The Painted Desert of Petrified Forest National Park is 50,000 acres
of colorful mesas, buttes, and badlands. Beyond the boundaries of the park,
the Painted Desert runs west and north in a great arc, extending past the
horizon almost to the edges of the Grand Canyon.
Paleontology, the study of geologic history through fossils got its
jump start in the Park during the winter of 1905 when a specimens were
examined by the University of California and later examined by a researcher
by the name of Annie Alexander. In 1921 she discovered bones of a
phytosaur(a prehistoric crocodile-like reptile) near the Teepee Section
of the park. Later research made the Petrified Forest National Park a
fossil area of worldwide significance. Researchers continue seeking answers to
the past. Fossil research continues to reveil life in the Triassic Period of
225 million years ago.