Park Paleontology News serves to communicate information related to National Park fossil interpretation, protection, resource management, new discoveries, and issues related to the world of paleontology and paleontological resources management.
Sites:Big Bend National Park, Death Valley National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Glacier National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Grand Canyon National Park, Great Basin National Park, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monumentmore »
All across the park system, scientists, rangers, and interpreters are engaged in the important work of studying, protecting, and sharing our rich fossil heritage. Park Paleontology news provides a close up look at the important work of caring for these irreplaceable resources.
Contribute to Park Paleontology News by contacting the newsletter editor
Sites:Big Bend National Park, Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area, Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Fort Pulaski National Monument, Independence National Historical Park, Little River Canyon National Preserve, Obed Wild & Scenic River, Russell Cave National Monument, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Areamore »
All across the park system, scientists, rangers, and interpreters are engaged in the important work of studying, protecting, and sharing our rich fossil heritage. Park Paleontology news provides a close up look at the important work of caring for these irreplaceable resources.
Contribute to Park Paleontology News by contacting the newsletter editor
Sites:Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve, Badlands National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Colorado National Monument, Denali National Park & Preserve, Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve, Katmai National Park & Preserve, Lake Clark National Park & Preserve, Mojave National Preserve, Petrified Forest National Park, Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve, Zion National Parkmore »
All across the park system, scientists, rangers, and interpreters are engaged in the important work of studying, protecting, and sharing our rich fossil heritage. Park Paleontology news provides a close up look at the important work of caring for these irreplaceable resources.
Contribute to Park Paleontology News by contacting the newsletter editor
Sites:Bryce Canyon National Park, Curecanti National Recreation Area, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Petrified Forest National Park, Waco Mammoth National Monument, Wind Cave National Park
All across the park system, scientists, rangers, and interpreters are engaged in the important work of studying, protecting, and sharing our rich fossil heritage. Park Paleontology news provides a close up look at the important work of caring for these irreplaceable resources.
Contribute to Park Paleontology News by contacting the newsletter editor
Sites:Arches National Park, Bandelier National Monument, Big Bend National Park, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Channel Islands National Park, City Of Rocks National Reserve, Colorado National Monument, Craters Of The Moon National Monument & Preserve, Curecanti National Recreation Area, Death Valley National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, El Malpais National Monument, Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, Glacier National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Golden Spike National Historical Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Grand Teton National Park, Great Basin National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Joshua Tree National Park, Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Lava Beds National Monument, Mesa Verde National Park, Mojave National Preserve, Natural Bridges National Monument, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Petrified Forest National Park, Pipe Spring National Monument, Saguaro National Park, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, Timpanogos Cave National Monument, Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Walnut Canyon National Monument, Wupatki National Monument, Yellowstone National Parkmore »
All across the park system, scientists, rangers, and interpreters are engaged in the important work of studying, protecting, and sharing our rich fossil heritage. Park Paleontology news provides a close up look at the important work of caring for these irreplaceable resources.
Contribute to Park Paleontology News by contacting the newsletter editor
The Park Paleontology newsletter was suspended from 2004 to 2017. To request back issues of the newsletter, please contact us.
Fall 2004, Vol. 8, No. 2 [601 KB PDF]
Spring 2004, Vol. 8, No. 1 [293 KB PDF]
Winter 2003, Vol. 7, No. 3 [299 KB PDF]
Fall 2003, Vol. 7, No. 2 [379 KB PDF]
Summer 2003, Vol. 7, No. 1 [333 KB PDF]
Fall-Winter 2002, Vol. 6, No. 3 [425 KB PDF]
Summer 2002, Vol. 6, No. 2 [412 KB PDF]
Winter 2001-2002, Vol. 6, No. 1 [1.4 MB PDF]
Fall 1999, Vol. 5, No. 4 [484 KB PDF]
Spring 1999, Vol. 5, No. 2 [555 KB PDF]
Winter 1999, Vol. 5, No. 1 [527 KB PDF]
Fall 1998, Vol. 4, No. 4 [650 KB PDF]
Spring 1998, Vol. 4, No. 2 [242 KB PDF]
Winter 1998, Vol. 4, No. 1 [181 KB PDF]
Article Index and Search
This table lists individual articles published in all Park Paleontology Newsletters since 2017. The table can be sorted by column or searched using the search box.
