertense
    • 18G: Gastropod Gulch, Julia Gardner, & Miocene Invertebrates In Decatur County
    • 18H; Bony Bluff, Rocky Ford, Echols County In Southernmost Georgia
  • 19: Pliocene Epoch; 5.3 to 2.5 Million years Ago
    • 19A: Two Small Primitive Horses from Taylor County Advance the Science of Georgia Geology
  • 20: The Pleistocene & Holocene Epochs, The Ice Ages
    • 20A; Clark Quarry's Mammoths & Bison
    • 20B: Pleistocene Vertebrate List
    • 20C: Georgia’s Eolian Dunes
    • 20D: Georgia’s Carolina Bays
    • 20E: Late Pleistocene Significant Events
    • 20F: Southeastern Thermal Enclave
    • 20G; Diamond Back Terrapins
    • 20H; A Kaolin Mine Beaver Dam
    • 20I; Pleistocene Vertebrate Fossils On Georgia’s Piedmont
    • 20J; Watkins Quarry Pleistocene Vertebrates, Glynn County, GA
    • 20K: Pleistocene Vertebrates from Coastal Georgia
    • 20L; Sandy Run Creek Core, Warner Robins, Houston County, GA
    • 20M: Bone Bed, Pleistocene, Coastal Georgia
    • 20N: Caribou & Elk Fossils from Georgia & Alabama
    • 20O; Tapir Veroensis, Walker County, Late Pleistocene
    • 20P; Ladds Pleistocene Vertebrates, Bartow County, GA
  • 21: Humans in Georgia
  • 22: Geology of the Coastal Plain, 1911
    • 22A: 1911 Cretaceous Fossil Locations
    • 22B: 1911 Eocene Fossil Locations
  • 23: GA County Localities, Houston County
  • 24: Science: Natural History & Geology
    • 24A; Podcast; The Tivola Whale of Houston County
    • 24B: Coastal Plain Correlation Chart
    • 24C: Presentation; Oaky Woods Stratigraphy
    • 24D: Physiographic Map of Georgia
    • 24E: Fossils of Oaky Woods
    • 24F: Collections & Stewardship of Georgia’s Fossils
    • 24G: I, Periarchus (A Fossil's Tale)
    • 24H: The Tivola Whales (April 2023 talk to the Mid-Georgia Gem & Mineral Society)
    • 24L: Needed; The Georgia Geologic Survey
    • 24M: Georgiacetus Presentation; A Whale for Georgia
    • 24N: Paul F. Huddlestun PhD, Georgia Coastal Plain Field Investigator >
      • 24N1: Late Eocene & Older... Coastal Plain Stratigraphy
      • 24N2: Gulf Trough Cores, Colquitt County, by Paul Huddlestun
      • 24N3; Washington County Core Logs By Paul Huddlestun
      • 24N4: Coastal Plain Core Logs by Paul F. Huddlestun
      • 24N5: Colquitt Core #6 By Paul Huddlestun
      • 24N6: Colquitt 10 & 7 Core
      • 24N7: Wayne County Core, Manningtown
      • 24N8: Gulf Trough Cores >
        • 24N8-1: Chatham County, Tybee Island Core
        • 24N8-2: Gulf Trough, USGS, Claxton, Evans County Core
        • 24N8-3: Blue Springs Landing Core, Screven County
        • 24N8-4: Toombs County Core, Baxley
    • 24O: Echinoids of Georgia, Cenozoic Era (Sand Dollars & Urchins) >
      • 24O1: Echinoids of Georgia, Cenozoic, By County
    • 24P; Exploring the Paleontology of Southernmost Georgia >
      • 24P1; Seminole County
      • 24P2: Decatur County Fossils & Natural History
      • 24P3: Grady County Blowing Caves, Forest Falls, Fossils & Natural History
  • 25: Education Material
    • 25A: My Field Kit; What You Need In The Field
    • 25B: Meet Crassostrea gigantissima, Georgia's Historic Giant Oyster
    • 25C: The Natural History & Fossils Record of Houston County, GA
    • 25D: Evidence for Evolution in Georgia's Fossil Record... A look at Teeth
    • 25E: Georgia's State Fossil; Shark Teeth
    • 25F: Georgia's Paleontology For Georgia's Classrooms
    • 25G: Library & School Presentations
    • 25H; An Introduction To Fossils; Presentation
  • 26: Georgia's Meteorites
    • 26A: Did I Find A Meteorite?
    • 26B: Georgia's Lost Meteorite
    • 26C: Georgia's Witnessed Meteorite Falls
    • 26D: The Sardis Iron, Georgia's Largest Meteorite

18D: Miocene Terrestrial Fossils
Marks Head Formation
Porters Landing
Savannah River

By
Thomas Thurman & 
​Henry N. Josey, PharmD.
Filed 04/Dec/2022

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Miocene Terrestrial Vertebrates
In 1989, Ann Pratt & Richard Petkewich from Georgia Southern University, reported early Miocene terrestrial vertebrates from Marks Head Formation at Porters Landing along the Savannah River in Effingham County.
 
