Part 12

N Nanotragulus 27-28 National Park Service 17, 88-92 Nighthawk 83 Nimravus 32 Niobrara River 7, 16, 23-24, 36, 37, 50, 54-55, 60 North Platte River 52 Nothocyon 32, 33

O Oglala Sioux Indians 7, 11. See also Red Cloud Oligobunis 32 Oligocene epoch 25, 31, 46, 49, 50, 52, 53, 70, 88; animals of 61, 63 Opossum 54-55, 60 Ordovician period 46 Oreodon 25, 54-55, 60, 63 Osborn, Henry F. 14, 38 Owl, great horned 83 Oxydactylus 20-21, 22, 28, 56-57, 60

P Palaeocastor 14, 20-21, 22, 33, 64, 68-69, 70-71, 77, 86 Palaeolagus 34 Paleocene epoch 46, 53 Paleozoic era 46, 47-48 Parahippus 20-21, 22, 27, 56-57, 60, 62, 67 Permian period 46 Peterson, O. A. 14, 38, 39 Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona 89 Pigs 30-31 Pine Ridge, South Dakota 52 Pleistocene epoch 28-29, 46, 64, 67 Pliocene epoch 24-25, 27, 46, 52, 63 Portheus 48 Precambrian era 46 Promerycochoerus 20-21, 22, 25, 87 Pronghorn (artiodactyls) 63, 84. See also Syndyoceras Protoceras 31 Protohippus 62, 63 Pseudaelurus 32, 58-59, 60

Q Quaternary period 46

R Red Cloud 9, 11 Rhinoceros 24-25, 50, 51, 63 Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado 92 Rocky Mountain Revolution 51, 52 Runningwater Formation 51 Rodents 32-34

S Sandpiper, upland 14 Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska 49, 91 Sheep Creek Formation 52 Silurian period 46 Smiley Canyon, Nebraska 50 Snake, hognose 84 Stenomylus 14, 20-21, 22, 29, 37, 39, 50, 64-65, 86, 87; hitchcocki, 51 Sundance Formation 48 Syndyoceras 20-21, 22, 31 Synthetoceras 31-32

T Teeth, high-crowned 62-63 Temnocyon 32 Tertiary period 46, 53 Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota 92 Thompson, Albert 14, 38 Toadstool Park, Nebraska 49 Tortoise 33-34 Trailside Museum, Nebraska 86 Triassic period 46

U Uniformitarianism 42, 43, 45 University Hill 7, 12-13, 35; digging at, 14; formation of 37; tourist facilities at, 77 University of Nebraska State Museum 86

V Visitor information 77-80, 86-92 Von Linne, Karl 43

W Wallace, Alfred 45 White River 52; Badlands 31; Beds 49 Wildflowers 7, 10 Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota 91 Wren, house 82; long-billed marsh 82

★GPO: 1999—454-765/00504 Reprint 1999

National Park Service

The National Park Service expresses its appreciation to all those persons who made the preparation and production of this handbook possible. The Service also gratefully acknowledges the financial support given this handbook project by the Oregon Trail Museum Association, a nonprofit group that assists interpretive efforts at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument.

Texts

James R. and Laurie J. Macdonald, authors of “A Landscape Rich With Life” in Part 2, are paleontologists who live in Sunnyvale, California, and teach nearby.

Doris B. Gates, writer of “Birding Along the Niobrara” in Part 3, is a retired biology professor who lives in Chadron, Nebraska.

Maps

R.R. Donnelly & Sons Co. 79.

Illustrations

Jay H. Matternes, who painted the wildlife panoramas and animal features on the cover and in Part 2, is a paleontological reconstruction artist who lives in Fairfax, Virginia. In Part 2 his illustrations appear on pages 20-21, 24, 25, 27-33, 54-59, 64-69. American Museum of Natural History 9 Cope. Greg Beaumont 14, 81-84. Carnegie Museum 38-41. Library of Congress 43-45. James O. Milmoe 12-13, 15, 16, 76. Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University 8. All other illustrations are from the files of Agate Fossil Beds National Monument and the National Park Service.

U.S. Department of the Interior

The mission of the Department of the Interior is to protect and provide access to our Nation’s natural and cultural heritage and honor our trust responsibilities to tribes. The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The National Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world.

Agate Fossil Beds

Through the remains of animals long extinct, excavated here at this site, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument tells the story of the Miocene Epoch—the Age of Mammals—that occurred 5 to 23 million years ago. The scene on the front cover is from a mural by artist Jay H. Matternes that depicts animals of the Early Miocene.

Transcriber’s Notes

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.

—Relocated all image captions to be immediately under the corresponding images, removing redundant references like “preceding page”.

—Silently corrected a few palpable typos.