Anza-Borrego Desert State Park - Geology and Paleontology

Geology and Paleontology

The expanses of Anza-Borrego's eroded badlands also provide a different view into the region's long vanished tropical past. The inland of southeastern California was not always a desert. Paleontology, the study of the fossilized remains of ancient life, is the key to understanding and engaging this prehistoric world. Anza-Borrego has an exceptional fossil record; and include preserved plants, a variety of invertebrate shells, animal tracks, and an array of bones and teeth. Most Anza-Borrego fossils date from six million to under a half million years in age, or about 60 million years after the last dinosaur age ended.