Park Paleontology Newsletter article index with article title, park name, author, date, and abstract
Kelly E. Cronin, Christy C. Visaggi, Kathlyn M. Smith, Laura Seifert
Spring 2024
A partnership between Georgia State University and the NPS Paleontology Program resulted in the first field based paleontological resource inventory at Fort Pulaski National Monument. The inventory resulted in the documentation of previously unknown fossils and localities within the monument, including some remains of Pleistocene vertebrates.
The 2018 Woolsey Fire burned substantial portions of Santa Monica National Recreation Area. A post-fire assessment for paleontological resources demonstrated that some fossils were damaged by the fire. This article summarizes some of the findings observed during the post-fire assessment at the recreation area.
New geologic mapping was completed in 2023 at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Two Scientist In Parks (SIP) geology interns were recruited to support this mapping at one of the “crown jewel fossil parks” in the National Park Service.
Through a partnership between the NPS Harpers Ferry Center, the NPS Paleontology Program, and the National Center for Preservation Education, an ambitious data preservation and archiving project is underway. The analog NPS Paleontology Archives are being digitized, professionally archived, and permanently preserved.
Dinosaur Trackway National Natural Landmark is part of Dinosaur State Park and Arboretum in central Connecticut. It preserves more than 2,000 tracks of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals in 200-million-year-old strata deposited in the basin of a shallow lake. The tracks were discovered in 1966 and quickly protected. Today visitors can see some of them in situ in the exhibit center.
Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Cumberland Island National Seashore, Little River Canyon National Preserve, Russell Cave National Monument, and Obed Wild and Scenic River
Shiloh Bauer and Christy Visaggi
Spring 2024
A partnership between the National Park Service Paleontology Program and Georgia State University has enabled more focused paleontological resource support in parks in the southeastern region of the U.S. During the past several years students mentored by Dr. Christy Visaggi have helped to complete paleontological resource inventories in several parks in the southeast region uncovering the fossil records of these parks.
Big Bend National Park has a rich history of paleontological field work and fossil collecting. Some of the early fossil collecting at the park was undertaken by the renowned vertebrate paleontologist Barnum Brown from the American Museum of Natural History. A recent discovery at Big Bend National Park provides direct evidence of Brown’s field work.
At Colorado National Monument in west-central Colorado, Facilities staff frequently need to deal with rocks that fall from roadcuts onto or next to the roads. These rocks sometimes contain significant fossils such as reptile tracks. Protecting and preserving these fossils has relied on the skills, abilities, and quick thinking of Facilities staff.
Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve, Denali National Park & Preserve, Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve, Katmai National Park & Preserve, Lake Clark National Park & Preserve, and Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve
Theodore Matel
Fall 2023
The National Park Service units of Alaska have an outstanding fossil record, including fossil plants. Six Alaskan NPS units preserve notable plant fossils of Tertiary age (Paleocene through Pliocene Epochs, 66 to 2.58 million years ago). These fossils were first documented in 1869 and show a major change going from the Eocene to the Oligocene about 34 million years ago.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, work on a proposed jetport within what would become Big Cypress National Preserve serendipitously brought the Jet Age in contact with the Ice Age. A small collection of Pleistocene fossils including bones of mammoths, camels, and horses was uncovered in a buried river channel. These fossils, largely overlooked since then, have now been documented in the collections of the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Ashfall Fossil Beds National Natural Landmark in northeastern Nebraska is the site of a bonebed dating to just after 12 million years ago, when an enormous volcanic eruption blanketed the area with ash and led to the death and preservation of hundreds of animals in a waterhole. Exceptionally well-preserved and articulated skeletons of rhinos, horses, camels, birds, and others have been found here since study began in the 1970s.
The Triassic Period was a time of great evolutionary experimentation. Two of the locations with the most significant Triassic fossil records, Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona of the U.S. and Ischigualasto Provincial Park in San Juan Province, Argentina, are nationally protected. Representatives of the two parks and their countries have come together to establish a sister park arrangement to further collaboration.
