Beartooth Butte () is in the
Beartooth Mountains
The Beartooth Mountains are located in south central Montana and northwest Wyoming, U.S. and are part of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, within Custer, Gallatin and Shoshone National Forests. The Beartooths are the location of Granite Peak, ...
in the
U.S. state of
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
. The peak is located in the
Absaroka–Beartooth Wilderness
Absaroka–Beartooth Wilderness was created from existing National Forest lands in 1978 and is located in Montana and Wyoming, United States. The wilderness is partly in Gallatin, Custer and Shoshone National Forests and is composed of . The w ...
of
Shoshone National Forest.
Rising more than to the northwest above Beartooth Lake, the butte is easily seen from the Beartooth Highway. Unlike the granitic rocks that comprise the vast majority of rocks to be found in the Beartooth Mountains, Beartooth Butte consists mostly of sedimentary rocks. It has the most easily accessible rocks of the Beartooth Butte Formation
The Beartooth Butte Formation is a geologic formation in Wyoming. It preserves fossils dating back to the Devonian period.[geologic formation
A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...]
that preserves fossils
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...
dating back to the Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...
period.[Beartooth Butte Formation]
at Fossilworks
Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database
The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...
.org
References
{{reflist
Mountains of Park County, Wyoming
Mountains of Wyoming
Shoshone National Forest