The Gray Fossil Site near Gray, Tennessee, preserves an exceptionally rich Early Pliocene sinkhole-pond deposit from about 4.5 to 4.9 million years ago, offering the only Appalachian fossil record from this interval. Discovered during road work in 2000 and preserved through local action, it became part of East Tennessee State University as a research center and museum. Its fossils reveal a warm, humid forest with ponds, oak, hickory, and pine, inhabited by animals such as alligators, tapirs, mastodons, rhinos, and red pandas. Several species were first identified here, and the site provides important evidence of ancient Appalachian ecosystems and their ties to Europe and Asia.