A major collection of fossils discovered in Bears Ears National Monument, now in jeopardy
newsdepo.com
The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology released a statement concerning the Bears Ears National Monument and its import to the scientific community, back in December. They pointed out that Bears Ears has yet to be comprehensively studied but as a site it offerA major collection of fossils discovered in Bears Ears National Monument, now in jeopardy
The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology released a statement concerning the Bears Ears National Monument and its import to the scientific community, back in December. They pointed out that Bears Ears has yet to be comprehensively studied but as a site it offered up the potential for some great discovery. Bears Ears National Monument was established only last December, 2016, following a long history of advocating by Native American tribes, conservationists, and scientists. Bears Ears is in the southwestern part of Utah near the Four Corners area. While paleontological research has been carried out there for more than 90 years, the short time that Bears Ears has enjoyed monument status means that it has not yet been as extensively studied as GSE NM. Nevertheless, Bears Ears has the potential to be as paleontologically spectacular as Grand Staircase. Bears Ears is stratigraphically older. Extensive exposures of the Pennsylvanian- and Permian-aged Cutler Group preserve some of the oldest terrestrial vertebrates, as well as highly fossiliferous sites that document vertebrate ecosystems before the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. The Triassic-Jurassic transition is especially well preserved in the Red Canyon and Indian Creek parts of the Monument, and the Jurassic sections near Monticello and Blanding, Utah have produced many important finds, including the prosauropod Seitaad. They released this statement to point out that the Trump-proposed “cuts” to Bears Ears National Monument could be devastating to scientists. An Indiana University paleontologist was interviewed by Science around the same time, about how this could logistically affect scientific pursuits and discovery. Trump’s proposal cuts away tons of federal land that could be used by scientists for study and the public and the Native Americans, whose claim to the land goes far back before Donald Trump’s grand ancestor sold his soul to the devil. On top of the actually areas being taken away from the public in order to line the pockets of private interests, there are other far-reaching consequences of what is being proposed by this administration across the board. Read more