Gray Fossil Site

The Gray Fossil Site is an Early Pliocene collection of fossils between 4.5 and 4.9 million years old. It is near the town of Gray in Washington County, Tennessee. The site was discovered during road construction in May 2000. Local officials decided to preserve the site for research and education. The site is part of East Tennessee State University, and the Gray Fossil Site &amp; Museum opened on the site in 2007.
Years ago the land around the Gray Fossil Site was a pond inside a sinkhole surrounded by a warm, wet forest. The fossils found in the area show what lived and died in and around the sinkhole pond.
As the first site of its age known from the Appalachian region, the Gray Fossil Site is a unique window into the past. Research at the site has brought many surprising discoveries. These included new species of red panda, rhinoceros, pond turtle, hickory tree, and more. The site also hosts the biggest known collection of fossil tapirs.
History.
In late May of 2000, this fossil-rich area was discovered during a Tennessee Department of Transportation road construction project on the outside of Gray, TN. As it became clear that the fossils were not normal for this part of the country, members of the local community began an effort to preserve the site.
Many of the fossil fauna and flora of the Gray Fossil Site are closely related to modern-day species in Europe and Asia, including red pandas, European badgers, Chinese moonseed, and "Corylopsis". This indicates that during the Early Pliocene, eastern North America maintained a biogeographic link with Eurasia. 
Fossils.
The Gray Fossil Site preserves a collection of preserved fossils. It is the only fossil site in the Appalachian region dating near the boundary between the Miocene and Pliocene Epochs. This offers a unique window into this region at this time. 
Fish.
All of the fish fossils found at the Gray Fossil Site belong to the family Centrarchidae.
Birds.
A preliminary study in 2011 identified several families of birds at the Gray Fossil Site, the most common of which were ducks.
Mammals.
Perissodactyls (odd-toed hoofed mammals)
Artiodactyls (even-toed hoofed mammals)
Carnivora
Proboscidea (elephants)
Rodents
Lagomorphs
Bats
Eulipotyphla
Xenarthra
Invertebrates.
Aquatic invertebrates of the Gray Fossil Site include ostracods, snails, and small clams. Insects are also known from fossilized exoskeletal remains and trace fossils, including at least four different families of beetles.
Plants.
Plant fossils at the Gray Fossil Site include pollen, leaves, wood, fruits, seeds, and other structures which represent a diverse flora of angiosperms, conifers, ferns, lycophytes, and bryophytes. The forest flora was dominated by a variety of trees and shrubs, of which the most common were hickory, oak, and pine.
Several previously unknown extinct plant species have been identified at the Gray Fossil Site:
Algae.
Algal microfossils have been identified as numerous freshwater species, including one previously unknown extinct species, "Stigmozygodites grayensis," named from the Gray Fossil Site in 2013.
Fungi.
Several types of fungi have been found from microfossil remains of fungal tissue and fruiting bodies.