Tule Springs Local Fauna

Animal Life, Past & Present

The fossil record of Tule Springs Fossil Beds preserves evidence of past life through time. Over tens of thousands of years, animals visited the wetland environments of Tule Springs and left behind their remains. Even partial bone elements or teeth can sometimes be identified to genus or species level by comparing them to more complete fossil remains. The complete record of animals known from the Las Vegas Formation (fossil-rich sediments of Tule Springs) is still growing, and has been compiled from decades of paleontology research. The vertebrate (animals with a backbone) fauna from Tule Springs Fossil Beds is scientifically significant and unique, so it has its own name: The Tule Springs Local Fauna. Some of the animal species within this fauna have gone extinct, others survive in other locations at higher elevations or with more water, and the remaining species still reside at Tule Springs today. Here you can learn more about this fauna and the changing environments of Tule Springs Fossil Beds.

 

Life at a spring pool

Left image
Tule Springs Fossil Beds 55,000 – 45,000 years ago
Credit: NPS Image | Julius Csotonyi

Right image
Key
Credit: NPS Image | Julius Csotonyi

Abundant groundwater reserves and movement of underground faults allowed springs to bubble up to the surface to form natural pools. Aquatic animals like snails, fish, and turtles thrived underwater, while bison and giant ground sloths took drinks from the surface. Pine and juniper trees were found at lower elevations toward the edges of the valley floor.

 

Mammoth herd at sunrise

Left image
Tule Springs Fossil Beds 32,000-28,000 years ago
Credit: NPS Image | Julius Csotonyi

Right image
Key
Credit: NPS Image | Julius Csotonyi

When glacial ice was at its last maximum, vast marshes and wet meadows took shape in the Upper Las Vegas Wash. With lush reeds and muddy earth underfoot, Columbian mammoths formed family herds and left behind pieces of their bones and ivory. After the global climate warmed, never again were these desert wetlands so expansive.

 

Flight above the valley

Left image
Tule Springs Fossil Beds 23,000-18,000 years ago
Credit: NPS Image | Julius Csotonyi

Right image
Key
Credit: NPS Image | Julius Csotonyi

A teratorn flies over the Upper Las Vegas wash with a twelve-foot wingspan. Herds of mammoths, horses, camels, pronghorn antelope, and bison travel through spring-fed streams in search of food and water. The Las Vegas and Sheep mountain ranges stand tall above the valley floor.

 

A successful hunt

Left image
Tule Springs Fossil Beds 16,000-14,000 years ago
Credit: NPS Image | Julius Csotonyi

Right image
Key
Credit: NPS Image | Julius Csotonyi

When the sun set over the Upper Las Vegas wash, many animals would wake from their daytime rest to hunt or forage for food by moonlight. Many animals, like large carnivores and burrowing rodents, rest during the hottest parts of the day. Two saber toothed cats groom each other after a successful evening hunt. Ancient spring-fed streams flow between rolling hills, catching and burying the bones of Ice Age animals in their gravel-filled banks.

 

Mojave Desert animals and plants are represented in the Tule Springs fossil record from tens of thousands of years ago. Top: (from left to right) coyote, globemallow. Bottom: (from left to right) red-tailed hawk, kangaroo rat, desert tortoise, jackrabbit, American badger, desert horned lizard.

NPS Photos

Survivors of Change

Although many species of animals went extinct at the end of the Pleistocene epoch, many others survived and adapted to a changing climate. Several plants and animals found at Tule Springs Fossil Beds today are represented in the fossil records of Tule Springs from over 14,000 years ago.

There is beauty in what remains and what continues to change. Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument hosts a diverse and resilient Mojave Desert flora and fauna that is well-adapted to today's arid climate. What we learn about the past and current environments of Tule Springs helps us protect them and adapt to the efects of climate change and urban development. As research and stewardship continue, there is always more to learn about the past, present, and future.

 

The Tule Springs Local Fauna by species:

The animal species identified from the Tule Springs fossil record are either now extinct (no longer living), extirpated (surviving, but no longer within Tule Springs Fossil Beds), or extant (surviving within Tule Springs Fossil Beds).
Adapted from Scott, E., Springer, K. B., & Sagebiel, J. C. (2017). The Tule Springs local fauna: Rancholabrean vertebrates from the Las Vegas Formation, Nevada. Quaternary International, 443, 105-121.

Common Name	Scientific Name	Status
Toad	Bufo sp.	Extirpated
Tree frog (small)	Hyla sp.	Extirpated
Tree frog (large)	Hyla sp.	Extirpated
Pond frog	Rana sp.	Extirpated
Desert tortoise	Gopherus sp.	Extant
Sagebrush lizard	Sceloporus sp. cf. S. occidentalis	Extirpated
Zebra-tailed lizard	Callisaurus sp. cf. C. draconides	Extant
Horned lizard	Phrynosoma sp.	Extant
Night lizard	Xantusiidae	Extant
Coachwhip snake	Masticophis sp.	Extant
Glossy snake	cf. Arizona elegans	Extant
Widgeon (duck)	Mareca americana	Extirpated
Ring-necked duck	Aythya collaris	Extirpated
Lesser scaup (duck)	Aythya affinis	Extirpated
Common merganser (duck)	Mergus merganser	Extirpated
Teratorn	Teratornis merriami	Extinct
Unidentified soaring hawk	Buteoninae	Extant
Coot (aquatic bird)	Fulica americana	Extirpated
Small coot (aquatic bird)	Fulica americana minor	Extirpated
Unidentified owl	Bubo sp.	Extant
Jefferson’s ground sloth	Megalonyx jeffersonii	Extinct
Shasta ground sloth	Nothrotheriops shastensis	Extinct
Cottontail rabbit	Sylvilagus sp.	Extant
Jackrabbit	Lepus sp.	Extant
Pygmy rabbit	cf. Brachylagus idahoensis	Extirpated
Antelope ground squirrel	Ammospermophilus leucurus	Extant
Yellow-bellied marmot	Marmota flaviventris	Extirpated
Botta’s pocket gopher	Thomomys bottae	Extant
Large kangaroo rat	Dipodomys (large)	Extant
Small kangaroo rat	Dipodomys (small)	Extant
Pocket mouse	Perognathus sp.	Extant
Deer mouse	Peromyscus sp. cf. P. maniculatis	Extant
Harvest mouse	Reithrodontomys sp.	Extant
Grasshopper mouse	Onychomys sp.	Extant
Desert wood rat	Neotoma sp. cf. N. lepida	Extant
Meadow vole	Microtus sp. cf. M. californicus	Extant
Muskrat	Ondatra zibethicus	Extirpated
American badger	Taxidea taxus	Extant
Dire wolf	Canis dirus	Extinct
Coyote	Canis latrans	Extant
Mountain lion	cf. Puma concolor	Extant
Bobcat	Lynx rufus	Extant
North American lion	Panthera atrox	Extinct
Sabertoothed cat	Smilodon fatalis	Extinct
Columbian mammoth	Mammuthus columbi	Extinct
Scott’s horse	Equus scotti	Extinct
Small horse	Equus sp. (small)	Extinct
Llama	Hemiauchenia sp.	Extinct
Western camel	Camelops hesternus	Extinct
Deer	Odocoileus sp.	Extirpated
Pronghorn antelope	Antilocapridae	Extirpated
Ancient bison	Bison antiquus	Extinct
Long-horned bison	cf. Bison latifrons	Extinct
Shrub ox	cf. Euceratherium sp.	Extinct