Shovel-tusked elephant depicted in Gray Fossil Site Museum mural. The discovery of the Gray Fossil Site , located in Gray, TN, in the southern Appalachian Mountains, is telling the world previously untold stories about the climate and wildlife in eastern North America 4.5 million years ago during the Miocene era. In doing so, this discovery is enriching the knowledge of scientists around the world. Exciting finds of pre-historic Red pandas, Shovel-tusked elephants, tapirs, rhinoceros, prehistoric badgers, camels and alligators, sabor-toothed tigers and sloths, all have brought new understanding to us about climate change and land mass formations from North America to Asia, all of this told through the stories of flora and fauna being uncovered at the site.
Red Panda skull (left) compared to today's Red Panda (right) on display through the window of the paleontology lab. Constructed with wrap around windows, visitors can see the newest discoveries being processed and pieced together. I love the stories. I love the way the earth speaks to us and tells her stories through nature. A journey into enrichment, an experience beyond the everyday and into the wonders of time and change--nature, with a different face, showing her depth and endurance.
A special thank you to Stephen Lyn Bales and Ijams Nature Center for organizing this trip back in time.
No comments:
Post a Comment