List of the prehistoric life of Virginia

This list of the prehistoric life of Virginia contains the various prehistoric life-forms whose fossilized remains have been reported from within the US state of Virginia.

The Paleobiology Database records no known occurrences of Precambrian fossils in Virginia.

Fossils of the Carboniferous-Permian bryozoan Archimedes
Life restoration of the Late Devonian placoderm fish Bothriolepis
Assemblage of fossilized shells of the Ordovician brachiopod Cincinnetina
Restoration of the Cambrian-Middle Devonian nautiloid cephalopod Cyrtoceras
Illustration with inset cross-section diagrams of the Cambrian sponge Ethmophyllum
Fossil of the Middle-Late Ordovician giant trilobite Isotelus .
Restoration of the Carboniferous-Late Triassic club moss relative Lepidodendron . Eli Heimans (1911).
Fossilized theca of the Carboniferous blastoid echinoderm ("sea bud") Pentremites
Fossil of the Early Ordovician-Permian benthic alga Receptaculites
Assemblage of fossilized shells of the Early Ordovician-Late Devonian probable mollusc Tentaculites
Fossil (right) of the Early Jurassic dinosaur footprint ichnogenus Anomoepus
Fossil of the sauropod dinosaur footprint ichnogenus Brontopodus
Life restoration of the Late Triassic reptile Doswellia
Fossils of the large theropod dinosaur footprint ichnogenus Eubrontes
Negative footprint of G. cuneatus showing skin impressions
Electron micrograph of fossilized teeth from the Early Jurassic-Early Cretaceous freshwater shark Lissodus
Fossil of the Permian-Late Cretaceous fern Osmundites
Life restoration of the Late Triassic phytosaur Rutiodon
Fossilized leaf of the Late Cretaceous ginkgo relative Sphenobaiera
Ripe fruit capsule and seeds of a living Sterculia , or tropical chestnut
Fossil of the Early Triassic-Eocene cycad-like frond Zamites
Living adult (center) and chick (lower right) Accipiter striatus , or sharp-shinned hawks
Fossilized skull of the Miocene baleen whale Aglaocetus
Fossilized skeleton of the Eocene pig-nosed turtle Allaeochelys
Shell of an Anadara transversa , or transverse ark clam
A living Anoxypristis cuspidata , or knifetooth sawfish
Restoration of an Arctodus , or short-faced bear, with a human to scale
Fossilized vertebrae of the Pliocene baleen whale Balaenotus
Fossilized skeleton of the Pleistocene-Holocene bovid Bootherium bombifrons , or Harlan's musk ox.
A living Bubo virginianus , or great horned owl
A living Buteo jamaicensis , or red-tailed hawk
Skeletons look identical
Modern mounted skeleton of Canis lupus , the grey wolf, to scale with a fossilized skeleton of the Pleistocene wolf Canis dirus , or dire wolf
Mounted fossilized skeleton of the Pliocene-Pleistocene giant beaver Castoroides
Life restoration of the Miocene-Pliocene whale Cetotherium
Shells of the Pliocene scallop Chesapecten jeffersonius
A living Cliona sponge
Shell of a Corbula basket clam
Fossil of the Early Cretaceous-Eocene shark Cretolamna
A living Cryptobranchus alleganiensis , or hellbender salamander
Fossilized skeleton of the Eocene bony fish Cyclopoma
Fossilized cranium seen from above and below of the Pleistocene Dasypus bellus , or beautiful armadillo
Mounted fossilized skeleton of the Paleocene-Miocene crocodilian Diplocynodon
Shells of Donax variabilis , or coquina
Life restoration of two of the Miocene baleen whale Eobalaenoptera pursued by the giant shark Carcharocles megalodon
A living Erethizon dorsatum , or North American porcupine
Life restoration of the Miocene whale Eurhinodelphis (above)
A living Galeocerdo cuvier , or tiger shark
Fossilized skull of the Miocene crocodile relative Gavialosuchus
A living Glaucomys sabrinus , or northern flying squirrel
A living Halichoerus grypus , or grey seal
Fossilized skull of the Eocene tapir-like mammal Homogalax
A living Icterus spurius , or orchard oriole
Life restoration of the Oligocene-Miocene dolphin Kentriodon
A living Larus hyperboreus , or glaucous gull
A living Lepus americanus , or snowshoe hare
Mounted skeleton of a Lophius americanus , or American anglerfish
A living Lynx rufus , or bobcat
Life restorations of a Mammut americanum , or American mastodon (right), and a Mammuthus primigenius , or wooly mammoth (left)
Mounted fossilized skeleton of the Miocene-Pleistocene ground sloth Megalonyx
Living Membranipora bryozoan
Mounted fossilized skeleton of the Miocene-Pleistocene manatee relative Metaxytherium
A living Morus bassanus , or northern gannet
Fossilized skeleton of the Pliocene-Holocene peccary Mylohyus
Close-up of a Neotoma floridana , or eastern woodrat
Illustration of a living Notorynchus cow shark
Illustration of a fossilized partial skull of the Paleocene-Eocene pseudo-toothed bird Odontopteryx
At the top of the picture is a line representing twenty meters. Below this is a gray megalodon silhouette that measures twenty meters, below is a red megalodon silhouette that measures fifteen meters, below is a violet whale shark silhouette that measures ten meters, below is a green great white shark that measures five meters. Standing next to this shark is a black human silhouette that stands two meters.
Diagram illustrating the largest (grey) and most conservative (red) size estimates of the Miocene-Pliocene shark Carcharocles megalodon (sometimes Carcharodon or Otodus megalodon ) with a whale shark (violet), great white shark (green), and anachronistic human (black) to scale
A living Panthera leo , or lion
Life restoration of the Oligocene-Pleistocene false-toothed bird Pelagornis
A living Phalacrocorax auritus , or double-crested cormorant
A living Pica pica Eurasian magpie
Restoration of a herd of alarmed Miocene-Pleistocene peccaries of the genus Platygonus . Charles R. Knight (1922).
A living Podilymbus podiceps , or pied-billed grebe
Fossilized skeleton of the Late Cretaceous-Eocene bony fish Pycnodus
A living Rangifer tarandus , or reindeer
Fossilized skull of the Miocene toothed whale Schizodelphis
A living Scolopax minor , or American woodcock
Fossilized teeth of the Cretaceous-Eocene shark Serratolamna
A living Sorex palustris , or American water shrew
Life restoration of the Oligocene-Miocene shark-toothed dolphin Squalodon
Shell of a Strobilops land snail
A living Tapirus , or tapir
Fossilized skeleton of the Oligocene-Miocene gavial relative Thecachampsa
A living Triodopsis tridentata land snail, or northern threetooth
A living Turdus migratorius , or American robin
Fossilized skeleton of the Miocene whale Xiphiacetus