The 1989 research team collected over 500 kilograms (1100 pounds) of sediments from the 8-meter thick (26.25 feet) thick Mark’s Head Formation at Porter’s Landing and washed them through a series of nested screens. (1) They described the fossil bed as interlayered sand, clay, and clay rich sand.
​
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Sadly Porters Landing is now private property and is no longer accessible except via the Savannah River, and even then the trip is arduous. Nevertheless, Hank Josey made that trip upriver and filed a 30/May/2022 report on this website, See Section 18C: The Marks Head Formation. (2)
 
Hank did a superb job of describing the formation and we won’t repeat his work here, he mentions the crocodile & sea turtle fossils Hubiak reported. The foundation of his report was the 1999 paper by Leann Hubiak (3) which discussed the ample fish fossils Pratt & Petkewich’s fieldwork recovered in 1989. Hubiak fulfilled the requirements of her master’s degree with this paper.


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In his report Hank added his own findings from Porters Landings as well as contemporary work done by respected, Coastal Georgia amateur Chet Kirby. They were both advised by our collective friend Dr. Paul Huddlestun. Mr. Paul stood as a the lead researcher of Coastal Plain deposits for the Georgia Geologic Survey. Hank’s report is an excellent read.
 
By why the gap between the 1989 collection of material and the 1999 publication? It’s not unusual for universities to collect and hold a fairly large sample of matrix or fossils for later educational research. It’s an opportunity for promising students, like Hubiak, to publish. But typically the professors will publish a preliminary paper on the material to establish it. 

​I cannot see that this is the case for Porter’s landing. Despite the author’s best efforts no further published work could be found. Hubiak covered the fish in excellent detail, but I’ve seen nothing more on the terrestrial vertebrates, reptiles and marine mammals. I’m told that Ann Pratt moved to South Florida and left paleontology decades ago. Sadly, Dr. Richard Petkewich, a renowned researcher into the natural history of whales, passed away some decades ago. Requests for further information from the Paleontology Curator at Georgia Southern Museum have thus-far gone unanswered. If news is heard this page will be updated.  
 
So all we have to go on is the original 1989 account which was not a published paper but an oral report at the April 1989 meeting of the Georgia Academy of Sciences. It is preserved in a half page paragraph from the Georgia Journal of Science.
To quote the narrative… “The majority of the vertebrates recovered thus far are marine and include crocodiles, sea turtles and dolphin.” 
​
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Miocene Pollen
The other half of that same page is a report on Miocene pollen.
 
On that same April morning in 1989, immediately after the report on Mark’s Head vertebrates, James H. Darrell, (4) also from Georgia Southern, reported on Mark’s Head pollen. A report on pollen tells us a great deal about the local environment which these beds were laid down. Dinoflagellates made up roughly 10% of the fine-grained specimens. “Small pieces of woody/lignitic material was dispersed through the sediments, a very nearshore marine environment is inferred.”
 
It was an environment not so different from ours.
 
It’s been 33 years since these fossils were originally collected. I want to thank the Paleontology Association of Georgia (PAG) for posting this report on their Resource webpage. (5) Otherwise it might have been lost to history.


Miocene
​Terrestrial Vertebrates, Marine Mammals & Reptiles   
 
 
Marine Mammal
Published Description        Qty                  Popular Name
Dolphin                                 ?                      Dolphin
      (Sadly, no further description given.)
 
Reptile
Published Description        Qty                  Popular Name
Reptiles                                  Multiple        ?
(The paper states crocodiles and sea turtle separately, so it is assumed that this is a refence to other reptiles.)
 
Terrestrial Vertebrates (1)
Published Description        Qty                  Popular Name
Heteromyid Rodents            2                      Kangaroo rat/mice
Cricetid                                  1                        Voles & hamsters
Insectivores                          2                        Insectivore (very broad group)
Moschid camel                     1                        Camel?
Several reptiles                     multiple           ?                                 
 
Miocene Pollen
      Dominating the assemblage
Published Description        Popular Name
Quercus                                 Oak
Ulmus                                    Elm
Chenopodiaceae                   Grass
Graminae                              Grass
Cyperaceae misopores       Sedge
      Lesser populations
Carya                                      Hickory
Liquidambar                        Sweetgum
Polypodiaceae                       Ferns



​References
  1. Pratt, Ann E.; Petkewich, Richard M.; Fossil Vertebrates From The Marks Head Formation (Early Miocene) of Southeastern Georgia; Presented at Georgia Journal of Science Meeting, 9:00 am, 29/April/1989, Section III, Earth Sciences, A-Geology, Georgia Journal of Science, 471, Pg.20.
  2. Josey, Henry N.; 18C The Marks Head Formation.
  3. Hubiak, L. M. 1999. Faunal Analysis and Paleoecology of Miocene Fossil Fish from Porters Landing, Effingham County, Georgia. Legacy ETDs.
  4. Darrell, James H.; A Preliminary Palynological Investigation of the Marks Formation (Miocene), Effingham County, GA, 9:15 am, 29/April/1989, Section III, Earth Sciences, A-Geology, Georgia Journal of Science, 471, Pg.20.
  5. RESOURCES | paleoassocga