The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) is a non-profit advocacy organization that works to protect the National Park System. In 2023 Christa Cherava, NPCA Senior Manager of Conservation Programs, has been looking at the question of why paleontological resources should be protected, from a variety of perspectives outside and inside of paleontology.
Sofia Andeskie, Emily Johnson, Justin Tweet, Vincent L. Santucci, and Debra Hughson
Fall 2023
Mojave National Preserve in the Mojave Desert of southeastern California holds a lengthy paleontological record spanning more than 550 million years. A paleontological resource inventory has recently been published for the preserve, documenting this history. Some highlights from the Cambrian, middle Paleozoic, and Miocene are presented here.
Zion National Park is converting its bus fleet to electric vehicles, and each new bus will have a distinct visual theme. One of the themes is the life of the Navajo Sandstone, a rock formation that makes up many iconic landforms at the park. The artwork, created by paleoartist Brian Engh, includes dinosaurs and other animals that left tracks and burrows in the sand, as well as plants.
The first paleontological resource inventory for Wind Cave National Park was undertaken during 2022. Paleontology intern Theo Herring documented paleontological localities at the surface and within the cave. The final paleontological resource inventory report for Wind Cave National Park will be available in April 2023.
Paleontologist Ryan King, professor at the Western Colorado University in Gunnison, CO, has been documenting Mesozoic vertebrate fossil localities in Curecanti National Recreation Area. Among the paleontological resources Ryan has documented at the recreation area are fossil dinosaur footprints and skin impressions.
Leonardo Maduro-Salvarrey was recruited as an interpretation and education intern at Waco Mammoth National Monument during 2022. Leo helped to coordinate educational outreach to Spanish speaking visitors to the monument interested in learning about the fossils.
Paleontologists at Petrified Forest National Park continue to expand the understanding the biodiversity of the Late Triassic Chinle Formation through new fossil discoveries. A recent publication reports on the occurrence of the world’s oldest fossil amphibian known as caecilians.
The adventures of paleobotanist Herb Meyer, recently retired from Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, are presented in this tribute to the monument’s paleontologist. Dr. Meyer undertook cutting edge research and mentored dozens of young paleontologists leaving an important legacy at the monument.
Paleontologist Tut Tran began working at Bryce Canyon National Park to help document the park’s Late Cretaceous paleontological resources. A number of important fossil discoveries were made at the park during Tut’s tenure leading to some partnerships with other paleontologists in Utah.
Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument preserves rocks and fossils from much of the first half of the Paleozoic Era, approximately 540 to 400 million years ago, when what is now the east coast of North America was growing with additions of small continental fragments. Fossils have been occasionally reported from the monument by scientists in the past, but this is the first time that a thorough inventory has been made of the monument’s fossils.
Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and Yellowstone National Park
John-Paul Hodnett
Fall 2022
A recent survey of the National Park Service shows records of shark fossils from at least 46 units across the United States. Recent field work in Permian rocks at Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and Yellowstone National Park shows a much greater diversity of sharks than previously known, and also illustrates connections.
Nicholas A. Famoso, Beth R. Carroll, Ryan M. Griffin, and Rachel H. Falzon
Fall 2022
A successful partnership between the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management has helped enhance fossil stewardship in the John Day Basin, Oregon. This partnership spans 35 years and serves as a model of interagency cooperation to support paleontology.
The 100th anniversary for the establishment of Fossil Cycad National Monument occurs during October 2022. The National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management and various partners in South Dakota will commemorate the Centennial of Fossil Cycad National Monument at a National Fossil Day event hosted on October 12, 2022 at South Dakota School of Mines in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Arches National Park, Bandelier National Monument, Big Bend National Park, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, City Of Rocks National Reserve, Colorado National Monument, Craters Of The Moon National Monument & Preserve, Curecanti National Recreation Area, Death Valley National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, El Malpais National Monument, Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, Glacier National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Golden Spike National Historical Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Great Basin National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Joshua Tree National Park, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Lava Beds National Monument, Mesa Verde National Park, Mojave National Preserve, Natural Bridges National Monument, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Petrified Forest National Park, Pipe Spring National Monument, Saguaro National Park, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, Timpanogos Cave National Monument, Walnut Canyon National Monument, Wupatki National Monument, and Yellowstone National Park
Justin Tweet
Fall 2022
In the western United States, packrat middens are one of the best tools for reconstructing recent environments and climates. These accumulations of plant fragments, small vertebrate remains, rodent droppings, and other fossils can be preserved for more than 50,000 years. Packrat middens have been found in at least 41 National Park Service units.
