Horses evolved in the Americas and resided in Florida for roughly 25 million years. The modern horse (Equus sp.) evolved in North America just 2 million years ago.
Native North American horses died out 11,000 years ago along with many other Ice Age megafauna like mammoths and giant sloths, before horses were eventually reintroduced to Florida by Spaniards in 1538.
Fossils of horses are often found within rivers and streams of Florida.
This vertebra has sections of the transverse processes intact as well as a smaller piece of the spinous process.
Includes label
Type: Horse Vertebra Species: Equus sp. Age: Pleistocene Locality: Santa Fe River, Florida
