Hancock Mammal Quarry mural

Kuvaus:

Description: Hancock Mammal Quarry Within the depths of the Clarno strata is a 40 million year old point bar, formed by the buildup of silt, sand, clay, and gravel traveling around the bend of an ancient stream. The seasonal flooding of Clarno’s semitropical forest washed away an incredible variety of dead animals and plants to the point bar, preserving a record of a diverse forest, rich with a variety of both plants and animals. Dozens of strange-looking animals are fossilized in the Hancock Mammal Quarry including Haplohippus – small 3-toed, leaf-eating horses; large rhino-like animals called brontotheres; and Acheanodon – bear-like animals similar to modern pigs. The large scavenger Hemipsaladon feasted on the carcasses, while cat-like animals hunted prey here. Dominant fossils found in this assemblage: Brontothere (rhino relative) Protapirus hancocki (tapir) Eubrontotherium clarnoensis (large brontothere) Diplobunops (agriochoerid animal) Epihippus gracilis (three-toed horse) Zaisanamynodon protheroi ("marsh rhino") Teletaceras radinskyi (ancestral rhinoceros) Haplohippus texanus (three-toed horse, more primitive than Epihippus) Hemipsalodon grandis (carnivore the size of a bear) unidentified vines. Date: 2017. Source: https://www.nps.gov/joda/learn/nature/hancock-mammal-quarry.htm. Author: Roger Witter.