Channel Islands National Park, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Joshua Tree National Park, and Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument
Alton Dooley
Fall 2022
The Western Science Center in Hemet, California serves as a repository for fossils from several land management agencies. It is currently running an exhibit, “Fossils from Your Public Lands”, to showcase examples of these fossils with the cooperation of additional parks and repositories.
Gulf Islands National Seashore and Vicksburg National Military Park
Christy C. Visaggi, John M. Clinton, and Megan M. Rich
Spring 2022
Dr. Christy Visaggi and her students Michael Clinton and Megan Rich are conducting pilot projects at Gulf Islands National Seashore and Vicksburg National Military Park for the joint National Park Service–Paleontological Society Paleontology in the Parks Fellowship Program.
Preparator Diana Boudreau reports on changes at the Museum Demonstration Lab at Petrified Forest National Park, a key venue for communicating new discoveries and ongoing research to visitors.
Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and Zion National Park
Donald DeBlieux, James Kirkland, and Vincent L. Santucci
Spring 2022
The Utah Geological Survey has worked in partnership with the National Park Service to document the fossils of Utah’s national parks for 20 years, helping to bring to light and protect a wide variety of fossils.
Paleontologist Ed Welsh details the discovery and description of a new mammal species from Badlands National Park, along with the historical and personal considerations that led to his choice of a name.
Paleontologist Kari Prassack outlines the components of a multi-disciplinary effort to understand the prehistory of Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument.
Paleontologist Lauren Parry provides information about the creation of four “snapshots” of past life at Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument by paleoartist Julius Csotonyi.
In conjunction with a forthcoming boundary expansion of Yucca House National Monument, in southwestern Colorado, a park-specific paleontological resource inventory was coordinated by paleontologist Victoria Crystal.
The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program includes dozens of important fossil sites throughout the United States, a handful are recognized for significant dinosaur fossils.
Paleontologist Rebecca Hunt-Foster shares scientific and historical information about one of the iconic dinosaurs from the Dinosaur National Monument quarry.
Paleontology intern Emily Thorpe interviewed nine National Park Service paleontologists to understand the diverse range of responsibilities and activities these scientists undertake in their fossil-related work.
The fossils of the “Protoceras channels” of the classic White River Badlands series are also among the least known. A joint South Dakota School of Mines and Technology–National Geographic expedition in 1940 collected fossils from these beds in what is now part of the South Unit of Badlands National Park, South Dakota. Field surveying in 2011 established the location of the 1940 base camp.
Deb Wagner manages the fossil preparation lab at Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona. She is responsible for a variety of tasks, from fossil preparation to managing lab supplies to tracking specimens. Among her recent projects was the molding and casting of a phytosaur skull.
Dinosaur tracks have been found in the Cretaceous Cantwell Formation of Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska, since 2005, with new discoveries almost every year. One recently discovered site, “the Coliseum”, shows hundreds of tracks of several kinds of dinosaurs on rocks that are now steeply tilted.
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, White Sands National Park, Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve
Lauren Parry
Spring 2021
Mammoths, mastodons, and other proboscideans are among the most familiar fossil organisms. An inventory complied by Jim Mead and others documents the occurrences of these animals in 63 National Park Service units.
Although the fossils of Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho, are sometimes treated as a single “snapshot” of geologic time, they actually represent more than a million years. U.S. Geological Survey geologist Laura Walkup has been working to uncover ash beds in the deposits to provide better age control.
Alison Mims, Jack Wood, Michael Bozek, and Forest Frost
Spring 2021
Dinosaur fossils at Curecanti National Recreation Area, Colorado, are exposed to climatic and environmental factors that can rapidly destroy or rebury them. Park staff have instituted programs to study how best to protect them. One program tracks what happens to individual specimens. Another studies shoreline changes at the fossil sites.
