Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is a
U.S. National Monument near
Harrison, Nebraska . The main features of the monument are a
valley of the
Niobrara River and the fossils found on Carnegie Hill and University Hill.
The area largely consists of grass-covered
plains . Plants on the site include prairie sandreed,
blue grama ,
little bluestem and needle and thread grass, and the wildflowers
lupin ,
spiderwort ,
western wallflower and
sunflowers .
History
Entrance to the monument
Map of Agate Fossil Beds
Originally the Agate Springs Ranch, a working cattle ranch, was owned by Capt. James Cook. The monument's museum collection also contains more than 500 artifacts from the Cook Collection of
Plains Indians artifacts.
The national monument was authorized on June 5, 1965, but was not established until June 14, 1997. The Harold J. Cook Homestead (Bone Cabin Complex) was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
[4] Agate Fossil Beds is maintained by the
National Park Service .
[5]
Paleontology
The site is best known for a large number of well-preserved
Miocene
fossils , many of which were found at dig sites on Carnegie and University Hills. Fossils from the
Harrison Formation and
Anderson Ranch Formation , which date to the
Arikareean in the
North American land mammal classification , about 20 to 16.3 million years ago, are among some of the best specimens of Miocene
mammals .
[6]
Species found in Agate include:
Miohippus ,
Merychippus and
Parahippus ,
ancestors of the modern day horse.
Diceratherium , two-horned
rhinoceros .
Menoceras , pony-sized
rhinoceros , the most common animal found in the fossil beds.
[7]
Daphoenodon and
Ysengrinia , two types of mid-sized
bear dogs .
Promerycochoerus , a semiaquatic hippo-like
oreodont .
Daeodon , the largest
Entelodont (giant pig-like ungulate).
Stenomylus , gazelle-like
camelids .
Oxydactylus , giraffe-like
camelids .
Palaeocastor , land beavers that dug large corkscrew-shaped burrows (Daemonelix ).
[8]
Moropus , a
chalicothere which are relatives of rhinos and horses.
Merychyus , a sheep-like
oreodont .
Syndyoceras , antelope-like mammal and extinct relatives of
artiodactyls .
Gallery
"Devil's corkscrews,"
Miocene -age burrows of
Palaeocastor , discovered in the late 19th century
The Bone Cabin, used during twenty-five years of fossil excavations at the Agate Fossil Beds
The Niobrara River flowing through Agate Fossil Beds
A Daemonelix corkscrew fossil exhibit
View of the park from the Daemonelix Trail
Plains Indian pictographs on a hide at the Agate Visitor Center
See also
References
^
"Agate Fossil Beds National Monument" .
Geographic Names Information System .
United States Geological Survey ,
United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved November 18, 2013 .
^
"Listing of acreage – December 31, 2011" (XLSX) . Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved March 18, 2012 . (
National Park Service Acreage Reports )
^
"NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report" . National Park Service. Retrieved May 19, 2017 .
^
"Nebraska National Register Sites in Sioux County" . Nebraska State Historical Society. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved October 18, 2013 . {{
cite web }}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link )
^
"Agate Fossil Beds National Monument" . U.S. National Park Service.
Archived from the original on December 2, 2009. Retrieved December 16, 2009 .
^ Graham, John Paul.
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument: geologic resources inventory report .
OCLC
1127651017 .
^
"Mammal Fossils" . Agate Fossil Beds . National Park Service. Retrieved 10 January 2022 .
^
"Unexpected Treasures on Nebraska's High Plains: Agate Fossil Beds National Monument" . www.nationalparkstraveler.org . Retrieved 2022-01-17 .
External links
Federal
State
State Parks State Historical Parks State Recreation Areas State Recreation Trails