| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
The area largely consists of grassy plains, which are covered in wild grasses including prairie sandreed , blue grama , little bluestem and needle-and-thread, and the wildflowers lupine, spiderwort, western wallflower and sunflowers.
The Monument is best known, however, for the large number of well-preserved fossils which have been discovered, particularly at dig sites on Carnegie and University Hills. Fossils from the site are among some of the best specimens of Miocene mammals, such as Miohippus, an ancestor of the modern horse, and MenocerasMenoceras is an extinct pig-sized rhinoceros that roamed the plains of the North American mid-west during the lower Miocene Epoch. Because of the massive accumulations of fossil bones of this animal, particularly at Agate Springs Nebraska, it seems safe t, a three-toed, pony-sized rhinocerosCeratotherium simum Dicerorhinus sumatrensis Diceros bicornis Rhinoceros unicornis ''R. sondaicus A rhinoceros is any of five surviving species of odd-toed ungulate in the family Rhinocerotidae . All five are native to Africa or Asia. Rhinoceros is also o.
The site is maintained by the National Park ServiceNational Park Service Established April 5, 1916 Director Fran P. Mainella Budget 1. 6 billion (2004) Employees 20,000 (2004) The National Park Service (NPS) is the government agency in the United States that deals with national parks and monuments. It was.