These fossils still lie on location in the Blue Basin of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument's sheep rock section. We marveled at Oregon's contrasts: wet coastline, snow-capped mountains, lush wine-producing valleys, and towering tuff walls that enclose fossil beds.
This monument holds an amazing treasure trove of information about some fascinating mammal fossils. No dinosaurs here!
Mammals from the Cenozoic and previous eras lived here 15 to 44 million years ago. At that time this arid desert-like region was wet and swampy - thus the turtle shell fossil you see above. Later, volcanoes buried the swamps. Forests, savannahs, and finally deserts supplanted the wet pre-historic landscape. New mammals evolved with each environmental change.
My favorite mammal fossil remains that ruminating swine, the oreodont!
Dear Jeannie and Barb, I too am an oreodont (oreo biter) as well as a biter of other food stuffs so I am also a multidont and from the sound of your Crater Lake pie Jeannie is a pecanpieodont. I love your blog postings Barb and J keep up the travel and the writing for us sleepy readers bogged down in home duty. Alan
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