Fossils & Paleontology

Paleontology is the study of ancient life through time by looking at fossils. Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument was established in 2014 primarily to protect the largest open-air Pleistocene fossil site in the Mojave Desert. What makes these fossils so unique and scientifically important? Context is key. Rock and sediment layers that preserve fossils also preserve stories about the environment those organisms lived and died in; they also give detailed chronological context. Years of analyzing data from the rock and fossil records of Tule Springs reveal important stories about environmental change over time.