Fossils

A Varanops Fossil Drawing by MMAC Young Artist Ada Rosenfield

Manzano Mountain Art Council / Artist Ada Rosenfield

The Paleontology at the Abo Ruins Park unit at Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument provides valuable insights into the evolution of species and the environment in which they lived. The Salinas Pueblo Missions National Park Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior are dedicated to preserving the traces of life in central New Mexico during the Early Permian. The park features red rocks from two formations: the oldest, Abo Formation, and the younger, Arroyo de Alamillo Formation. During this time, Earth's continents were a single continent known as Pangea, and New Mexico was a tropical paradise. The landscape was ideal for creatures who walked, scurried, and burrowed across the sediment, leaving traces of their lives.

Geology and trace fossils are crucial in understanding the lives of creatures in the Permian. Traces like Batrachichnus, Diplichnites, and Dromopus provide clues about their lives and behaviors. Batrachichnus, meaning "frog foot," was an ancient amphibian that lived along river and lake shores. Diplichnites, a trace fossil trackway, was made by a millipede-like arthropod. Dromopus, meaning "running foot," was an early reptile that scampered across the sediment surface. Their tracks resemble those of some lizards but predate the evolution of modern lizards by about 100 million years.

The Abo Ruins Park unit at Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument is home to a rich collection of paleontological fossils, including invertebrate and invertebrate trace fossils, plant fossils, and rare vertebrate body fossils. These fossils were found in the Abo Formation and Arroyo de Alamillo Formation of the Yeso Group, which formed 280 million years ago in the early Permian. Invertebrates include Batrachichnus, Dormopus, and Walchia, with tracks showing front feet, back feet, and tail dragging along between the two halves of the trackway.

Body fossils are the actual remains of an organism, and rare ones are discovered in these formations. For example, the articulated skeletal imprint of an early Permian synapsid reptile is preserved in the rock, with one half on one side and the other half on the other side. By creating 3D models of these counterparts, scientists can more accurately piece together the skeletal structure of this animal.