In late 2020, Geoscientists-in-the-Parks participants Holley Flora and Rose Weeks conducted a paleontological resource inventory in Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Arizona. This monument has notable Paleozoic invertebrate fossils and Quaternary cave fossils. Fieldwork in this large, remote monument is both challenging and rewarding.
The first paleontological inventory of Colonial National Historical Park, Virginia, began in 2020. This historically notable area also hosts exposures of fossil-bearing rocks, and the fossils here have been collected since at least the 17th century. The execution of this project has had to face additional challenges imposed by the emergence of COVID-19.
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Badlands National Park, and Fossil Cycad National Monument
Emily Graslie
Fall 2020
The PBS series Prehistoric Road Trip features visits to several National Park Service units of the Great Plains. Among them are: Badlands National Park, featuring the story of a fossil skull discovered by a young visitor; Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, home of fossils including ancient beaver burrows known as "Daemonelix", the “Devil’s Corkscrew”; and the former Fossil Cycad National Monument, abolished after the surface was stripped of the namesake plant fossils.
2019–2020 investigations at Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, have revealed an unprecedented assemblage of Paleozoic (Late Mississippian) shark fossils preserved in the passages of the cave system. Not only teeth and spines are present, but there are examples of rare cartilaginous skeletal remains, and the fossils include previously unknown species.
Derek Carter is the new Superintendent of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, a rich Pleistocene fossil site northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. Management of this site, which is both recently established and adjacent to a growing metro area, has numerous challenges and opportunities. Superintendent Carter looks to address visitor experience, scientific research, and resource management.
Channel Islands National Park has one of the best fossil records in the National Park Service. The marine rocks of the islands have yielded significant microfossils, shellfish and other invertebrates, and marine vertebrates such as sea cows. Younger sedimentary deposits blanketing the islands include fossils of birds, other small vertebrates, snails, plant roots, and the famous pygmy mammoths.
Jennifer Cavin has been the fossil preparator at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon, since 2008. Her work involves exposing collected fossils from the surrounding rock, repairing damage to specimens, and other tasks that are intended to preserve and protect fossils for future study and display.
Recent investigation of the Rogers beds of Death Valley National Park, California, have uncovered abundant bones of late Pleistocene animals. Study of the beds themselves show that they are ancient spring-fed wetlands deposits, like those seen elsewhere in the Southwest, and tie into the Mojave Desert record of regional climate cycles.
An active paleontological resource monitoring program in place at George Washington Birthplace National Monument has led to the discovery and recovery of two important fossil dolphin skulls. An emergency response team supported the field collection of the fossils which were “at risk” to rapid weathering and erosion. The specimens have been transported to the Calvert Marine Museum for preparation, curation and study.
During the past decade paleontologists have uncovered a rich fossil record at Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico. In order to share the important and interesting fossils discovered at the park, a new website was developed to feature 3-D images of a few fossils documented at the park.
During the past decade paleontologists have uncovered a rich fossil record at Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico. In order to share the important and interesting fossils discovered at the park, a new website was developed to feature 3-D images of a few fossils documented at the park.
A review of National Natural Landmarks (NNLs) reveals a list of 50 sites which are recognized for their significant paleontological resources. A new educational poster has recently been created to feature the diversity of fossils represented by the NNL Program throughout geologic time.
After many years of planning, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument will soon see the construction of a Research and Curatorial Facility. The facility will include dedicated space for fossil preparation, which will allow visitors to observe the cleaning, repair and other conservation of Hagerman fossil specimens.
The rich fossil record at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico, was the focus of a recent paleontological resource inventory. Paleontologist Scott Kottkamp dedicated three months at the park researching and reporting on the fossils from the Permian marine reef system and Ice Age fossils founds within park caves at the park.
Waco Mammoth National Monument was proclaimed a unit of the National Park Service in July 2015 to protect and interpret an assemblage of mammoths believed to represent a nursery herd. The first paleontologist for the monument, Lindsey Yann, was hired in January 2020 to help promote scientific research, resource management and public education.
