Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument | |
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IUCN category III (natural monument or feature)
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![]() University and Carnegie Hills fossil beds
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Location | Sioux County, Nebraska, United States |
Nearest city | Harrison, NE |
Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[1] |
Area | 11,617 acres (4,701 ha)[2] |
Established | June 14, 1997 |
Visitors | 11,824 (in 2012)[3] |
Governing body | National Park Service |
http://www.nps.gov/agfo/ |
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
The site is best known for the large number of well-preserved Miocene fossils, many of which were found at dig sites on Carnegie and University Hills. Fossils from the site, which date from about 20 million years ago, are among some of the best specimens of Miocene mammals. Species found at Agate include:
- Miohippus, an ancestor of the modern horse,
- Menoceras, a pony-sized rhinoceros,
- Amphicyon, a bear dog,
- Daeodon, the largest Entelodont (giant pig-like ungulate),
- Stenomylus, a gazelle-like camelid, and
- Palaeocastor, land beavers that dug large corkscrew-shaped burrows (Daemonelix)
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 Indian 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]
Gallery
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Agfo map.jpg
Map of Agate Fossil Beds
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Daemonelix burrows, Agate Fossil Beds.jpg
"Devil's corkscrews," Miocene-age burrows of Palaeocastor, discovered in the late 19th century
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Agfo windmill cook homestead.jpg
A windmill that once provided water for excavation teams working on digs at the site
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Bone Cabin, Agate Fossil Beds NM 3.JPG
The Bone Cabin, used during twenty-five years of fossil excavations at the Agate Fossil Beds
See also
- List of fossil sites
- Ashfall Fossil Beds
- Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
- John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
- Scotts Bluff National Monument
References
- The National Parks: Index 2001–2003. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior.
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. |
- Official NPS website: Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
- Pages with broken file links
- IUCN Category III
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- Federal lands in Nebraska
- National Park Service National Monuments in Nebraska
- Paleontological sites of North America
- Miocene
- Natural history of Nebraska
- Protected areas established in 1997
- Dinosaur museums in the United States
- Natural history museums in Nebraska
- Museums in Sioux County, Nebraska
- Protected areas of Sioux County, Nebraska
- 1997 establishments in Nebraska
- Fossil parks in the United States
- Paleontology in Nebraska
- Paleontological protected areas in the United States
- 1997 in paleontology