Black Mesa is a

mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

s of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. It extends from Mesa de Maya, Colorado southeasterly along the north bank of the Cimarron River, crossing the northeast corner of New Mexico to end at the confluence of the Cimarron River and North Carrizo Creek near Kenton in the

Oklahoma panhandle The Oklahoma Panhandle (formerly called No Man's Land, the Public Land Strip, the Neutral Strip, or Cimarron Territory) is a salient in the extreme northwestern region of the U.S. state of Oklahoma, consisting of Cimarron County, Texas Count ...

. Its highest elevation is in Colorado. The highest point of Black Mesa within New Mexico is . In northwestern

Cimarron County, Oklahoma Cimarron County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its county seat is Boise City. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,296, making it the least-populous county in Oklahoma; and indeed, throughout most of its hi ...

, Black Mesa reaches , the highest point in the state of Oklahoma. The plateau that formed at the top of the mesa has been known as a "geological wonder" of North America. There is abundant wildlife in this

shortgrass prairie The shortgrass prairie is an ecosystem located in the Great Plains of North America. The two most dominant grasses in the shortgrass prairie are blue grama (''Bouteloua gracilis'') and buffalograss (''Bouteloua dactyloides''), the two less domina ...

environment, including

mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. ...

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

, and the

Texas horned lizard The Texas horned lizard (''Phrynosoma cornutum'') is one of about 14 North American species of spikey-bodied reptiles called horned lizards, all belonging the genus '' Phrynosoma''. It occurs in south-central regions of the US and northeastern M ...

History

The plateau has been home to

Plains Indians Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of N ...

. In the late-nineteenth and early twentieth century the area was a hideout for

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...

s such as William Coe and

Black Jack Ketchum Thomas Edward Ketchum (known as Black Jack; October 31, 1863 – April 26, 1901) was an American cowboy who later became an outlaw. He was executed in 1901 for attempted train robbery. The execution by hanging was botched; he was decapitate ...

. The outlaws built a fort known as the ''Robbers' Roost''. The stone fort housed a blacksmith shop, gun ports, and a piano. The present-day

Oklahoma Panhandle The Oklahoma Panhandle (formerly called No Man's Land, the Public Land Strip, the Neutral Strip, or Cimarron Territory) is a salient in the extreme northwestern region of the U.S. state of Oklahoma, consisting of Cimarron County, Texas Count ...

area, which was then considered a

no man's land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...

, lacked law enforcement agencies and hence the outlaws found it safe to hide in the region. However, as new settlers arrived in the area for copper and coal mining and also for cattle ranching activities by grazing cattle in the mesa region, law enforcement became more effective, and the outlaws were brought under control. In more recent times, at least one person has claimed to have been abducted by extraterrestrial aliens at Black Mesa.

Geography

The Mesa is situated in

Cimarron County Cimarron County is the westernmost County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its county seat is Boise City, Oklahoma, Boise City. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 2,296, making it the leas ...

in the

. The Black Mesa plateau is part of the Rocky Mountains and the shortgrass prairie. Some features include the Old Maid Rock, and Devil's Tombstone. The mesa's base includes a escarpment which is parallel with the Dry Cimarron River's north bank. Its highest elevation is in Colorado. The highest point of Black Mesa within New Mexico is . In northwestern

, Black Mesa reaches , the highest point in the state of Oklahoma. A hiking trail of leads from the preserve to the summit which rises about above the level of the surrounding plains, and a round trip requires four hours minimum; overnight camping is not permitted. The mesa's highest point within Oklahoma is marked by a granite

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

, and a visitors' log.

Climate

Black Mesa is not only the highest point in Oklahoma but it is also the driest, harshest and coldest place in the state. A nearby weather station is located in Kenton.

Geology

The visual and map view appearance of Black Mesa is as an " inverted valley" because

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

has removed the relatively soft

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic matter, organic particles at Earth#Surface, Earth's surface, followed by cementation (geology), cementation. Sedimentati ...

strata In geology and related fields, a stratum ( : strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as ei ...

from either side of the resistant Raton

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

of the

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

which originally had occupied and filled a river valley. The mesa is capped by erosion-resistant basaltic lava formed by a

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

eruption 3 to 5 million years ago. The lava erupted from a vent in the Raton-Clayton volcanic field in northeastern New Mexico and southeastern Colorado. The volcanic cap to the mesa is thick, long and from 0.5 miles to 8 miles wide, which is to the north-northwest of Oklahoma. The erupting lava filled a stream channel in the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Ogallala Formation. During the years since the eruption, the adjacent rock of the Ogallala and older formations have been removed leaving the valley-filling basalt perched atop a long ridge. Strata exposed along the mesa below the basalt and Ogallala include the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

Dakota Sandstone The Dakota is a sedimentary geologic unit name of formation and group rank in Midwestern North America. The Dakota units are generally composed of sandstones, mudstones, clays, and shales deposited in the Mid-Cretaceous opening of the Western ...

and the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

Morrison Formation The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic, Upper Jurassic sedimentary rock found in the western United States which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandsto ...

