Paleontological Geoheritage Highlights of the National Parks

mosaic of six photos of fossils resources: skull, palm leaf, wasp, sloth dung, tracks, and a spiral burrow.
Body fossils (top row) and trace fossils (bottom) from NPS areas. Top (l to r): Camarasaurus skull, palm frond, fossil wasp. Bottom (l to r): sloth dung, prehistoric camel tracks, beaver burrow.

NPS photos. Top row: Dinosaur NM (CO&UT), Fossil Butte NM (WY), Florissant Fossil Beds NM (CO). Bottom row: Grand Canyon NP (AZ), Death Valley NP (CA&NV), Agate Fossil Beds NM (NE).

Introduction

Fossils have been documented in at least 286 units of the National Park System. This great wealth of paleontological resources is a significant part of the geoheritage values of the national parks. Eighteen parks were established for their fossils, and another 55 parks have particularly important paleontological resources, although they were not explicitly mentioned in the act of Congress or presidential proclamation that established them as part of the National Park System. In most parks, fossils are one of an array of natural and cultural resources that led to an area’s protection.

In total, fossils have been found in NPS units in 44 states, plus Washington DC, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.

Fossils found in parks provide important scientific information about the history of living things, and are a source of wonder, giving the public the opportunity to see fossils in nature and learn about the past. This page presents a few of the paleontological geoheritage highlights of the national parks.

Parks with the Word “Fossil” in their Name

Photo of a fossil skull with large, opened jaws.
Skull of the pig-like Archaeotherium. John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

Six parks have the word “fossil” in their park name, clearly indicating the significance of their paleontological resources. All six were established through acts of Congress because of their paleontology. Interestingly, all these parks contain Cenozoic fossils, with three of the monuments (Florissant Fossil Beds, Fossil Butte, and John Day Fossil Beds) also having fossils from the Eocene.

Parks Named for Types of Fossils

Photo of a large petrified log on the ground outdoors.
A large petrified log known as Old Faithful in the Rainbow Forest in Petrified Forest National Park.

NPS photo by Carrie Mardorf.

Like the parks with the word “fossil” in their name, the monikers of these areas leave no doubt as to their paleontological significance. These three parks were established via presidential proclamation using the Antiquities Act. Petrified Forest National Park was originally established as a national monument in 1908, and was only the fourth monument ever designated. Presidential proclamation designated Dinosaur National Monument a few years later in 1915, but it wasn’t for another hundred years that the Antiquities Act was used to establish Waco Mammoth National Monument.

Parks Containing Lagerstätten

Photo mosaic of fossil leaves and insects.
Exceptionally well preserved plant and insect fossils. Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Colorado.

Seven parks contain exceptionally rich fossil deposits called Lagerstätten. Lagerstätten are particularly valuable for science because they provide unique windows into ancient life. There are two types of Lagerstätten: sites that contain a particularly large number of fossils (Concentration Lagerstätten), and sites with exceptional fossil preservation (Conservation Lagerstätten).

Lagerstätten are present in eight national parks.

Concentration Lagerstätten

Conservation Lagerstätten

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Parks with Dinosaur Fossils

Photo of visitors at the fossil quarry wall.
The Quarry Exhibit Hall in Dinosaur National Monument has more than 1,500 dinosaur bones exposed in situ in a tilted rock face.

NPS photo.

A number of parks beyond the eponymous Dinosaur National Monument contain important dinosaur fossils. Many of these parks contain body fossils (primarily bones and teeth, but sometimes skin impressions), others contain dinosaur footprints (trace fossils), and some contain both. Some of the most important sites for dinosaur paleontology in the country are within national parks.

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Parks that Tell the Story of Mammal Evolution

Photo of a museum display with two fossil skeletons.
Diorama in the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument Visitor Center showing the pig-like scavenger Daeodon approaching a water hole during a time of drought.

NPS photo.

