ExtinctZoo - When Florida Was On The Wrong Continent

Episode Date: June 1, 2025

Turns out that Florida man wasn't always Florida man

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Co-Pilot handles the spreadsheets. Learn more at M365Copilot.com slash work. The state of Florida is about as American as you can get. It's got Disneyland, Universal, this guy, and of course, the Florida man, the enigmatic spirit that seems to overtake people in this region, forcing them to go a little crazy. Into numerous surveys, this place usually comes out on top as being considered the most all-American region in the South, while also typically placing the top three most American states overall, whatever that means. Yet despite all of its bravado, classic American wildlife, and patriotic, the state is actually harboring a big secret, one that has gone under the radar for, well,

millions of years. And that's that, Florida is not really American, at least not originally. And this is a revelation that the state is buried deep inside it. And I don't mean that in a figurative way, but rather a literal one. As if you walk along one of its shark-infested beaches, you can be assured you're walking a North American-grown sand, or I guess, sand-ed-sand. But when it comes to what the sand is on top of and what's really beneath your feet, you're feet, that is not American. And what I'm talking about is something known as the Florida block.

This geographical block is the lowest part of the state's physical body, starting 1.2 kilometers or 3 fourths of a mile below the surface, and it extends all the way down to the bottom of Earth's crust, while the rest of Florida lies on top of it. And for the longest time, scientists reckon that naturally Florida was like any other good old southern state, being a stable extension of Laurentia, an ancient North American piece of crust that's been around for half a billion years. However, back in the 70s, data from seismic tests started coming back with some pretty unusual data, which suggested that the bottom of the state's bedrock wasn't actually North American, nor even South American, rather having come from all the way across the pond in Africa.

Now, naturally, this was quite a surprise, seeing that Africa today is well thousands of miles or kilometers away from America, leading some skeptics to retest the data, taking more concentrated images and checking the bedrock's geology and fossils. And the verdict? Well, that they were identical to those seen in a very specific part of Africa, concluding that the state, and therefore its prehistoric residence, hadn't always been North American, instead having joined the continent long after its creation,

and thus begging the question of how did Florida make its way halfway across the world? And to answer this, we've got to rewind the clock by about 500 million years, bringing us to the very strange time known as the Cambrian. It marked a point in history when much of the world was unrecognizable, and vast oceans covered nearly all of the planet. In the center laid the large island of Laurentia, which, as you know, would eventually turn it to North America, while to the east, the supercontinent Gondwana rested.

It was already millions of years old at this point, but still growing in certain areas, including the region that is today known as Northwest Africa, and it was here, along the shores, that through a volcanic activity and marine sediment deposit, that Florida was born, stuck to the West African Creighton instead of the U.S., with Tess finding the strongest affinity between it and Senegal. And even beyond geography, Florida was still nothing like it is today. No Miami beaches, no Everglades, no Florida man, NADA. And it was actually very anti-human in general, with a climate being somehow hotter than today and the air less breathable, thanks to lower oxygen levels.

Not to mention the constant spewing of lava from the exploding volcanoes, and the fact that the land was highly susceptible to mudslides, left the area unsurprisingly quite barren. And suffice to say, life in the old Florida was minimal at best. However, you wouldn't have to worry about any of this, as Florida was actually completely submerged, and therefore no land animals. But things were still vibrant underwater, you could say, with a myriad of strange mollusks, arthropods, jellyfish, and trilobites calling the region home. and they would do so for millions of years, seeing that Florida was securely fastened to Africa and going nowhere, at least for quite some time. And it remained surprisingly unchanged over the next couple geological periods, Dordivisian and Silurian, with the only big change being that during the former,

Florida, like the rest of the world, endured a super ice age that screwed over nearly all life. So there is that. And while animals had taken a major beating during this event, life as a whole still developed, with placoderms, Eccanthodians, and cartilaginous fish, all having emerged during this time. While in general, the world also received its oldest known land animals, potentially. Campa Carus and Numodesmas, both of which were small millipedes, who as you know, despite being the first animals on land, are still represented even today, including, of course, in Florida. However, these little guys definitely were not chilling in Florida, seeing that it remained snugly underwater. And though Florida might start seeming a bit boring compared to the other parts of the world,

interesting things were in fact happening, just not so much in the animal department, but rather the tectonic one, for it was during the Silurian that it truly began its journey towards becoming a part of North America. Now, any map of the world at the time would seem to suggest that all land on Earth was trying its best to quarantine from one another. And yet unbeknownst the most, it was then that the tectonic place started moving in directions that slowly but surely started pulling everything together. This became much more evident by the Devonian period, with most map models indicating