. Beginning in 1935, geologists and paleontologists have searched the mesa's outcroppings, finding

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

fossils in the

and

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

. A large quantity of dinosaur bones has been recovered from the Black Mesa locale; totaling over eighteen tonnes. These remains were split between several species, including

stegosaurus ''Stegosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of herbivorous, four-legged, armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been foun ...

camptosaurus ''Camptosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of plant-eating, beaked ornithischian dinosaurs of the Late Jurassic period of western North America and possibly also Europe. The name means 'flexible lizard' ( Greek (') meaning 'bent' and (') meaning 'li ...

diplodocus ''Diplodocus'' (, , or ) was a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaurs, whose fossils were first discovered in 1877 by S. W. Williston. The generic name, coined by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1878, is a neo-Latin term derived from Greek δι� ...

, and

edmontosaurus ''Edmontosaurus'' ( ) (meaning "lizard from Edmonton") is a genus of hadrosaurid (duck-billed) dinosaur. It contains two known species: ''Edmontosaurus regalis'' and ''Edmontosaurus annectens''. Fossils of ''E. regalis'' have been found in rocks ...

. Clear fossil physical evidence, a distinct line of footprints believed to have been made by an

allosaurus ''Allosaurus'' () is a genus of large carnosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic epoch ( Kimmeridgian to late Tithonian). The name "''Allosaurus''" means "different lizard" alludin ...

, has been found juxtaposed with the Carrizo Creek, which runs around the modern-day northern edge of the mesa.

Protected area

The mesa lies in the protected area known as the Black Mesa Nature Preserve which was established in 1991, covering . The preserve protects 60% of the area of the mesa peak. The peak is accessible along an trail. Apart from the nature reserve, there is also the

Black Mesa State Park Black Mesa State Park is an Oklahoma state park in Cimarron County, near the western border of the Oklahoma panhandle and New Mexico. The park is located about away from its namesake, Black Mesa, the highest point in Oklahoma ( above sea leve ...

encompassing , with a lake known as

Lake Carl Etling Lake Carl Etling, elevation , also called Lake Carl G. Etling and Carl Etling Lake, is located southeast of Kenton, Oklahoma in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, inside Black Mesa State Park. Fed by South Carrizo Creek South Carrizo Creek forms either j ...

. The park is a recreational area with many facilities for camping, hiking and many other outdoor activities. The park is about 15 miles away from the peak.

Wildlife

The flora and fauna and terrain of Black Mesa are unique in Oklahoma, more typical of the semi-arid

grasslands A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natural ...

and rocky

butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...

s of eastern Colorado and New Mexico. Many species reach their easternmost or westernmost limits of their ranges here. Black Mesa Nature Preserve in particular covers around 60% of the flat portion of the mesa in Oklahoma. Wildlife reported in the park and the reserve are golden eagles, piñon jays, red-tailed hawks, and mule deer, part from a bird area for bird watchers.

Flora

The vegetation of the preserve is mostly shortgrass prairie with scattered

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

trees and

Cholla cactus ''Cylindropuntia'' is a genus of cacti (family Cactaceae), containing species commonly known as chollas, native to northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States. They are known for their barbed spines that tenaciously attach to skin, fur, ...

. The summit plateau is vegetatively classified as a "Bluestem-grama shortgrass community". The preserve contains 23 plant species listed by the state as "rare"

Fauna

The indigenous top predator is the

; its cousin, the smaller

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...

, is also present. The more omnivorous

American black bear The American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), also called simply a black bear or sometimes a baribal, is a medium-sized bear endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. American black bear ...

is present, along with a variety of prey species including

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

, and

pronghorn The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American a ...

. Eight native species of animal are state-level designated as "rare". Two

lagomorph The lagomorphs are the members of the taxonomic order Lagomorpha, of which there are two living families: the Leporidae (hares and rabbits) and the Ochotonidae (pikas). The name of the order is derived from the Ancient Greek ''lagos'' (λαγ� ...

s are present, the

eastern cottontail The eastern cottontail (''Sylvilagus floridanus'') is a New World cottontail rabbit, a member of the family Leporidae. It is the most common rabbit species in North America. Distribution The eastern cottontail can be found in meadows and shrubb ...

(''Sylvilagus floridanus''), and the

black-tailed jackrabbit The black-tailed jackrabbit (''Lepus californicus''), also known as the American desert hare, is a common hare of the western United States and Mexico, where it is found at elevations from sea level up to . Reaching a length around , and a ...

