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Paleontology in North Dakota refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of North Dakota. During the early Paleozoic era most of North Dakota was covered by a sea home to brachiopods, corals, and fishes. The sea briefly left during the Silurian, but soon returned, until once more starting to withdraw during the Permian. By the Triassic some areas of the state were still under shallow seawater, but others were dry and hot. During the Jurassic subtropical forests covered the state. North Dakota was always at least partially under seawater during the Cretaceous. On land Sequoia grew. Later in the Cenozoic the local seas dried up and were replaced by subtropical swamps. Climate gradually cooled until the Ice Age, when glaciers entered the area and mammoths and mastodons roamed the local woodlands.
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Natural Trap Cave is a pit cave in the Bighorn Mountains, in northern Wyoming, United States. Excavations in the cave are an important source of paleontological information on the North American Late Pleistocene, due to a rich layer of fossils from animals that became trapped in the cave.
References
- ↑ Return to Riverbluff Cave, Matt Forir, Springfield Park Board, Becky Baker, Missouri State University
- ↑ Figueirido; et al. (2010). "Demythologizing Arctodus simus, the 'short-faced' long-legged and predaceous bear that never was". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30 (1): 262–275. doi:10.1080/02724630903416027. S2CID 85649497.
- ↑ "Riverbluff Cave: History". Riverbluff Cave. Retrieved 2009-08-30.
- ↑ Springfield-Greene County Library Board of Trustees
- ↑ Evans, Matt (May 5, 2009). "Riverbluff Cave Field House Annex Opens". KSMU. Archived from the original on May 14, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-30.
