We have a book called Off the Beaten Track with
descriptions of wonderful gems that are not widely known about. One such entry is for the ETSU Museum of
Natural History and Fossil Site in Gray TN.
What a fabulous place!
The story goes that in 2000 road construction crews were
widening route 75 just outside of Gray TN.
They came across some dark black soil very unlike the yellow soil of the
area, so they brought in the researchers to figure out what was going on. It ended up being the remains of a pond that
during the Miocene Era was inhabited with alligators, turtles and snakes and
frequented by mastodon, camels, tapirs, red pandas, badgers, rhinoceros, saber
tooth cats, and other creatures. The
fossilized remains of these exciting animals and leaves of the plants that grew
around them, are trapped in the black mud of this pond that had dried up and
gotten covered over with regular dirt.
They’ve made some very exciting discoveries here. This is the only location in North America where
they have found the remains of many red panda.
There is a tooth found some place else – but all other remains are in
Asia. How did they get to Tennessee? These
red pandas have been determined a different species from their Asian
cousins. The scientists have discovered
a new species! And that isn’t the only
one, there is a new species of badger, and a new species of musk turtle.
There is still a lot more of the site still to be excavated!
They have built an incredibly well designed, small museum
about the era, the fossils, and the site.
Very, very well done and interesting for all ages. The second floor of the museum has work areas
for the paleontologists with big windows where you can watch them work. Then a door leads out to the dig itself where
you can see them working during the summer.
http://www.etsu.edu/naturalhistorymuseum/default.aspx