(''Lepus californicus''). Other mammals include the dog-like

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

, as well as the much smaller

prairie dog Prairie dogs (genus ''Cynomys'') are herbivorous burrowing ground squirrels native to the grasslands of North America. Within the genus are five species: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah, and Mexican prairie dogs. In Mexico, p ...

and a species of

badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...

. Nine snake species are found in this arid environment, the plains hog-nosed snake, western coachwhip,

bullsnake The bullsnake (''Pituophis catenifer sayi)'' is a large, nonvenomous, colubrid snake. It is a subspecies of the gopher snake (''Pituophis catenifer''). The bullsnake is one of the largest/longest snakes of North America and the United States, re ...

, longnose snake, plains blackhead snake,

blackneck garter snake :''Common names'': blackneck garter snake, black-neck garter snake ''Thamnophis cyrtopsis'', the blackneck garter snake, is a species of garter snake of the genus '' Thamnophis''. It is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico and Guatema ...

plains garter snake The plains garter snake (''Thamnophis radix'') is a species of garter snake native to most of the central United States as far north as Canada and as far south as Texas. It has a distinctive orange or yellow stripe from its head to tail, and the ...

, lined snake, and

prairie rattlesnake Prairie rattlesnake may refer to: * '' Crotalus viridis'', a.k.a. the plains rattlesnake, a venomous pitviper species native to the western United States, southwestern Canada, and northern Mexico. * ''Sistrurus catenatus The massasauga (''Sistr ...

. The

broad-headed skink The broad-headed skink or broadhead skink (''Plestiodon laticeps'') is species of lizard, endemic to the southeastern United States. The broadhead skink occurs in sympatry with the five-lined skink (''Plestiodon fasciatus'') and Southeastern f ...

, prairie racerunner, red-lipped plateau lizard, northern earless lizard, eastern collared lizard, and

are also indigenous to the area. Two types of

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...

, the

ornate box turtle The ornate box turtle (''Terrapene ornata ornata'') is one of only two terrestrial species of turtles native to the Great Plains of the United States. It is one of the two different subspecies of ''Terrapene ornata''. It is the state reptile of ...

and the

yellow mud turtle The yellow mud turtle (''Kinosternon flavescens''), also commonly known as the yellow-necked mud turtle, is a species of mud turtle in the family Kinosternidae. The species is endemic to the Central United States and Mexico. Distribution *North ...

have been found in the Black Mesa preserve. Only one frog is found in this desert habitat, the

American bullfrog The American bullfrog (''Lithobates catesbeianus''), often simply known as the bullfrog in Canada and the United States, is a large true frog native to eastern North America. It typically inhabits large permanent water bodies such as swamps, po ...

, but there are six other species of amphibians; the Great Plains narrowmouth toad, New Mexico spadefoot, plains spadefoot,

Woodhouse's toad Woodhouse's toad (''Anaxyrus woodhousii'') is a medium-sized () true toad native to the United States and Mexico. There are three recognized subspecies. ''A. woodhousii'' tends to hybridize with '' Anaxyrus americanus'' where their ranges overl ...

, red-spotted toad, and the western green toad, all

toads Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scienti ...

. Birds are common, and there are 59 species present during at least some years. Seven different

raptor Raptor or RAPTOR may refer to: Animals The word "raptor" refers to several groups of bird-like dinosaurs which primarily capture and subdue/kill prey with their talons. * Raptor (bird) or bird of prey, a bird that primarily hunts and feeds on ...

s are found, the

turkey vulture The turkey vulture (''Cathartes aura'') is the most widespread of the New World vultures. One of three species in the genus '' Cathartes'' of the family Cathartidae, the turkey vulture ranges from southern Canada to the southernmost tip of Sout ...

American kestrel The American kestrel (''Falco sparverius''), also called the sparrow hawk, is the smallest and most common falcon in North America. It has a roughly two-to-one range in size over subspecies and sex, varying in size from about the weight of ...

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of p ...

ferruginous hawk The ferruginous hawk, (''Buteo regalis''), is a large bird of prey and belongs to the broad-winged buteo hawks. An old colloquial name is ferrugineous rough-leg, due to its similarity to the closely related rough-legged hawk (''B. lagopus''). ...

red-tailed hawk The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members with ...

, Mississippi kite, and the

prairie falcon The prairie falcon (''Falco mexicanus'') is a medium-large sized falcon of western North America. It is about the size of a peregrine falcon or a crow, with an average length of 40 cm (16 in), wingspan of approximately 1 meter (40&nb ...

, all of which are classed as being of

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

according to the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

. There is one other bird of prey, the

western screech-owl The western screech owl (''Megascops kennicottii'') is a small owl native to North and Central America, closely related to the eastern screech owl. The scientific name commemorates the American naturalist Robert Kennicott. Description Length ...