a more cramped world, with even imminent collision on the horizon, just not right at the moment. After all, two ancient oceans existed, which were standing in the way of unity, these being the Paleotethys, and more importantly, the Raic Ocean. But there was no denying that it was shrinking and that things were ramping up fast. As besides colliding tectonic plates, life was getting a bit crazier too, including in Florida's shallow tropical sea, where placoderms of all sizes, shapes, shapes, and the same. and more importantly, diets, were likely reigning supreme. And based off of fossils found in Morocco, which was a part of the West African Cratern as well,

specific animals may have included members of the Dunkley Osteoidea while various sea scorpions were present too. Additionally, the area, given its depth, was likely home to expansive and alien-like reefs, which did harbor some animals that were safer for human-sized creatures, such as conodonts, bivalves, tube-like worms, and other fish. And though there was no dry land, if you were on a bare, boat and made your way towards a shoreline, then it would be possible that in the distance you could make out along that shore, Earth's very first trees and forests. Albeit like the animals, you might mistake the shore for that of an alien planet, seeing

that Devonian plants were a bit odd. And as the Devonian continued, you might have ended up spotting some more animals on land if you had really powerful binoculars, as the greening of the surface led to new environments and then increase in scorpions, spiders, and wingless insects. while the tetrapodomorpha were also undergoing diversification. If you are a perceptive individual, you'd probably notice another change, which being that if you stayed in the exact same spot for an extended period of time, emphasis on extended, you would notice that the beaches were a bit closer than before,

because Florida was moving quick, along with the rest of Gondwana, and every day drifted closer and closer to North America, until it happened. Collision. There is a lot of discourse about when exactly the two met, But recently, many believe it to have occurred during the Carboniferous, when Gondwana and La Raysia, the latter being the continent to which North America belonged to, smashed in to one another and thus fusing together, and finally bringing Florida into contact with its future home. And it wasn't just Florida that was being smushed into new places.

Instead, the entire planet. Because this collision I'm referring to actually caused the formation of the most famous supercontinent of all time, Pangea. It was in this collision that Florida possibly saw land for the first. first time too, seeing that it ended up being situated in the interior of Pangae. However, due to its low-lying nature and the higher water levels of the time, some believe it remained a shallow, warm sea. But whatever the case, you wouldn't want to be an animal in the area, as Florida was way too close to all the tectonic action for comfort.

Specifically, it was near an area of intense mountain building that eventually gave way to the central Pangaean Mountains, a vast mountain range that stretched across the entire midsection of the continent. and can still be visited today through its remnants, which include the Scottish Highlands, the Appalachian Mountains, and the Atlas Mountains. So, yeah, pretty big. And therefore, earthquakes and volcanic activity were likely common occurrences in whatever was Florida. And even if you arrived on a chill day,

there's a good chance that any life you would encounter would ruin your day regardless. As mentioned, we don't know for certain if the area is below or above sea level, but in both cases the Carboniferous still gave present Florida's wildlife a run for its money. As if underwater, you could expect a plethora of shark-like fishes, some of which could be both massive and freaky, numerous strange bottom dwellers, and then of course our old friends, the sea scorpions, who are still kicking at this point, quite the hearty bunch. And then on the flip side, if any part of Florida was land, don't expect things to be much better. As though Florida today is known as the swamp state, it could have been the king of the swamps back then, seeing that coal forests were the dominant ecosystems during the Carboniferous, which were essentially never-ending freshwater swamps, where strange trees, trees lied and giant creepy crawlies proud of the land, or well crawled. And actually, sometimes flew too. And it wasn't just your worst phobia that lived in these swamps. Since surprisingly, large tetrapods started to really diversify and emerge simultaneously,

and thus making it quite tempting to flee to any visible fresh water in the area. But unsurprisingly, in super swamps, you end up with some pretty gnarly animals in the water too. In this case, giant predatorial fish and amphibians, to name a couple. It turns out that the problem of not knowing the nature of Florida's wildlife, no pun intended, during the Carboniferous, is an obstacle not just unique to that time, as it applies to the next period too, the Permian, with there seemingly being no universal agreement on whether Florida was filled with mainly terrestrial or marine life. Some models show that as Pengia grew, Florida was pushed farther inland, suggesting

that at least parts of it were above water temporarily, while others maintained that inland seas persisted, albeit if that was the case, they were likely extremely shallow. The Florida block, while still a part of Africa, was also much more smushed in to North America than previously, as the plates continued to push into each other, which was reflected by the central Panchean mountains having reached their peak height during the Permian. It would also be around this time that you would really hope that Florida was still below water, as Permian terrestrial life tended to be a bit scarier than the marine life. At least that's what the fossils seem to indicate.