Collaboration between professional paleontology staff in two national parks helped with restoration of an important dinosaur specimen. The skull of 'Allosaurus fragilis' from Dinosaur National Monument, Utah, was recently sent to Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, for professional conservation by the curatorial staff.
The rocks of Grand Canyon National Park preserve almost one third of Earth’s history and have inspired visitors and scientists from around the world for the past 100 years. Learn more about projects conducted this year to advance the paleontology program at Grand Canyon National Park as well as events scheduled to celebrate the 10th anniversary of National Fossil Day.
Protectors of Tule Springs Board President Jill DeStefano and Vice President Sandy Croteau accepted the George and Helen Hartzog Group Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service in Washington D.C. on Thursday, August 22.
The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (DEWA), straddling the lower Delaware River along northwestern New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, boasts extensive ancient reefs. These reefs showcase prehistoric marine life that predates the dinosaurs of the Mesozoic Era by 200 million years.
Devils Tower National Monument is best known for its namesake feature, Devils Tower, but also includes paleontological resources. Fossils, primarily of bivalves and belemnite cephalopods, can be found in the Jurassic rocks that surround the Tower. Fossils have been occasionally reported from the monument by scientists in the past, but this is the first time that a thorough inventory has been made of the monument’s fossils.
Following the discovery of a significant saber tooth cat-like skull (Hoplophoneus primaevus, Family: Nimravidae) in 2012, the Badlands Fossil Preparation Lab opened to the visiting public to showcase fossil preparation work.
Tule Springs has played a vital role in shaping the history of archaeology and paleontology of the Las Vegas Valley. In fact, vertebrate fossils have been known from the area for more than a century.
In the early spring of 2012, an old shoebox belonging to former NAU geologist professor. It contained micropaleontology slides that held conodonts and micro-vertebrate fossils that were a mystery. But not for long!
The mammoths of Waco Mammoth National Monument have undoubtedly changed the way people view these Ice Age creatures. Through the discovery of the first and only Columbian mammoth nursery herd, the public is provided a glimpse of what life was like for these animals through their habits and social structure.
Until recently, relatively little research has been done on the microvertebrates of the Chinle Formation. . Fortunately, new fossils from Petrified Forest National Park and sites from a neighboring ranch and St. Johns, Arizona are starting to fill that gap.
In 2019, the National Park Service Junior Paleontologist program will turn 10 years old! In honor of that milestone, we have compiled a variety of graphics and statistics to provide a snapshot of the program’s reach servicewide, across the country, and around the world.
Dinosaur fossils have been discovered at or are associated with at least 27 NPS units. Geographically, their finds are concentrated in the parks of the Colorado Plateau, but they have been found from central Alaska to Big Bend National Park in Texas to Springfield Armory National Historic Site in Massachusetts. The most famous site is the Dinosaur Quarry of Dinosaur National Monument, but a rush of new finds since the 1970s has greatly expanded our knowledge.
Structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry methods are an increasingly common component of paleontological research and resource management. SfM methods have become especially important in the field of ichnology and are used to document individual tracks and longer trackways and, in some examples, to recreate lost track sites from historic images.
The bedrock of Buffalo National River includes outcrops of nearly twenty different formations, all from the Paleozoic Era (541 to 252 million years ago), and primarily deposited under shallow marine conditions.
The rugged high peaks of Glacier National Park are a beautiful sight to behold, with people traveling from all around the globe to experience this iconic place. The rocks that compose those amazing peaks and valley walls hold the secrets to a time when this land was once covered by a vast shallow sea, a billion and a half years ago.
Caves are important environments for the preservation of fossils. Within the National Park Service, a rich diversity of cave fossils have been documented in at least 56 different parks.
St. Croix National Scenic Riverway contains some of the most notable Cambrian fossil localities in the National Park System. Geological explorations beginning in the 1840s have revealed a fauna of brachiopods, snails and snail-like mollusks, trilobites, graptolites, burrowing animals, and others. These organisms populated the region between approximately 500 and 490 million years ago, when it was a shallow tropical sea.
Lake Mead NRA is located a few miles east of Las Vegas, and serves as a welcome respite in the blazing heat of the Mojave desert summers. At the forefront of Lake Mead NRA’s conservational efforts are resource protection and education to visitors about the park’s desert wildlife, native fish and invasive species, and cultural history - far lesser known has been the park’s long and important paleontological story.
