Florissant (Colorado)

To the west of Pikes Peak, Colorado, exposures of Eocene lake deposits preserve a spectacular fauna and flora ranging from microsopic ants to redwood stumps several feet in diameter. About 35 million years ago, a stream in a prehistoric valley was dammed by lava flows, forming a series of lakes. The fine sediments accumulating in these lakes along with ash from periodic volcanic activity provided an excellent mode of preservation for insects and plants. Many of the images shown above have been provided by Herb Meyer, the resident paleontologist at Florissant National Monument.

Hexapoda

Trichonemis aliena Scudder, YPM 26173

Coleoptera
Aphodius laminicola Wickham, YPM 13
Corymbites granulicollis Wickham, YPM 1
Podabrus wheeleri Wickham, YPM 7
Protapate contorta Wickham, YPM 26163
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Diptera
Alepidophora pealei Cockerell, YPM 102
Pachysystropus rohweri Cockerell, YPM 26175
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Embioptera
Embia florissantensis Cockerell, YPM 26169
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Hymenoptera
Protazteca elongata Carpenter, YPM 35034
Protazteca elongata Carpenter, YPM 10004
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Insecta
Liometopum miocenicum Carpenter, YPM 10015
Neorhynchocephalus vulcanicus (Cockerell), YPM 14173
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Orthoptera
Eobanksia bittaciformis Cockerell, YPM 34983
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