Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument

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Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
HAFO FlowersRiver.jpg
View over Snake River in the National Monument
Map showing the location of Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
Map showing the location of Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
Location Twin Falls County / Gooding County, Idaho, United States
Nearest city Hagerman, ID
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Area 4,351 acres (1,761 ha)[1]
Authorized November 18, 1988 (1988-November-18)
Visitors 21,100 (in 2012)[2]
Governing body National Park Service
Designated 1975

Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument near Hagerman, Idaho, contains the largest concentration of Hagerman horse fossils in North America. The fossil horses for which the Monument is famous have been found in only one locale in the northern portion of the Monument called the Hagerman Horse Quarry. The 4,351-acre (17.6 km2) Monument is internationally significant because it protects the world's richest known fossil deposits from the late Pliocene epoch, 3.5 million years ago. These plants and animals represent the last glimpse of that time that existed before the Ice Age, and the earliest appearances of modern flora and fauna. This is also significant because the fossils present during this period of the Pliocene represent species which were alive during the early stages in the evolution of man, albeit on a different continent. The fossil beds were designated a National Natural Landmark in 1975.[3]

Notable fossils

  • Hagerman horse, Equus simplicidens, formerly known as Plesippus shoshonensis
  • Camelops, an extinct genus of camel that once inhabited North America

Many other species are also found in the fossil record, including mastodons, dirk tooth cats and bone crushing dogs (Borophaginae), as well as various species of fish, frog, vole and beaver.

Mounted skeleton of Hagerman horse Equus simplicidens

References

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External links


  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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