National Capital Parks-East (NACE) was established in 1965. NACE consists of about includes about 15 parks and sites between Washington DC and parts of Maryland. The parks range from natural resource parks, to historical sites, to recreational areas. About half of the parks at NACE are known to have fossil resources and fossils in the museum collection.
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument is a relatively small and unassuming fossil site located along the sinuous Snake River in southern Idaho. Its fossils date from the early half of the Pliocene and range in age from approximately 4.2 to 3 million years in age. The Monument is best known for its fossil horses. However, nearly two hundred species of animals have been recorded at Hagerman such as water and wetland birds, rodents, larger mammals, and many carnivorans.
If you’re looking for one of the most complete sections of geologic strata of the Mesozoic Era, then you must visit Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. My name is Maria Rodriguez and I am a physical science technician in GLCA. With its 1.2 million acres, Glen Canyon NRA houses a rare and valuable geological history. My work focuses mainly on vertebrate ichnology, or “fossil footprints”.
During 2004 Congress authorized the expansion of the Petrified Forest National Park boundary to preserve important paleontological and archeological resources. A team of paleontologists, under the supervision of Bill Parker and Adam Marsh, have documented nearly 300 new fossil localities in the new lands added to the park. This article features the incredible paleontological work and discoveries documented at Petrified Forest National Park.
Beginning in 2012, National Fossil Day partner Paul Roth began to support National Fossil Day through the creation of outstanding Fossil Education Kits to support paleontology education and outreach. To date, Paul has donated 18 fossil education kits to parks across the NPS, fostering wonderful fossil-focused opportunities for park rangers and park visitors.
After 38 years serving as the paleontologist at Dinosaur National Monument, Dan Chure retires from the National Park Service in 2017. Dan is recognized for his many contributions to the paleontology at Dinosaur National Monument and for the National Park Service. Dan will continue to conduct research and publish during his retirement.
Beginning in 2009 staff at White Sands National Monument began documenting Late Pleistocene vertebrate footprints. Under the leadership of the monument's chief of resources, David Bustos, thousands of fossil tracks of ice age mammals is now recognized as a megatracksite. A multidisciplinary team of scientists have been working to understand the sedimentology, stratigraphy, chronology and paleoenvironmental of the track bearing strata at White Sands NM.
National Fossil Day 2017 represents the eighth year of a nationwide partnership which promotes the scientific and educational value of fossils. The National Fossil Day partnership has expanded to include 350 partners across the U.S., with partners in every state providing more opportunities for fossil education for the public.
During 2017, paleontology intern Matthew Ferlicchi expanded our understanding of the expansive fossil record at Death Valley National Park. Matthew's backcountry hiking skills enabled him to venture to several remote fossil localities in the park which led to new discoveries. Two of the discoveries has generated interest by two teams of paleontologists to initiate paleontological research at Death Valley National Park.
In January 2017, a new fossil exhibit was dedicated at Big Bend National Park. The exhibit was the 20 year dream of park geologist Don Corrick. Through careful planning and strategic partnering, a design was put forth and funded. Park visitors who tour the new exhibit will be provided a wonderful fossil-focused experience and learn about the important fossil record preserved at Big Bend National Park.
Several years of research have shown that more than 4,900 fossil taxa are based on fossils found within, potentially within, or historically associated with 75 National Park Service units, two affiliated units, and one abolished monument. These fossils are important for research and resource management, and represent everything from Precambrian stromatolites to Jurassic dinosaurs.
This article highlights paleontology intern Emily Thorpe who served as the first ever paleontology intern at Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, New Mexico. Emily’s work resulted in the discovery of Permain age plant and vertebrate footprints, as well as a partial skeleton of an early reptile which is new to science.
After an extensive search, Nick Famoso was selected as the New Paleontologist joins staff at John Day Fossil Bedsnew Chief Paleontologist at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. Nick recently completed his PhD at the University of Oregon and is excited to begin his new career with the National Park Service.
