One of three signs on Thomas Condon Paleontology Center deck.
Marker Name: Tracing Their Ancestry
Marker Text: Dense deciduous forests, scattered meadows, a web of streams and small rivers - this was the environment about 30 million years ago as recorded in the John Day formations. It was much different than the near-tropical jungles and marshes that existed 15 million years previously.
Thirty million years ago saber-toothed nimravids, ranging in size from bobcats to tigers, were dominant carnivores. Their flexible jaws opened wide enough for long fangs to stab or slash the soft fleshy parts of their prey.
Rhinos were abundant and diversified over time, some maintaining their original lifestyle as browsers in the receding forests. Others began to graze the spreading meadows of grass, much like their three-toed cousins, the horse. Like the horse, this family tree would spread worldwide from its roots in North America.
Today, all of the species of this ancient environment are extinct. But consider the fossil record they left behind. From that record we can determine how past species fit into the tree of life, and which ones have evolved into the plants and animals we live with today.
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