The Clarno Unit
Located 18 miles west of the town of Fossil. The Palisades are the most prominent landform. 44 million years ago a series of volcanic mudflows, swept up and preserved a diverse assortment of plants and animals that inhabited a near-tropical forest. Tiny four-toed horses, huge rhino-like brontotheres, crocodilians, and meat-eating creodonts that once roamed ancient jungles are now found in the rocks of the Clarno Unit, as well as an incredibly diverse range of plant life. Leaves, fruits, nuts, seeds, and petrified wood from 173 species of trees, vines, shrubs, and other plants have been found here thus far.
*copied from website
THOMAS CONDON PALEONTOLOGY CENTER
Constructed in 2003, the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center is the best place to see fossils at the monument. Here, fossils from all three units of the park, as well as those from other federal lands in the area, are on display for visitors to see up close.
*copied from website
This place was really interesting!
Being able to see the fossils found in this area was pretty special.
Full of History
Mammal Fossils
SHEEP ROCK UNIT
Multiple exposures of the Turtle Cove strata can be seen at the Sheep Rock Unit. This blue-green rock layer represents millions of years of volcanic ash accumulation. Surprisingly enough, the green tint is not due to copper, but rather a complex blending of the elements hydrogen, oxygen, sodium, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, potassium, calcium, iron, strontium, and barium.
SHEEP ROCK
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