Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
IUCN Category III (Natural Monument)
View over Snake River in the National Monument
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument Location in Idaho Show map of Idaho Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	Twin Falls County / Gooding County, Idaho, United States
Nearest city	Hagerman, ID
Area	420,000 acres (1,700 km2)
Authorized	November 18, 1988 (1988-November-18)
Visitors	25,982 (in 2016)
Governing body	National Park Service
Website	Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
U.S. National Natural Landmark
Designated:	1975

Mounted skeleton of a Hagerman horse, Equus simplicidens

Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument near Hagerman, Idaho, contains the largest concentration of Hagerman horse fossils in North America. The fossil horses for which the monument is famous have been found in only one locale in the northern portion of the monument called the Hagerman Horse Quarry. The 4,351-acre (17.61 km²) monument is internationally significant because it protects the world's richest known fossil deposits from the late Pliocene epoch, 3.5 million years ago. These plants and animals represent the last glimpse of that time that existed before the Ice Age, and the earliest appearances of modern flora and fauna. This is also significant because the fossils present during this period of the Pliocene represent species which were alive during the early stages in the evolution of man, albeit on a different continent. The fossil beds were designated a National Natural Landmark in 1975.

Notable fossils

• Hagerman horse, Equus simplicidens, formerly known as Plesippus shoshonensis
• Camelops, an extinct genus of camel that once inhabited North America

Many other species are also found in the fossil record, including mastodons, saber-toothed cats, and bone-crushing dogs (Borophaginae), as well as various species of fish, frog, vole and beaver.