. There are no

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...

found on Black Mesa. The

mourning dove The mourning dove (''Zenaida macroura'') is a member of the dove family, Columbidae. The bird is also known as the American mourning dove, the rain dove, and colloquially as the turtle dove, and was once known as the Carolina pigeon and Caroli ...

greater roadrunner The greater roadrunner (''Geococcyx californianus'') is a long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae, from the Aridoamerica region in the Southwestern United States and Mexico. The scientific name means "Californian earth-cuckoo". Along wit ...

common nighthawk The common nighthawk (''Chordeiles minor'') is a medium-sized crepuscular or nocturnal bird of the Americas within the nightjar family, whose presence and identity are best revealed by its vocalization. Typically dark (gray, black and brown), ...

common poorwill The common poorwill (''Phalaenoptilus nuttallii'') is a nocturnal bird of the family Caprimulgidae, the nightjars. It is found from British Columbia and southeastern Alberta, through the western United States to northern Mexico. The bird's habi ...

, ladder-backed woodpecker,

red-shafted flicker The northern flicker or common flicker (''Colaptes auratus'') is a medium-sized bird of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands, and is one of the few woodpecker speci ...

olive-sided flycatcher The olive-sided flycatcher (''Contopus cooperi'') is a small to medium sized passerine bird in the family Tyrannidae, the Tyrant flycatcher family. It is a migratory species that travels from South to North America to breed during the summer. It ...

, Say's phoebe,

ash-throated flycatcher The ash-throated flycatcher (''Myiarchus cinerascens'') is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. Taxonomy First described in 1851 by George Newbold Lawrence from a specimen collected in western Texas in the United States, the ash-th ...

Cassin's kingbird Cassin's kingbird (''Tyrannus vociferans'') is a large tyrant flycatcher native to western North America. The name of this bird commemorates the American ornithologist John Cassin. Taxonomy Cassin's kingbird was formally described in 1826 by En ...

, and

western kingbird The western kingbird (''Tyrannus verticalis'') is a large tyrant flycatcher found throughout western environments of North America, as far south as Mexico. Description Adults are a combination of both gray and yellow plumage, along with crimson f ...

are also found. There are five corvids; the

black-billed magpie The black-billed magpie (''Pica hudsonia''), also known as the American magpie, is a bird in the corvid family found in the western half of North America. It is black and white, with black areas on the wings and tail showing iridescent hints o ...

pinyon jay The pinyon jay (''Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus'') is a species of jay, and is the only member of the genus ''Gymnorhinus''. Native to Western North America, the species ranges from central Oregon to northern Baja California, and eastward as far as ...

American crow The American crow (''Corvus brachyrhynchos'') is a large passerine bird species of the family Corvidae. It is a common bird found throughout much of North America. American crows are the New World counterpart to the carrion crow of Europe an ...

, and

common raven The common raven (''Corvus corax'') is a large all-black passerine bird. It is the most widely distributed of all corvids, found across the Northern Hemisphere. It is a raven known by many names at the subspecies level; there are at least ...

, as well as the more local

Chihuahuan raven The Chihuahuan raven (''Corvus cryptoleucus'') is a species of crow in the family Corvidae that is native to the United States and Mexico. Description The proportions resemble the common raven with a heavy bill, but is about the same size as a c ...

61 species of butterfly are found in the preserve, including seventeen skippers, three swallowtails, four hairstreaks, a

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

, four

whites White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as " ...

, nine true brushfoots, two

satyrs In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, σειληνός ), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exag ...

, and a leafwing. There are 91 species of moths on Black Mesa. No species of fish are found on Black Mesa.

Culture

A permanent exhibit in the

Sam Noble Museum Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictio ...

is a

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...

of the Black Mesa. It covers and is housed in the Hall of Natural Wonders. Funds for its creation were provided by the Whitten-Newman Foundation. The diorama is touchscreen computerized and interactive and is set within the boundaries of the mesa. It is a replication of the real shape and form of the mesa and is modeled to a suitable scale which brings out the short-grass prairie habitat next to a rivulet. Stuffed and mounted animals on display are the ones found in the mesa, including eagle, vulture, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, mountain lion, prairie dog, jackrabbit and badger. An ephemeral lake is also on display in a cross section format. Star gazers gather each October near Black Mesa for the annual Okie-Tex Star Party.Richter, p. 34

References

External links

Black Mesa State Park & Nature Preserve

TopoQuest map of Black Mesa State Park

{{U.S. State Highest Points Landforms of Cimarron County, Oklahoma Landforms of Las Animas County, Colorado Mesas of Oklahoma Landforms of Union County, New Mexico Mesas of New Mexico Highest points of U.S. states Mesas of Colorado North American 1000 m summits Articles containing video clips Geography of Oklahoma