*Please Support*
Georgia's Fossil Record
A Poster & Guidebook Project
For Classroom
or Homeschool Usage
By
Thomas Thurman
& GeorgiasFossils.com
12/Aug/2026
Help us spread the word
to Georgia's Students & Science Teachers.
I graduated from a Georgia high school 1980 & learned little to nothing about Georgia’s natural history or fossil record. Both were very well known at that time. There had been years of research by the Georgia Geologic Survey and the University System of Georgia. Why this record had never made it to the classroom is a mystery.
Today, my youngest daughter is a senior (2026-2027) in a Georgia high school. When I asked her what she’d learned about Georgia’s natural history or fossil record in school (beyond what I’d shown her) she thought for a minute and replied; “My Graphic Arts teacher told us that Georgia’s State Fossil is a shark tooth.” Which is true of course, but doesn’t even scratch the surface.
Today, my youngest daughter is a senior (2026-2027) in a Georgia high school. When I asked her what she’d learned about Georgia’s natural history or fossil record in school (beyond what I’d shown her) she thought for a minute and replied; “My Graphic Arts teacher told us that Georgia’s State Fossil is a shark tooth.” Which is true of course, but doesn’t even scratch the surface.
Qualifications
In 2014 I assembled this website in an effort to adddress this. Just this year, after retiring, I incorporated the website and rolled it into a non-profit, assembling a small team of researchgers and educators.
I hope you're familiar with our efforts in popularizing Georgia’s Natural History. Please help us reach more students, teachers & parents.
A university press acquisitions editor, here in Georgia, had this response after a paleontology peer-review over a Georgia fossil record manuscript I assembled for a different project.
Thurman is "by far the most qualified person for writing a book about the fossils of Georgia and the human history behind them." (22/July/2026)
I created and posted an early version of the above map in Georgia’s Fossils Group on Facebook. A teacher immediately commented that she would love this as a poster for her classroom. Other teachers soon agreed. I asked them if they’d prefer a poster or a magazine-like guidebook. The pool was split evenly.
I propose a set, a wall poster with a supporting guide book. That’s what I'd like to assemble and make available to Georgia educators.
GeorgiasFossils.com is now a non-profit 501(c)(3) so any financial support is tax-deductible.
Our team is deeply expereinced.... Dr. Burt Carter, Professor Emeritus of Paleontology Georgia Southwestern, stands as my Vice President. Our Education and Professional Development Team is Tina Perkins, Emeritus Chair of Science at Central High School in Macon, & Dr. Melanie Devore, Professor of Paleobotany at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville.
So GeorgiasFossils.com Inc is now in a good position to support Earth Science education in Georgia.
If we find funding for this project the first step will be to bring an artist onboard to re-create the map with copyright friendly silhouettes.
I propose a set, a wall poster with a supporting guide book. That’s what I'd like to assemble and make available to Georgia educators.
GeorgiasFossils.com is now a non-profit 501(c)(3) so any financial support is tax-deductible.
Our team is deeply expereinced.... Dr. Burt Carter, Professor Emeritus of Paleontology Georgia Southwestern, stands as my Vice President. Our Education and Professional Development Team is Tina Perkins, Emeritus Chair of Science at Central High School in Macon, & Dr. Melanie Devore, Professor of Paleobotany at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville.
So GeorgiasFossils.com Inc is now in a good position to support Earth Science education in Georgia.
If we find funding for this project the first step will be to bring an artist onboard to re-create the map with copyright friendly silhouettes.
Below is one short list of shark teeth from Georgia.
There are more lists.
Please notice the quanities of some teeth collected.
