Ashfall Fossil Beds

[Roktman]

During a recent trip to Omaha, NE, we decided to take a side trip to the Ashfall Fossil Beds.  Ashfall is about a 3.5 hr. drive thru a few small towns and a lot of corn and soybean fields.  But it was pretty easy to find -


The Rhino Barn and the land where the watering hole once was -


Inside the Visitors Center -




Bones collected from the area. They have 3 categories - 1) Before the ashfall, 2) the ashfall, and 3) after the ashfall










Teleoceras sculpture on the way to the Rhino Barn



Inside the Rhino Barn
A pano of inside


A paleontologist  (or grad student) uncovering a horse skull





Another pano




Outside of the Rhino Barn in ground tha was laid down after the ashfall



Thanks for looking.

[Lanthanotus]

Thanks for sharing.

Looks like a very impressive fossil bed and quite uncommon in its composition it seems.... moles, rabbits, turtles, frogs, rhinos... what's the story behind this? What mechanism caused so many fossils collecting at this waterhole?

That sculpture is amazing

[Patrx]

Nice photos! I only live a few hours' drive from Ashfall, and yet I haven't visited for a number of years. The new Teleoceras statue was done by Gary Staab.

The animals were all killed and buried quite quickly by ash from a volcanic eruption in present-day Idaho. You can learn more about the event from this animation I did for Paleo Sleuths. There's more information, photos, and interviews throughout the website, and you can watch the full documentary there.

[ZoPteryx]

Looks like a really cool place!  Kind of like the La Brea tar pits, but with much less tar.