Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument is a Pliocene-age site near Hagerman,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. The Monument is internationally significant because it protects one of the richest known fossil deposits from the Blancan North American Land Mammal Age. These fossils date from 3.07 million to at least 4 million years ago in age and represent at least 200 species. Hagerman is best known for having the largest known concentration of the fossil Hagerman horse, ''Equus simplicidens''. The fossil beds, including the historic Smithsonian Horse Quarry, were designated a

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best e ...

in 1975 and was reclassified as a

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

in 1988. In 2014, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument joined Sibiloi National Park in Kenya as "sister parks" through a memorandum of understanding between the National Park Service and Office of International Affairs, the National Museums of Kenya, and Kenya Wildlife Service. A fundraising campaign at Hagerman helped send three Kenyan students to the internationally recognized

Koobi Fora Koobi Fora refers primarily to a region around Koobi Fora Ridge, located on the eastern shore of Lake Turkana in the territory of the nomadic Gabbra people. According to the National Museums of Kenya, the name comes from the Gabbra language ...

Field School, managed by George Washington University. Students from all over the world attend to learn East African archaeology, geology, and primatology taught by experts in their respective fields. In 2016, the Hagerman Paleontology, Environments, and Tephrochronology (PET) Project began their investigations into the geologic history at Hagerman with a focus on better dating individual fossil localities on the Monument and reconstructing the ancient landscapes that were there during the Pliocene. The PET Project is a collaboration between the park's former paleontologist and geoscientists from the US Geological Survey. In 2021, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument entered a 25-year partnership with the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation, which manages the six units of Thousand Springs State Park. The new Thousand Springs Visitor Center at the Billingsley Creek unit, opening in 2022, will feature all-new fossil exhibits and host ranger programs and other activities. In 2022, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument built a new state-of-the art research, collections, and fossil preparation building to facilitate paleontological and geological research and the proper curation of Hagerman's fossils.

Notable fossils

* Hagerman horse, ''Equus simplicidens'', formerly known as ''Plesippus shoshonensis'' * ''

Camelops ''Camelops'' is an extinct genus of camel that lived in North and Central America from the middle Pliocene (from around 4-3.2 million years ago) to the end of the Pleistocene (around 13-12,000 years ago). It is more closely related to living cam ...

'', an extinct genus of camel that once inhabited North America * '' Lontra weiri'', oldest New World River otter and likely ancestor to today's four species of American river otter * A Blancan-age occurrence of the otherwise Hemphilian bear, ''

Agriotherium ''Agriotherium'' is an extinct genus of bears whose fossils are found in Miocene through Pleistocene-aged strata of North America, Eurasia, and Africa. The earliest species, ''A.'' ''aecuatorialis'' evolved during the early Late Miocene, around ...

'' * One of the earliest examples of the coyote-like ''

Canis lepophagus ''Canis lepophagus'' (Latin: : 'dog'; : 'hare' or 'rabbit'; suffix : '-eating'; hence hare-eating dog) is an extinct species of canid which was endemic to much of North America during the Early Pliocene. It is notable because its lineage is prop ...

'' * A rich assemblage of other mammals, as well as birds, fish, amphibians, turtles, and invertebratesMcDonald 1993

References

External links

* *
Official Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument website
{{authority control National Park Service national monuments in Idaho Fossil museums in the United States Fossil parks in the United States Museums in Hagerman, Idaho Natural history museums in Idaho National Natural Landmarks in Idaho Paleontology in Idaho Protected areas of Gooding County, Idaho Protected areas of Twin Falls County, Idaho Neogene Idaho Pliocene United States Pliocene paleontological sites of North America Protected areas established in 1988 1988 establishments in Idaho 1988 in paleontology Natural history of Idaho

Notable fossils

See also

References

External links