In 1971, a visiting paleontologist happened to find the skull of a complete baby rhino protruding from the side of a gully in Royal, Nebraska. The skull lay near the bottom of a newly exposed bed of sparking grey ash and turned out to be the first of more than 100 rhino skeletons excavated by the University of Nebraska State Museum crews at what became known as the Ashfall Fossil Beds where we visited today.

It is extremely rare for whole herds of animals to die and be buried so quickly that their carcasses remain largely intact, as happened at Ashfall. In the ash bed, some rhinos were literally buried in their tracks, with their last footprints clearly visible.

Paleontologists continue to study and excavate the site, and have determined that a large herd of Barrel-bodied Rhinos, together with Crowned crane and giant tortoises were at a watering hole when a sudden fall of volcanic ash sweeping across the plains like a grey blizzard, devastated the landscape. Confused and choking, the animals began to die. Scientists have shown that the ash that killed and eventually buried the animals, blew eastward from a huge volcanic eruption in what is now southwestern Idaho.

If a time machine were to transport you back 12 million years, you would find Nebraska covered with sub-tropical grasses and patches of jungle. Prior to the catastrophic ash fall, discoveries at Ashfall give a detailed picture of an area inhabited by a rich variety of life reminiscent of modern East African savannas.

The skeleton of a a Barrel-bodied rhino.

The skeleton of a 3-toed Horse that was discovered last year.