The first dinosaur footprints have been recently discovered along the banks of the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River in Texas. The tracks are preserved in Cretaceous age rocks and represent footprints left by a bipedal theropod dinosaur.
Park Paleontology Newsletter was established in 1991 and published intermittently between January 1991 and October 2004. The newsletter was produced as a source for communicating news and information pertaining to the management, protection, interpretation, curation, research and other issues related to NPS and federal fossils. This Spring 2017 issue of Park Paleontology News represents the return of the newsletter after a 13 year hiatus and will be published twice a year.
Locations:Big Bend National Park, Death Valley National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Glacier National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Grand Canyon National Park, Great Basin National Park, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monumentmore »
All across the park system, scientists, rangers, and interpreters are engaged in the important work of studying, protecting, and sharing our rich fossil heritage. Park Paleontology news provides a close up look at the important work of caring for these irreplaceable resources.
Contribute to Park Paleontology News by contacting the newsletter editor
Locations:Big Bend National Park, Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area, Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Fort Pulaski National Monument, Independence National Historical Park, Little River Canyon National Preserve, Obed Wild & Scenic River, Russell Cave National Monument, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Areamore »
All across the park system, scientists, rangers, and interpreters are engaged in the important work of studying, protecting, and sharing our rich fossil heritage. Park Paleontology news provides a close up look at the important work of caring for these irreplaceable resources.
Contribute to Park Paleontology News by contacting the newsletter editor
Locations:Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve, Badlands National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Colorado National Monument, Denali National Park & Preserve, Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve, Katmai National Park & Preserve, Lake Clark National Park & Preserve, Mojave National Preserve, Petrified Forest National Park, Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve, Zion National Parkmore »
All across the park system, scientists, rangers, and interpreters are engaged in the important work of studying, protecting, and sharing our rich fossil heritage. Park Paleontology news provides a close up look at the important work of caring for these irreplaceable resources.
Contribute to Park Paleontology News by contacting the newsletter editor
Ashfall Fossil Beds National Natural Landmark in northeastern Nebraska is the site of a bonebed dating to just after 12 million years ago, when an enormous volcanic eruption blanketed the area with ash and led to the death and preservation of hundreds of animals in a waterhole. Exceptionally well-preserved and articulated skeletons of rhinos, horses, camels, birds, and others have been found here since study began in the 1970s.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, work on a proposed jetport within what would become Big Cypress National Preserve serendipitously brought the Jet Age in contact with the Ice Age. A small collection of Pleistocene fossils including bones of mammoths, camels, and horses was uncovered in a buried river channel. These fossils, largely overlooked since then, have now been documented in the collections of the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Locations:Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve, Denali National Park & Preserve, Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve, Katmai National Park & Preserve, Lake Clark National Park & Preserve, Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve
Offices:Geologic Resources Division
The National Park Service units of Alaska have an outstanding fossil record, including fossil plants. Six Alaskan NPS units preserve notable plant fossils of Tertiary age (Paleocene through Pliocene Epochs, 66 to 2.58 million years ago). These fossils were first documented in 1869 and show a major change going from the Eocene to the Oligocene about 34 million years ago.
Mojave National Preserve in the Mojave Desert of southeastern California holds a lengthy paleontological record spanning more than 550 million years. A paleontological resource inventory has recently been published for the preserve, documenting this history. Some highlights from the Cambrian, middle Paleozoic, and Miocene are presented here.
At Colorado National Monument in west-central Colorado, Facilities staff frequently need to deal with rocks that fall from roadcuts onto or next to the roads. These rocks sometimes contain significant fossils such as reptile tracks. Protecting and preserving these fossils has relied on the skills, abilities, and quick thinking of Facilities staff.
The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) is a non-profit advocacy organization that works to protect the National Park System. In 2023 Christa Cherava, NPCA Senior Manager of Conservation Programs, has been looking at the question of why paleontological resources should be protected, from a variety of perspectives outside and inside of paleontology.
The Triassic Period was a time of great evolutionary experimentation. Two of the locations with the most significant Triassic fossil records, Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona of the U.S. and Ischigualasto Provincial Park in San Juan Province, Argentina, are nationally protected. Representatives of the two parks and their countries have come together to establish a sister park arrangement to further collaboration.
