More than 244,000 acres containing prairies, buttes and pinnacles make up this national park in Southwestern South Dakota. Badlands National Park was established in 1939 as a national monument and re-designated in 1978. Deposition and erosion formed the Badlands about 69 million years ago. Park wildlife includes 39 mammal species, 206 bird species, nine reptile species, six amphibian species and 69 butterfly species. It also contains many fossils including evidence of an ancient sea in the area.
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