Shark teeth from the 35.4 Million year old Clinchfield Sand Formation of the northern Coastal Plain, all of these were collected in either Houston or Wilkinson Counties and represent only a portion of the shark teeth in Georgia's fossil record. Many of these were reported through Georgia College in Milledgeville. (See Page 28E for more information)
Genus &/or Species Common name Frequency Reporting
Abdounia enniskilleni Extinct Gray Shark 492 teeth Westgate
Abdounia enniskilleni Extinct Gray Shark 589 Teeth Parmley
Carcharias acutissima Sand Tiger Shark 446 Teeth Parmley
Carcharias cuspidate Great White Shark Abundant Pickering
Carcharias hopei Sand Tiger Shark 296 Teeth Parmley
Carcharias hopei Sand Tiger shark 922 teeth Westgate
Carcharias koerti Sand Tiger Shark 123 teeth Parmley
Carcharocles angustidens Megatooth Shark 2 Teeth Parmley
Carcharodon auriculatus Giant toothed shark 2 teeth Westgate
Dasyatis (sp) Stingray 53 teeth Westgate
Edaphodon (sp) 1st SE Chimaera Extremely Rare Parmley
Galeo latidens Tiger shark 219 teeth Westgate
Galeocerdo alabamensis Requiem Shark 351 Teeth Parmley
Galecerdo latidens Tiger Shark Abundant Pickering*
Ginglymostoma serra Nurse shark 13 teeth Westgate
Hemipristis curvatus Snaggletooth shark 170 teeth Westgate
Hemipristis curvatus Snaggletooth Shark 635 Teeth Parmley
Heterodontus (sp) Angel Shark 1 Tooth Parmley
Isurus (sp) Mako shark 4 teeth Westgate
Isurus praecursor Mako Shark 27 Teeth Parmley
Lamna (sp) Porbeagle shark 124 teeth Westgate
Lamna Appendiculate Mackerel shark Common Pickering*
Mustelus vanderhoefti Smoothhound Shark 3 Teeth Parmley
Myliobatis (sp) Eagle Ray Abundant Pickering*
Myliobatis (sp) Eagle ray 8 dental batteries/284 teeth Westgate
Nebrius thielensis Nurse Shark 79 Teeth Parmley
Negaprion eurybathrodon Lemon Shark 2127 Teeth Parmley
Negaprion gibbesi Lemon shark 1538 teeth Westgate
Palaeorhincodon Whale Shark 1 tooth Parmley
Physogaleus (sp) Carchrhinid 19 teeth Westgate
Physogaleus secundus Sharpnosed Shark 70 Teeth Parmley
Pristis (sp) Sawfish Very rare Pickering*
Propristis schweinfurthi Sawfish 238 rostral teeth Westgate
Raja (sp) Skate 4 skutes Westgate
Rhinoptera (sp) Cownose ray 67 teeth Westgate
Scyliorhinus gilberti Catshark 53 Teeth Parmley
Sphyrna (sp) Hammerhead Rare Pickering*
Squatina (sp) Angel shark 1 tooth Westgate
Squatina prima Angel Shark 6 Teeth Parmley
Striatolamia macrota Sand Shark 1 Tooth Parmley
Abdounia enniskilleni Extinct Gray Shark 492 teeth Westgate
Abdounia enniskilleni Extinct Gray Shark 589 Teeth Parmley
Carcharias acutissima Sand Tiger Shark 446 Teeth Parmley
Carcharias cuspidate Great White Shark Abundant Pickering
Carcharias hopei Sand Tiger Shark 296 Teeth Parmley
Carcharias hopei Sand Tiger shark 922 teeth Westgate
Carcharias koerti Sand Tiger Shark 123 teeth Parmley
Carcharocles angustidens Megatooth Shark 2 Teeth Parmley
Carcharodon auriculatus Giant toothed shark 2 teeth Westgate
Dasyatis (sp) Stingray 53 teeth Westgate
Edaphodon (sp) 1st SE Chimaera Extremely Rare Parmley
Galeo latidens Tiger shark 219 teeth Westgate
Galeocerdo alabamensis Requiem Shark 351 Teeth Parmley
Galecerdo latidens Tiger Shark Abundant Pickering*
Ginglymostoma serra Nurse shark 13 teeth Westgate
Hemipristis curvatus Snaggletooth shark 170 teeth Westgate
Hemipristis curvatus Snaggletooth Shark 635 Teeth Parmley
Heterodontus (sp) Angel Shark 1 Tooth Parmley
Isurus (sp) Mako shark 4 teeth Westgate
Isurus praecursor Mako Shark 27 Teeth Parmley
Lamna (sp) Porbeagle shark 124 teeth Westgate
Lamna Appendiculate Mackerel shark Common Pickering*
Mustelus vanderhoefti Smoothhound Shark 3 Teeth Parmley
Myliobatis (sp) Eagle Ray Abundant Pickering*
Myliobatis (sp) Eagle ray 8 dental batteries/284 teeth Westgate
Nebrius thielensis Nurse Shark 79 Teeth Parmley
Negaprion eurybathrodon Lemon Shark 2127 Teeth Parmley
Negaprion gibbesi Lemon shark 1538 teeth Westgate
Palaeorhincodon Whale Shark 1 tooth Parmley
Physogaleus (sp) Carchrhinid 19 teeth Westgate
Physogaleus secundus Sharpnosed Shark 70 Teeth Parmley
Pristis (sp) Sawfish Very rare Pickering*
Propristis schweinfurthi Sawfish 238 rostral teeth Westgate
Raja (sp) Skate 4 skutes Westgate
Rhinoptera (sp) Cownose ray 67 teeth Westgate
Scyliorhinus gilberti Catshark 53 Teeth Parmley
Sphyrna (sp) Hammerhead Rare Pickering*
Squatina (sp) Angel shark 1 tooth Westgate
Squatina prima Angel Shark 6 Teeth Parmley
Striatolamia macrota Sand Shark 1 Tooth Parmley
Georgia’s fossil record has international, global importance. It is far more than local interest.
