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Badlands and Prairie Grass
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Badlands National Park is located in the White River Badlands and was called mako sica (mako, land and sica, bad) by the Sioux Indians. The spectacular formations found in Badlands National Park date from the late Cretaceous, Eocene, and Oligocene epochs. Although the park does not contain any dinosaur fossils, the rapidly eroding layers contain marine fossils and an incredibly rich diversity of extinct mammals from the Age of Mammals. Ancestors of the modern day rhinoceros, horse, pig, and cat are eroding out of various layers throughout the park. Fossils from early birds, reptiles, and invertebrates can also be found. The park also contains one of the largest mixed-grass prairie ecosystems in North America.
Four species of wildlife have been reintroduced into the Badlands since its establishment as a National Monument in 1939. The black-footed ferret, bighorn sheep, bison, and swift fox, once exterminated from the area's mixed grass prairie, are again thriving in their native habitat.
Source: National Park Service
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