Gray Fossil Site at the Natural History Museum

Discover a world hundreds of years before our time at the Gray Fossil Site of the Natural History Museum in Gray, Tenn. The Gray Fossil Site dedicates its resources to understanding, preserving and interpreting biodiversity of the Southern Appalachians through time.

The site was discovered in May 2000 during road construction in Washington County. The site is originally thought to be a series of sinkholes, created by a collapsed underground cave. The sinkholes created a watering hole that drew animals from near and far.

For some unlucky animals, the sinkhole became a trap that preserved them as fossils for the ages.The fossil remains of the Gray site have been preserved by the rich organic matter that filled the sinkhole. As the climate changed, new ecosystems came and went. While Ice Age animals and humans moved in, the fossils, preserved in the sediment of the waterhole, waited centuries to be discovered by the museum’s paleontologists, staff and volunteers years later. The site spans roughly four to five acres and more than 100 feet thick.

With less than two percent of the site excavated, thousands of fossil specimens have already been recovered. Visitors can see the remains of a number of animals, including the saber-toothed cat, short-faced bear, ground sloth, rhino, alligator, camel, shovel-tusked elephant, Eurasian badger, the world’s largest collection of fossil tapirs and the world’s only near-complete fossil of the red panda. To date, the site contains fossilized remains of an entire ecosystem of plants and animals.

The museum is open daily from 8:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. and offers numerous educational and outreach programs, activities and special lectures as well as new temporary exhibits each season. Join in the fun at the dig site outside and dry screening activity stations.

- by Leah M. Caudle , Nashville Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Leah M. Caudle

Leah Caudle is a professional storyteller with experience in covering local, community and feature stories. While at newspapers such as The Tennessean in Nashville and The Lexington Herald-Leader in Lexington, Ky., Caudle also has experience in shooting and editing videos and photos to accompany stories. The Western Kentucky University graduate received degrees in print journalism and Spanish in 2007 and also has expertise in the areas of public relations, copy editing and proofreading.