Paleontology is the study of the ancient past through fossils and the geologic record. Fossils are simply the preserved remains or traces of ancient plants and animals. With regard to animals, the parts of the animal most likely to fossilize are the hardest parts, that is, bones, teeth, and shells.
The Reach Museum in Richland, Washington, focuses on the Hanford Reach area of the Columbia River. The Museum includes a small display of animal fossils from the region.
Shown above is the tusk from a woolly mammoth.
Shown above are Mastodon bone fragments.
Shown above is a bone from a ground sloth.
Shown above are the upper and lower jaws of a ground sloth.
Shown above is a skull fragment from a deer.
Shown above is a jaw fragment from a deer.
Shown above is a tooth from a peccary.
Shown above is a camel metatarsal.
Shown above is a bone fragment from a camel (2) and a bone fragment from a horse (3).
Shown above is an upper tooth from a camel.
Shown above is jaw fragment from a large cat.
Shown above is the lower jaw from a camel.
Shown above is the upper jaw from a camel.
Shown above are rodent burrows.
Shown above are bone fragments from Bony Fish (Teleostei).
Shown above are turtle shell fragments.
Shown above are beaver teeth.
More Paleontology
Paleontology 101: Plant Fossils in the Shield Museum (Photo Diary)
Paleontology 101: The American Mastodon at the Hagerman Fossil Beds
Paleontology 101: The North American Camel
Paleontology 101: Ammonites and Crinoids (Photo Diary)
Paleontology 101: Bears, Pronghorns, and Pigs
Paleontology 101: Bison and Camels at La Brea Tar Pits
Paleontology 101: Sloths at La Brea Tar Pits
Paleontology 101: Wolves, Dogs, Cats, and Bears (Photo Diary)
Paleontology 101: The Paleozoic (Photo Diary)