Natural Trap Cave, Pit cave in Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming, United States
Natural Trap Cave is a pit cave in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming, with a narrow opening at the surface that drops into a deep vertical shaft roughly 85 feet (26 meters) down. At the bottom, the cave opens into chambers that hold a dense accumulation of fossil bones preserved over thousands of years.
Scientists began systematic study of the cave in the 1970s, uncovering remains of animals that lived during the last ice age. Decades later, starting around 2014, new research teams returned to the site using modern techniques to reanalyze the finds.
The name of the cave describes exactly what it is: a natural trap that animals fell into without warning. Researchers from around the world visit the site because the bones found here give a rare and direct look at animal life during the last ice age.
The cave sits in a remote part of the Bighorn Mountains and can only be entered with a permit from the Bureau of Land Management, as the descent requires specialized equipment. Inside, temperatures stay cold year-round and conditions are very humid, so warm and waterproof clothing is a must.
Among the bones found here are remains of the American cheetah, a species that lived in North America before vanishing around 12,000 years ago. This discovery surprised researchers because very few physical remains of this animal had been found anywhere before.
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