The Painted Hills in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon, USA

© Ben Herndon/Tandem Stills + Motio

Echoes of extinction. The Painted Hills, Oregon, USA

Featured here is the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, specifically the mesmerising Painted Hills. Layers of vividly coloured clay-rich soils make for a captivating landscape. These hills contain a record of changing climates and ecosystems that spans millions of years. Here, visitors can explore a museum that displays fossils of plants and animals that thrived long ago. One can get a glimpse of fossils of opossums, oreodonts, sabre-toothed tigers and turtles by visiting the Clarno unit of the monument. These remnants serve as a reminder of the dynamic and fascinating history our planet holds.