"Twelve million years ago, rhinos, elephants, and giraffes roamed North America. They would gather at nearby watering holes--eating, drinking, and trying not to become someone else's lunch. But one day, in what we now know as Nebraska, everything changed. The explosion of a supervolcano a thousand miles away sent a blanket of ash that buried these animals for millennia. Until 1953, when a seventeen-year-old farm worker made an unbelievable discovery. This is the first book to be published about the Ashfall Fossil Beds, where more than two hundred perfectly preserved fossils have been found. Step into the past with author Alison Pearce Stevens, who has worked with many of the Ashfall researchers at the University of Nebraska State Museum"--Provided by the publisher.

Includes glossary.

Glimpse of an ancient past -- Supervolcano -- Unusual find -- Hitting paydirt -- How old? -- Hidden in ash -- Deducing behavior -- A long, slow death -- Solving old mysteries -- Digging deeper -- Eureka! -- Seeing a bigger picture -- Making a park -- Searching for ancient water -- The lucky ones -- Finding the volcano -- Peering underground -- A bigger barn -- Ghost tracks -- More evidence -- Always something new.