description Anza-Borrego Desert Overview
The Anza-Borrego Desert is the Colorado Desert region of Southern California, within the larger Sonoran Desert system. Much of it is protected by Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, a large California reserve that includes badlands, dry washes, rocky mountains, and palm oases. The area is named for Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and the Peninsular bighorn sheep, called borrego in Spanish, and it contains exposed Pleistocene fossil deposits.
help Anza-Borrego Desert FAQ
Where is the Anza-Borrego Desert?
The Anza-Borrego Desert lies in Southern California’s Colorado Desert region. Its best-known protected area is Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, which California State Parks identifies as the state’s largest state park.
What age are the fossils in Anza-Borrego?
Many fossils in the region date from the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs, spanning roughly six million years ago to less than half a million years ago. More than 500 kinds of fossil organisms have been identified, including plants, tracks, and vertebrate remains.
What prehistoric animals have been found in Anza-Borrego?
The fossil record includes mammoths, giant ground sloths, saber-toothed cats, horses, camels, and the giant bird Aiolornis incredibilis. Some fossil bird specimens indicate a wingspan of about 17 feet.
Why does Anza-Borrego have such extensive fossil beds?
The region’s badlands expose sediments deposited in changing environments around the Salton Trough, which was once connected to a northern extension of the Sea of Cortez. Erosion continually reveals layers containing Pliocene and Pleistocene fossils.
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