Gray Fossil Site

In late May of 2000 a Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) road construction project on the outskirts of Gray, Tennessee, uncovered what would be identified as a large fossil deposit. Scientist believe the site was formed by an underground limestone cave. It formed a sinkhole that was used as a watering hole by animals. The Gray Fossil Site was a thriving ecosystem at the end of the Miocene Epoch, about 4.5-7 million years ago. Just five years since it opened, the Museum has introduced hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world to the unique ecosystem of the Gray Fossil Site and garnered a wealth of knowledge from its priceless fossil finds. Scientists at the Gray Fossil Site have excavated an alligator, camel, ground sloth, peccary, rhino, red panda, saber-tooth cat, short-face bear, shovel-tusked elephant, tapir and turtle.