This week, Sharon’s Colorado Springs adventure takes her to the famous Florissant Fossil Beds, the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Research Center, and the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center.
This week we’ll continue our Colorado Springs journey, driving to the famous Florissant Fossil Beds. 🦋 Get ready to dig! Then we’ll visit the town of Woodland Park for dinosaurs and venture to see the wolves in Divide. 🦖🐺
Sharon Lyon
Editor, GeoLifestyle
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument and Florissant Fossil Quarry
Digging at the Florissant Fossil Quarry; The delicate wings of a moth in paper shale (circled).
Located 35 miles west of Colorado Springs, Florissant National Monument is known for the remarkable preservation of delicate insect fossils. Considered a lagerstatte, close to half of the world’s known butterfly specimens come from Florissant.
Geology: In the late Eocene, 34 million years ago, lahars (volcanic mudflows) from the now-eroded Thirtynine Mile volcanic field buried giant redwood trees, some more than 230 feet tall. The now-petrified massive stumps are preserved in situ.
A later lahar dammed a shallow lake, now called Lake Florissant.
Ash falls into the lake mixed with fine-grained sediments to preserve the plants and animals. The lake’s anoxic bottom waters also promoted exceptional preservation of the organic material.
The sediment, known as “paper shale,” reveals cyclic changes in lake level and volcanic episodes.
Paleontology: More than 1800 species of insects, spiders, plants, and more rarely birds, mollusks, fish, and other vertebrates have been described.
The delicate wings of butterflies and moths, fragile flowers, and the feathers of birds have been preserved.
Microfossils include pollen, diatoms, and ostracodes.
The fossil assemblage reflects a warm, temperate, and seasonally wet climate for the area in the late Eocene.
How to Visit: Stop at the Visitors Center to see examples of the fossils and view the short film on the history of the Florissant Formation. You can hike to see the huge petrified redwood stumps.
Where to Dig for Fossils: Drive south one mile from the Monument, on State Route 1, to reach the privately-owned Florissant Fossil Quarry. You can pay to dig, and they provide everything you need to split the paper shale into fine layers.
A good eye is needed, as many of the insect fossils are faint. In two hours, I found many fossil leaves and stems, and both a fly and a moth with wings preserved. You can keep everything you find.
Wolves at the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center, Divide.
Although technically not a geo-site, the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center in Divide, Colorado, is a must-see experience. The center aims to educate the public about the importance of wolves, coyotes, and foxes and the preservation of their ecosystems.
The 35-acre facility provides fenced natural habitats for the animals, including timber wolves, tundra wolves, Mexican Grey wolves, coyote-dogs, wolf-dogs, coyotes, and foxes.
Certification by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums allows the center to participate in the Species Survival Program for Mexican Grey Wolves and Swift Foxes. Today, Swift Foxes have made a comeback in about 40% of their range.
Visiting Tips: Make a reservation for a tour before you arrive. We took the standard tour, a 1-hour guided educational tour of the facility.
There are also tours available to interact with the animals. There is a dress code for safety on these tours.
The center also takes wolf-dogs to local schools for education programs.
One Fun Thing: At the end of our tour, our guide led us in a group howl and all the wolves across the facility howled with us!
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