Fossils and Paleontology

Alaska's ecosystem during the Cretaceous Period. Mural located at the Murie Science and Learning Center, Denali NP&P

Artwork by Karen Carr

Wrangell-St. Elias preserves more than just the plants and animals that visitors can see today. The park is also home to the fossilized remains of many plants and animals that have lived here through time.

Dinosaurs roamed through towering forests at a time when Alaska had a milder climate. There were wet winters and warm, dry summers, similar to the present day Pacific-Northwest coastline. During the Cretaceous, the annual average temperature is estimated to have been 51° F (11°C) while today it is below freezing at 28°F (-2°C). This reflects the pattern of globally warmer climate that persisted throughout the Cretaceous geological time period, which lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago.

Learn more about fossils, dinosaur bones and tracks on the National Park Service Paleontology website.

 

Numerous bluish-gray ichthyosaur bone fragments lie scattered across the surface of a hilltop near McCarthy, Alaska in Wrangell-St Elias NPP

Patrick Druckenmiller

Paleontology Articles & Reports

Prehistoric reptile one mile above McCarthy, Alaska in Wrangell-St. Elias
(online article in pdf format, 422 kb)

Natural Resource Technical Report
Paleontological Resource Inventory and Monitoring - Central Alaska Network
NPS/NRSS/NRTR—2011 (pdf, 448 kb)