Paleontology
Partners is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, dedicated to raising awareness and resources in support of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument’s scientific, interpretive, and educational programs.
"The monument includes world class paleontological sites. The Circle Cliffs reveal remarkable specimens of petrified wood. The thickness, continuity and broad temporal distribution of the Kaiparowits Plateau’s stratigraphy provide significant opportunities to study the paleontology of the late Cretaceous Era…" (Presidential Proclamation 6920, 1996)
GSENM lands contain widespread and varied paleontological resources. The late Cretaceous formations of the Monument harbor a treasure trove of dinosaurs and early mammals. More than 20 dinosaurs have been excavated since 2000. At least nine new species of dinosaurs and numerous other creatures, from fish to mammals, have been documented.
The year 2006 brought public announcement of the first new dinosaur species to ever be named from the 
Kaiparowits region. Called Hagryphus giganteus (Giant West Desert Griffon), this seven foot high and almost fourteen foot long dinosaur is the largest known species of oviraptor in the world.
In addition to excavations, over 50,000 acres have been surveyed for fossil remains. Thousands of sites have been documented and fossils found that represent species found nowhere else in the world.
For more information, visit the Paleontology page on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument website.
