Online Games Answer Page

 

Mystery Fossil Game Answers

Before you check your answers, make sure you have completed the Mystery Fossil Game found on this webpage. How many did you answer correctly?

Mystery Fossil One: Orohippus major
Mystery Fossil Two: Eubrontotherium clarnoensis
Mystery Fossil Three: Hemipsalodaon grandis
Mystery Fossil Four: Hoplophoneus cerebralis
Mystery Fossil Five: Moropus oregonensis
Mystery Fossil Six: Daeodon humerosum
Mystery Fossil Seven: Daphoenus socialis
Mystery Fossil Eight: Gomphotherium
Mystery Fossil Nine: Pliohippus
Mystery Fossil Ten: Indarctos oregonensis
Mystery Fossil Eleven: Metasequoia

 

Website Scavenger Hunt Answers

Have you completed the Website Scavenger Hunt found on this webpage, ? How did you do? Scroll below to check your answers and find links to learn more!

Easier Questions

1. What does the park protect?
   The purpose of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is to preserve, and provide for the scientific and public understanding of, the geological and paleontological resources of the John Day region. We also protect the historical Cant Ranch and today’s bunch-grass steppe ecosystem. Learn more on the park's foundation page.
2. Are dinosaurs found at John Day Fossil Beds?
   We do not have any non-avian dinosaurs at John Day Fossil Beds. This is because this part of the country was beneath the Pacific Ocean. The area has been highly volcanically active since then, and the land has been built up out of the ocean during the Age of Mammals. One dinosaur fossil (a single toe bone) has been found near the monument, but is from a rock layer unrelated to the layers that make up the John Day Fossil Beds.
3. How much does it cost to visit the park?
   There are no visitor entrance fees for regular recreation visits at all three units of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.
4. Can you take home fossils found at the park?
   Collecting and digging for fossils is not allowed within the monument. In fact, all plants, rocks, animals, and artifacts are protected. Fossil collecting is available behind Wheeler High School in Fossil, OR. For more information, check the Wheeler County website.
5. Where can you see Sheep Rock anytime of the day?
   The park's webcam shows Sheep Rock 24-hours per day.
6. How many acres make up the park?
   John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is comprised of more than 14,000 acres within three separate units located in eastern Oregon: Sheep Rock, Painted Hills, and Clarno.
7. Where can you find a list of plants and animals that live at John Day Fossil Beds?
   You can find a list of plant species found at John Day Fossil Beds on the Plant page and a list of animal species found at the park on the Animals page.

Harder Questions

1. At what time period did it annually rain 100 inches in what is now ancient, eastern Oregon?
   About 44 million years ago, this now desert landscape annually experienced 100 inches of rain. Oregon was a hot, wet, semitropical place filled with a wide diversity of plants including palm trees and avocados. Learn more about the ecosystem and its plants and animals by visiting the Clarno Nut Beds page.
2. How many species of fruits and nuts were preserved in the fossil record at the Clarno Nut Beds?
   More than 175 species of fruits and nuts preserved in the fossil record suggest a forest more diverse than any modern ecosystem in this part of the world.
3. About 40 million years ago, how many toes did the horse, Haplohippus, have about 40 million years ago?
   Haplohippus was a small, three-toed, leaf-eating horses. Learn more about this animal and others by visiting the Hancock Mammal Quarry page.
4. What is Oregon's state fossil that still lives today in eastern Asia?
   The “dawn redwood” or Metasequoia, is Oregon’s state fossil. Learn more about other plants found in the Bridge Creek assemblage,
5. What primate was found in the Turtle Cove assemblage?
   The primate is Ekgmowechashala and looks similar to a lemur.
6. How were beavers in ancient Oregon different than today's beavers?
   Unlike their cousins today, this member of the beaver family did not live in water or cut down trees. Capacikala gradatus was a burrowing beaver and used their claws and chisel-like incisors to dig burrows underground, living like modern gophers and prairie dogs. The appearance of burrowing beavers in Oregon around 29 million years ago reflects more open environments at that time. Learn more by visiting the Upper John Day assemblage.
7. How many tusks did the Gomphotherium or ancestral elephant have?
   Gomphotherium was a trunked, four tusked elephant relative. Explore more on the Mascall assemblage page.
8. What is the name of the 12-foot relative of modern bears?
   Indarctos oregonensis was a 12 foot relative of modern bears- a formidable predator. Read more about the other plants and animals found in the Rattlesnake assemblage, about 7 million years ago.