And based off of that region of Pangaea, you could expect the rulers to now be large animals, And in some cases, carnivorous synapsids, that were often more than big enough to take on any human-sized animal, and were adapted for an exceptionally brutal world. I mean, just the climate alone wanted to kill you, with temperatures being insanely high throughout most of the Permian. And in Florida, it would have really sucked, given its close proximity to the equator, with temperature spikes possibly sending daytime temperatures over 70 degrees Celsius or 158 degrees Fahrenheit.

So nearly doubled the average highs seen these days, making it basically, if not literally, unbearable. And things would only get worse towards the end of the Permian, because it was around that time that the volcanic Siberian traps to the north started erupting with unimaginable fury. Now, they were far from Florida, but over time, the effects of continuous eruptions reach the state nevertheless. And Florida turned into a complete nightmare, even worse than today. Just kidding. And this was again not helped by its equatorial location, with temperatures rising yet again. And then on top of that, if you were somehow planning a time-traveling vacation, you better bring copious amounts of sun lotion as well, as the UV levels were soaring. And just as a cherry on top,

noxious air swept across the region too, because why not? And as a result of the Siberian traps, Florida, just like much of the earth, became rather lifeless following this extinction event. And things would not return to normal for a very long time. As while the Triassic was now upon us, the world was still recovering, with Florida remaining an extremely hot, inhospitable area, that was still tightly smushed into the center of pangia. And thanks to sea levels typically being lowered in the Triassic, it's even more likely that certain parts of Florida saw land, with water levels actually being lower than present at given times. Now, once again, this isn't confirmed since we have no fossils. But assuming that Florida did sea land, you could perhaps expect terrestrial

life similar to what was seen in Morocco, which included animals such as phytosaurs, zendosaurids, Rauwisukians, aotasors, amphibians, and dicinidons. So in other words, while Florida is a tourist haven today, back then, not so much. Unless you're weird like me and wouldn't mind braving an extinct animal or two, if that means getting to see it in person. Additionally, dinosaur forms possibly called the area home too. Yet admiring their existence might have been challenging, as while Florida was hanging on for dear life to Africa,

Mother Nature wasn't making it easy. You see, during the beginning of the Triassic, pengia as a whole remained intact, but internally it was a different story, being an absolute bloodbath, with large parts of it becoming fractured due to widespread faulting and rift basins, wreaking absolute havoc and also being the first sign that the end was coming. These warnings eventually came to fruition in the final days of the late Triassic,

some 200 million years ago, give or take, when Pangaea finally threw down the towel and began to split for real, with Florida being at the front line. However, while it had entered the fray alongside Africa, it was not leaving with it. And as the plates rifted apart, the basement rocks have been basically sutured to America, separating it from its African source, and causing it to trail the edge of the North American plate, finally switching allegiances, so you could say. And during this separation,

its form also changed, with it becoming more like its appearance today. However, some old habits die harder than others, because during this breakup, the crustal rock started to cool down more than previously, and newsflash, cold stuff sink. And thus, the continental margins began to sink beneath the waves, taking the Floridian bedrock down with it, at least the vast majority of it. And thus, Florida's land wouldn't see the light of day for a very long time. And how long, you ask? Well, let's put it this way. For now, no dinosaur fossil has ever been found in Florida, with many suggesting this to be

reflection of its time spent underwater. Although, some researchers do maintain that periodically, during the Mesozoic, namely the Jurassic, small portions of it would have peaked above the waves, perhaps forming tropical islands, that could technically have been inhabited by a small portion of dinosaurs and pterosaurs. And though no marine fossils from the Jurassic are known of either, the leading thought is that pleasosaurs, ecteosaurs, sharks, giant snails, cephalopods, and crustaceans, all lived in its shallow waters. So land or not, there was still a lot going on.

