Fossil birds

Birds are rare in the fossil record, because their skeletons are fragile. The Sarasota quarries contain a large number of fossil bird skeletons. One layer contains hundreds of skeletons of an extinct species of cormorant (pictured above). These birds may have been killed by a "red tide" (widespread growth of toxic radiolarian algae) and deposited in a lagoon by waves.

Paleontologist Steven Emslie excavating the cormorant bed at Sarasota.