Footprints found in White Sands National Park were dated to the Last Glacial Maximum by USGS Research Geologists Kathleen Springer and Jeff Pigati.
Can USGS photos of fossils be downloaded or viewed online?
Some fossil photos can be viewed and downloaded from the USGS Photographic Library and our Multimedia Gallery. Fossil photos can also be viewed as published plates within many online USGS publications. Visit the USGS Publications Warehouse to search for publications. The best keywords for searches are author names, such as William Cobban, Norm Silberling, and Glenn Scott.
The USGS fossil collection was moved to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in 2020, so they are another good source.
Related
Did people and dinosaurs live at the same time? Did people and dinosaurs live at the same time?
No! After the dinosaurs died out, nearly 65 million years passed before people appeared on Earth. However, small mammals (including shrew-sized primates) were alive at the time of the dinosaurs. Some scientists who study dinosaurs (vertebrate paleontologists) now think that birds are direct descendants of one line of carnivorous dinosaurs, and some consider that they in fact represent modern...
Did all the dinosaurs live together, and at the same time? Did all the dinosaurs live together, and at the same time?
Dinosaur communities were separated by both time and geography. The 'Age of Dinosaurs' (the Mesozoic Era) included three consecutive geologic time periods (the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods). Different dinosaur species lived during each of these three periods. For example, the Jurassic dinosaur Stegosaurus had already been extinct for approximately 80 million years before the...
Where can I find information about the geology and natural history of National Parks? Where can I find information about the geology and natural history of National Parks?
Our National Parks are the showcases of our nation's geological heritage. The National Park Service has websites for most individual parks that include information about their geology and natural history. A source of information from the USGS is our Geology and Ecology of National Parks website. The website has listings for regions of the country; selected parks are listed within each region...
When did dinosaurs become extinct? When did dinosaurs become extinct?
Dinosaurs went extinct about 65 million years ago (at the end of the Cretaceous Period), after living on Earth for about 165 million years. If all of Earth time from the very beginning of the dinosaurs to today were compressed into 365 days (one calendar year), the dinosaurs appeared January 1 and became extinct the third week of September. (Using this same time scale, the Earth would have formed...
Where did dinosaurs live? Where did dinosaurs live?
Dinosaurs lived on all of the continents. At the beginning of the age of dinosaurs (during the Triassic Period, about 230 million years ago), the continents were arranged together as a single supercontinent called Pangea. During the 165 million years of dinosaur existence this supercontinent slowly broke apart. Its pieces then spread across the globe into a nearly modern arrangement by a process...
Footprints found in White Sands National Park
Footprints found in White Sands National Park were dated to the Last Glacial Maximum by USGS Research Geologists Kathleen Springer and Jeff Pigati.
Reconstructed fossil horse skeleton found at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho
Reconstructed fossil horse skeleton found at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, IdahoReconstructed fossil horse skeleton found at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho. National Park Service photo, https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/equus_simplicidens.htm.
Reconstructed fossil horse skeleton found at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho
Reconstructed fossil horse skeleton found at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, IdahoReconstructed fossil horse skeleton found at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho. National Park Service photo, https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/equus_simplicidens.htm.
Fossil clams and snails.
Image of fossil clams and snails from the collection of Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, New York.
Image of fossil clams and snails from the collection of Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, New York.
Mollusk Fossils
USGS Mollusk Fossils in the Denver Collection.
USGS Mollusk Fossils in the Denver Collection.
Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond
Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and BeyondPhoto of fossil algae (dinocyst). Specimen is about 90 micrometers across.The largest known impact crater in the U.S. lies buried beneath the Virginia Coastal Plain.
Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond
Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and BeyondPhoto of fossil algae (dinocyst). Specimen is about 90 micrometers across.The largest known impact crater in the U.S. lies buried beneath the Virginia Coastal Plain.