And we know this, as Florida entered an important part of its calcium carbonate building phase, something that occurs when marine organisms die en masse over a very long period of time. and thus leading to their skeletons forming literal layers as they accumulated and became compacted. Pretty metal. And this never-ending fall of dead marine animals would continue well past the Jurassic into the Cretaceous, even picking up speed as life in the area underwent immense diversification. The Cretaceous also happens to be the first time where people can unanimously agree on Florida's flood status, as sea levels greatly rose, leading to the entire state being flooded.

And this is really putting it lightly, as in reality, a whole whole world. whole new sea formed where it lay, the Western Interior Seaway, which ended up splitting the entire continent in two. Now Florida was located directly at the mouth of the seaway, and though no fossils from the Cretaceous have been dug up, the consensus is that it possessed a typical Western interior seaway environment, which is a terrible news, as this seaway was the last place you'd ever want to be, period, with its waters giving birth to an endless supply of giant mosasaurus, sharks, predatory fish, titanic cephalopods, and pleasosaurs.

during any trip to prehistoric Florida, a disaster waiting to happen. Earth back then was also locked into a greenhouse state. And so the high sea levels seen in the interior seaway is something which would persist for millions of years, only starting to shrink towards the late Cretaceous, after the continents started to elevate through tectonic activity. But even then, Florida stayed submerged, not even seeing land following the end of the dinosaurs. And thus, while the rest of the world got to enjoy lots of new terrestrial mammals going into the Cenozoic, Florida did not.

To what it did get was new marine life, and its very first fossils, as it was in the paleogene that Florida's oldest known fossils were first deposited. To be exact, the Eocene epoch holds the state's oldest confirmed wildlife, which showed that the post-Mesazoic waters gave rise to hellish creatures, notably the long serpent-like whale, basilisaurus, Earth's first super predator following the dinosaurs, and the megatooth shark, Odidus, which is the exact same genus that gave us animals such as the megalodon. However, the one in Florida, was no megalodon, and other, odotis and gustodens, which could still be extremely large, possibly up to 12 meters or 39 feet long.

And though not nearly as scary, Sirenians and fish were also plentiful in the Eocene. In this environment seems to have been maintained for an extended period of time, until the greenhouse conditions eventually reversed, giving way to a foal on ice age, which happened during the early Elysine and had monumental impacts on Florida. Because, as the ice age progressed, large sheets of ice formed in various parts of the world, thus lowering sea levels. And between 34 and 23 million years ago, certain areas of Florida were finally brought up beneath the waves once more.

Now, of course, in typical Florida fashion, some of the state did actually remain below sea level, yet large islands and pieces of land definitely formed, as evidenced by the state's oldest confirmed land-dwelling animals, which included a variety of saber-toothed cats, oreodonts, primitive horses, camels, and bear dogs. Meanwhile, along its coasts, the primitive whales had disappeared. But new sharks had popped up to replace them, as well as new Sirenians.

And though marine animals were diversifying, they were also finding themselves losing ground in Florida, as ice pushed sea levels down more and more, eventually resulting in Florida, finally merging with the rest of North America during the Miocene. The amount of land at this point still was not equal to what it is now, but it was fairly close. And this new connection led to an explosion of life, with the Miocene period of the neogene, representing just about the most chaotic point in Florida's natural history. As from one formation alone, we know that you could find rodents, giant canids, more bear dogs, mustelids, ground sloths, gomphithears, artiodactyls, bats, parasodactyls, turtles, and crocodilians,

with some of Florida's classic animals today actually living amongst them. And then along the beaches, it was pretty much the same old Florida. In other words, a bunch of sharks. Only these ones were on roids, as this time around the Megalodon had shown up. And you do not want to know how big that got. So clearly, Florida received an upgrade in the life department at this point. However, it wasn't a straight line up, but rather a roller coaster, which is quite fitting. As even during the Miocene, geological tests show that the state was periodically flooded as water levels fluctuated.

But thankfully, for its land residents, these floods would largely come to an end as the state entered its final epoch before the present, the Pleistocene. This time saw the ice age go from cold to bitterly cold, and water levels dropped even lower than before, and even lower than today. actually, and thus leading to Peak Florida, an era where the state's land was two times greater than presently. And along with more space, the climate was much different too, being colder and drier, leading to the formation of cool savannas and thinning woodlands, where mastodons, mammoths, saber-toothed cats, bison, wolves, giant beavers, and bears roamed. It was also around then that Florida received its first Floridians, from a human standpoint that is. As approximately 14,000 years ago, humans reached the state for the first time. And though many of the Ice Age animals

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