Examples
Georgiacetus (The Georgia-Whale)
It is very possible that all modern whales are descended through our own Georgiacetus vogtlensis which swam an inland Georgia sea covering the Coastal Plain 40 million years ago. Multiple individuals of the species were recovered from Burke County during the original construction of Nuclear Power Plant Vogtle. This new species was described and reported by a Georgia Southern team led by Dr. Richard C. Hulbert. The fossils suggest Georgiacetus lacked flukes and swam with strong hind legs, yet within two million years the basilosaurid whales are present in that Southeastern sea with flukes. The basilosaurid skull shows clear evidence that it is descended through Georgiacetus or a very similar, closely related whale. Modern whales can be shown descending through the basilosaurids. You can see, in the fossil record, traits passing, spreading, and slowly changing through species of whales, traits which lead from achaic whales to modern whales. (See Page #11 & #28I of this website.)
The World's Oldest Nest
The world’s oldest nest existed 500 million years ago and was preserved as a Northwest Georgia fossil along Conasauga River in Murray County. It was discovered by the advanced amateur William (Bill) Montante and published in 2019 by Dr. David R. Schwimmer and Bill Montante. (See Page #2B of this website.)
Help us spread the word, help us make sure this information finds our science teachers. Teachers need tools. They cannot teach what they do not know. There are those who would prefer important scientific subjects like evolution and geologic time weren’t taught in Georgia classrooms. I’d see this map freely available to every Georgia school, to every Georgia teacher who touches these subjects, but I can’t do that alone.
Nearly every geologic process or global warming affect can be observed in Georgia’s natural history.
The Gulf Trough & Suwannee Current
In South Georgia there’s a buried canyon about 40 miles wide and 150 miles long, called the Gulf Trough, which was excavated by the Suwannee Current when the Coastal Plain was submerged beneath a warm sea. It was defined and described through invertebrate fossils by Dr. J.P. Manker and Dr. Burt Carter of Georgia Southwestern in 1987. It was buried and the farmland of South Georgia smoothed over perhaps 15 million years ago by large scale erosion. (See Page #8 of this website)
In South Georgia there’s a buried canyon about 40 miles wide and 150 miles long, called the Gulf Trough, which was excavated by the Suwannee Current when the Coastal Plain was submerged beneath a warm sea. It was defined and described through invertebrate fossils by Dr. J.P. Manker and Dr. Burt Carter of Georgia Southwestern in 1987. It was buried and the farmland of South Georgia smoothed over perhaps 15 million years ago by large scale erosion. (See Page #8 of this website)
For the last dozen years, I’ve built GeorgiasFossils.com out of pocket. I’ve retired at 64 due to heart and lung issues (the lung issues are my fault, the heart issue isn’t). However, I’m still supporting my family. I don’t have the disposable income I enjoyed while I worked but I can still spend hours at a computer doing research, expanding the website, and creating educational content like this map.
Help us complete this project and get this material into the hands of Georgia’s educators. This map would be a beginning, it will give elementary school teachers, third grade teachers, the tool to show "Fossils as evidence of past Organsims."
Tax deductible donations, small or large, will make this happen. Corporate support will help. The website, GeorgiasFossils.com stands as a testament to what’s possible. This poster and guide booklet, Georgia’s Fossil Record, is a step in or science education.
Thank you.
Thomas Thurman
President
GeorgiasFossils.com Inc.
12/Aug/2026
Thomas Thurman
President
GeorgiasFossils.com Inc.
12/Aug/2026
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