Several national parks contain bone beds or localities that have yielded fossils that are particularly important for understanding the evolution of mammals during the Cenozoic. The Miocene deposits at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument and the Pliocene fossils in Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument are particularly noteworthy. John Day Fossil Beds National Monument contains fossil assemblages that range in age from about 44 million years old to 7 million years old, providing a long view into changing mammal faunas of the Cenozoic.

Park with Insect Fossils

Photo of a fossil insect.
Crane fly. Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.

NPS photo.

Florissant Fossil Beds contains one of the most important and diverse insect fossils known to science. Insect fossils are generally rare in the fossil record, but more than 1,500 different kinds of fossil insects and spiders have been described from the Florissant Formation. The fossils are in fine-grained sediments (paper shales) that were deposited in a lacustrine (lake) environment.

Parks with Mammoth Fossils

Photo of tusks and bones in a fossil quarry.
Columbian mammoth fossil exposed in situ. Waco Mammoth National Monument.

There is an extensive fossil record of proboscideans (elephants and their relatives) in national parks, with fossils having been found in at least 43 parks. Not all of these are of Pleistocene mammoths, but tusks, teeth, bones, tracks, and/or dung of mammoths are known from a number of parks, particularly in the American West and Alaska.

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Park with Ice Age Human Footprints

Painting--artist's rendering of people and mammoths together at a river.
Fossil human footprints and animal tracks help reveal what daily life may have been like during the ice age in southern New Mexico.

© Davide Bonadonna and Bournemouth University.

Fossil tracks in White Sands National Park contains a remarkable record of Pleistocene life. These fossils include the most important fossil human tracks in North America. They provide evidence that people arrived in North America at least 23,000 years ago, much earlier than scientists previously thought. The tracks also show humans interacting with animals such as ground sloths, and behaviors such as an adult intermittently picking up a toddler as they were walking along a lake shore.

Parks with Petrified Wood

Photo of a fossil tree stump.
Petrified wood fossils are commonly small fragments. A large piece of fossil wood can weather into innumerable fragments. Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

NPS photo by Patrick Wilson.

Petrified wood is the most common type of plant fossil found in national parks. Some parks like Petrified Forest, Theodore Roosevelt, and Yellowstone National Park have particularly high concentrations of petrified wood, while many other parks have more limited occurrences. Since most petrified wood has been silicified, these fossils are quite durable and can be reworked into younger sediments. Petrified wood has also been used as raw material for projectile points and other artifacts.

Parks with Marine Invertebrate Fossils

Photo of 7 marine invertebrate fossils with text labels. Photo of 7 marine invertebrate fossils with text labels.

Left image
Mississippian marine invertebrate fossils, including corals, brachiopods, bryozoan, and crinoids. Mammoth Cave National Park.

Marine invertebrate fossils are probably the most common type of fossil found in national parks. Many of these organisms had hard parts such as shells and lived in areas undergoing active sedimentation, making fossilization more likely. Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic rocks in many national parks contain marine invertebrate fossils. Some of the most commonly seen groups include mollusks (bivalves, gastropods, ammonoids, and nautiloids), brachiopods, corals, bryozoans, trilobites, sponges, and echinoderms (crinoids, sea stars, and sea urchins).

Paleozoic Invertebrates

Mesozoic Invertebrates

Cenozoic Invertebrates

Parks with Fossil Trackways

Photo of a fossil dinosaur track.
Cretaceous hadrosaur track in Denali National Park. Hadrosaurs are also known as “duck-bill” dinosaurs because some of them had broad duck-like beaks.

NPS photo.

Many units of the National Park System contain important fossil trackways. These tracks may be of reptiles (such as dinosaurs), mammals, birds, and even invertebrates.

Fantastic Fossils

Paleontological geoheritage includes some of the unusual or exceptional fossils that have been found in national parks. The fantastic fossils of the national parks tell remarkable stories about the past life of the North American continent, so much so that each deserves its own tabloid-style headline to tell its extraordinary tale.

The fantastic fossils of the national parks tell remarkable stories about the past life of the North American continent, so much so that each deserves its own tabloid-style headline to tell its extraordinary tale.

Last updated: October 24, 2024

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