Fossil Discovery Makes History: Studying a Prehistoric Climate and Ecosystem in Colorado
Fossil Discovery Makes History: Studying a Prehistoric Climate and Ecosystem in ColoradoA trio of USGS scientists has been involved in the excavation and study of a major animal and plant fossil discovery in Snowmass Village, Colo., which provides more than 100,000 years of vegetation and climate records for the area.
Fossil Discovery Makes History: Studying a Prehistoric Climate and Ecosystem in Colorado
Fossil Discovery Makes History: Studying a Prehistoric Climate and Ecosystem in ColoradoA trio of USGS scientists has been involved in the excavation and study of a major animal and plant fossil discovery in Snowmass Village, Colo., which provides more than 100,000 years of vegetation and climate records for the area.
Trilobite Fossil
Trilobite fossil, an extinct marine invertebrate. Item originally from Alnif, Morocco.
Trilobite fossil, an extinct marine invertebrate. Item originally from Alnif, Morocco.
Trilobite Fossil (Phacops rana africana)
A fossilized Trilobite, Phacops rana africana, an extinct marine invertebrate. Item originally from Alnif, Morocco.
A fossilized Trilobite, Phacops rana africana, an extinct marine invertebrate. Item originally from Alnif, Morocco.
Fossil Fish (Jiang Hanichthys)
Fossilized Jiang Hanichthys, an extinct fish that lived from the Cretaceaous to 100 million years ago. Item originally from Hubai Province, China.
Fossilized Jiang Hanichthys, an extinct fish that lived from the Cretaceaous to 100 million years ago. Item originally from Hubai Province, China.
Fossil Fish (Jiang Hanichthys)
Fossilized Jiang Hanichthys, an extinct fish that lived from the Cretaceaous to 100 million years ago. Item originally from Hubai Province, China.
Fossilized Jiang Hanichthys, an extinct fish that lived from the Cretaceaous to 100 million years ago. Item originally from Hubai Province, China.
Mastodon Fossil
Denver Museum of Nature and Science personnel excavate a large mastodon tusk at the Ziegler Reservoir site.
Denver Museum of Nature and Science personnel excavate a large mastodon tusk at the Ziegler Reservoir site.
Related
Did people and dinosaurs live at the same time? Did people and dinosaurs live at the same time?
No! After the dinosaurs died out, nearly 65 million years passed before people appeared on Earth. However, small mammals (including shrew-sized primates) were alive at the time of the dinosaurs. Some scientists who study dinosaurs (vertebrate paleontologists) now think that birds are direct descendants of one line of carnivorous dinosaurs, and some consider that they in fact represent modern...
Did all the dinosaurs live together, and at the same time? Did all the dinosaurs live together, and at the same time?
Dinosaur communities were separated by both time and geography. The 'Age of Dinosaurs' (the Mesozoic Era) included three consecutive geologic time periods (the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods). Different dinosaur species lived during each of these three periods. For example, the Jurassic dinosaur Stegosaurus had already been extinct for approximately 80 million years before the...
Where can I find information about the geology and natural history of National Parks? Where can I find information about the geology and natural history of National Parks?
Our National Parks are the showcases of our nation's geological heritage. The National Park Service has websites for most individual parks that include information about their geology and natural history. A source of information from the USGS is our Geology and Ecology of National Parks website. The website has listings for regions of the country; selected parks are listed within each region...
When did dinosaurs become extinct? When did dinosaurs become extinct?
Dinosaurs went extinct about 65 million years ago (at the end of the Cretaceous Period), after living on Earth for about 165 million years. If all of Earth time from the very beginning of the dinosaurs to today were compressed into 365 days (one calendar year), the dinosaurs appeared January 1 and became extinct the third week of September. (Using this same time scale, the Earth would have formed...
Where did dinosaurs live? Where did dinosaurs live?
