Formation · Neogene
Peace River Formation
Miocene unit, Florida
The Peace River Formation and the river gravels that rework it are Florida's most popular collecting ground: shark teeth including megalodon, dugong ribs, horse and mammoth teeth, glyptodont scutes, sloth and alligator material sieved from the river bed near Arcadia, Wauchula and Zolfo Springs. Because the gravels mix Miocene marine and Pleistocene land faunas, a Peace River label is a locality rather than an age. River-worn teeth are dark brown to black and lack the gloss of Bone Valley mine teeth; polished or oiled teeth should be described as such.
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Region | Florida |
| Age | Miocene |
| Age range | ~12–2 Ma |
| Group | Hawthorn Group |
| Macrostrat rank | Fm· Macrostrat |
| Macrostrat age | 14.5–8.34 Ma· Macrostrat |
| Lithology | phosphorite, sand, clay, siliciclastic, carbonate· Macrostrat |
| Environment | deltaic indet., marine· Macrostrat |
| Macrostrat columns | 2 column(s) sampled from 6 unit(s)· Macrostrat |
| Members (Macrostrat) | Bone Valley· Macrostrat |
| PBDB collections | 52 collections, 346 occurrences· Paleobiology Database |
Collecting and legality
The Peace River bed is sovereign state land: vertebrate fossils (bone, teeth) require the Florida Vertebrate Fossil Permit ($5 per year from the Florida Museum), and finds of scientific importance must be reported; shark teeth and invertebrates need no permit. Permit holders may sell what they find; commercial dredging is not allowed.
Lithology and setting
Phosphatic sands and clays with a basal gravel of reworked Miocene–Pleistocene bone, teeth and shark teeth, exposed in the bed of the Peace River and its tributaries.
Commonly recorded taxa (PBDB)
Genera most often recorded from this unit in the Paleobiology Database (first 200 occurrences): Calippus (13), Cormohipparion (12), Nannippus (10), Pomatodelphis (10), Borophagus (9), Neohipparion (9), Arcellites (7), Pseudhipparion (7), Callistosporites (6), Enhydritherium (5), Dinohippus (4), Mammut (4), Odontoceti (4), Phocidae (4), Balmeisporites (3).
Source: Paleobiology Database
Collecting rules
Elsewhere
- Macrostrat: 1533
- macrostratConcept: 3213
- PBDB: strata:Peace River
- Wikidata: Q7157439
- Macrostrat stratigraphic name
- PBDB occurrences for this unit
- Wikipedia: Peace River Formation
- Mindat: Peace River Formation
Cite this article
Stratum Study. "Peace River Formation" (Formation). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19. https://stratum.black/study/formations/peace-river-formation. Accessed 2026-09-20.
@misc{stratum-peace-river-formation,
title = {Peace River Formation},
author = {{Stratum Study}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/formations/peace-river-formation}},
year = {2026},
note = {Formation article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19; sources: stratum, macrostrat, pbdb, wikidata, commons. Accessed 2026-09-20.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.