The Ash Hollow Formation of the

Ogallala Group The Ogallala Formation is a Miocene to early Pliocene geologic formation in the central High Plains of the western United States and the location of the Ogallala Aquifer. In Nebraska and South Dakota it is also classified as the Ogallala Group. ...

is a

geological formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...

found in

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

and

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

. It preserves

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

dating back to the

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

. It was named after Ash Hollow, Nebraska and can be seen in

Ash Hollow State Historical Park Ash Hollow State Historical Park is located south of Lewellen in Garden County, Nebraska. The park comprises two attractions located from each other: Ash Hollow Cave and Windlass Hill. Ash Hollow Cave A spring in the vicinity of Ash Hollow C ...

Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park The Ashfall Fossil Beds of Antelope County in northeastern Nebraska are rare fossil sites of the type called lagerstätten that, due to extraordinary local conditions, capture an ecological "snapshot" in time of a range of well-preserved fossil ...

is within this formation.

Fossil content

Mammals

Bats

Carnivorans

Eulipotyphlans

Lagomorphs

Rodents

Ungulates

Proboscideans

Reptiles

Birds

Crocodilians

Squamates

Testudines

Amphibians

Plants

References

* Neogene United States Neogene geology of Nebraska Neogene geology of South Dakota Neogene geology of Wyoming Lagerstätten {{SouthDakota-geologic-formation-stub