Dinosaurs lived on all of the continents. At the beginning of the age of dinosaurs (during the Triassic Period, about 230 million years ago), the continents were arranged together as a single supercontinent called Pangea. During the 165 million years of dinosaur existence this supercontinent slowly broke apart. Its pieces then spread across the globe into a nearly modern arrangement by a process...
Footprints found in White Sands National Park
Footprints found in White Sands National Park were dated to the Last Glacial Maximum by USGS Research Geologists Kathleen Springer and Jeff Pigati.
Footprints found in White Sands National Park were dated to the Last Glacial Maximum by USGS Research Geologists Kathleen Springer and Jeff Pigati.
Reconstructed fossil horse skeleton found at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho
Reconstructed fossil horse skeleton found at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, IdahoReconstructed fossil horse skeleton found at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho. National Park Service photo, https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/equus_simplicidens.htm.
Reconstructed fossil horse skeleton found at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho
Reconstructed fossil horse skeleton found at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, IdahoReconstructed fossil horse skeleton found at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho. National Park Service photo, https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/equus_simplicidens.htm.
Fossil clams and snails.
Image of fossil clams and snails from the collection of Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, New York.
Image of fossil clams and snails from the collection of Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, New York.
Mollusk Fossils
USGS Mollusk Fossils in the Denver Collection.
USGS Mollusk Fossils in the Denver Collection.
Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond
Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and BeyondPhoto of fossil algae (dinocyst). Specimen is about 90 micrometers across.The largest known impact crater in the U.S. lies buried beneath the Virginia Coastal Plain.
Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and Beyond
Mysterious Fossils from the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater and BeyondPhoto of fossil algae (dinocyst). Specimen is about 90 micrometers across.The largest known impact crater in the U.S. lies buried beneath the Virginia Coastal Plain.
Fossil Discovery Makes History: Studying a Prehistoric Climate and Ecosystem in Colorado
Fossil Discovery Makes History: Studying a Prehistoric Climate and Ecosystem in ColoradoA trio of USGS scientists has been involved in the excavation and study of a major animal and plant fossil discovery in Snowmass Village, Colo., which provides more than 100,000 years of vegetation and climate records for the area.
Fossil Discovery Makes History: Studying a Prehistoric Climate and Ecosystem in Colorado
Fossil Discovery Makes History: Studying a Prehistoric Climate and Ecosystem in ColoradoA trio of USGS scientists has been involved in the excavation and study of a major animal and plant fossil discovery in Snowmass Village, Colo., which provides more than 100,000 years of vegetation and climate records for the area.
Trilobite Fossil
Trilobite fossil, an extinct marine invertebrate. Item originally from Alnif, Morocco.
Trilobite fossil, an extinct marine invertebrate. Item originally from Alnif, Morocco.
Trilobite Fossil (Phacops rana africana)
A fossilized Trilobite, Phacops rana africana, an extinct marine invertebrate. Item originally from Alnif, Morocco.
A fossilized Trilobite, Phacops rana africana, an extinct marine invertebrate. Item originally from Alnif, Morocco.
Fossil Fish (Jiang Hanichthys)
Fossilized Jiang Hanichthys, an extinct fish that lived from the Cretaceaous to 100 million years ago. Item originally from Hubai Province, China.
Fossilized Jiang Hanichthys, an extinct fish that lived from the Cretaceaous to 100 million years ago. Item originally from Hubai Province, China.
Fossil Fish (Jiang Hanichthys)
Fossilized Jiang Hanichthys, an extinct fish that lived from the Cretaceaous to 100 million years ago. Item originally from Hubai Province, China.
Fossilized Jiang Hanichthys, an extinct fish that lived from the Cretaceaous to 100 million years ago. Item originally from Hubai Province, China.
Mastodon Fossil
Denver Museum of Nature and Science personnel excavate a large mastodon tusk at the Ziegler Reservoir site.
Denver Museum of Nature and Science personnel excavate a large mastodon tusk at the Ziegler Reservoir site.
Updated Date: May 8, 2026