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Talking about ancient life and the Paleozoic Era (252 to 541 million years ago) in New Mexico elicits various unexpected responses. Oh, cool! The ancient Puebloans. Well, no. A little further back.
![A group of children and adults stand among trees in a cacao plantation, some looking at the camera, surrounded by leaves and cacao pods. [gen-ai]](https://elpalacio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/01-1-400x225.jpg)
By Jason S. Shapiro The main benefit of this cacao is a beverage which they make called Chocolate, which is a strange thing valued in that country. It disgusts those who are not used to it, for it has foam on top or a scum-like bubbling.José de Acosta, 1590 Chocolate and I have a long history.
By Jayne C. Aubele We are familiar with the cultural diversity of New Mexico, reflected in its people, history, art, food, and more. But there is another kind of diversity in New Mexico that makes it special: our landscape.
By Julia Goldberg A dry climate with warm days and cold nights. Harsh spring winds. A landscape informed by long-ago volcanic eruptions. These are a few of the characteristics that describe New Mexico.
![A taxidermy coyote is displayed in the foreground with a mounted fish and seashells in the background on green cabinets. [gen-ai]](https://elpalacio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/8-FLOPPED-400x225.jpg)
By Julia Goldberg Growing up in Cimarron, New Mexico, Jason Malaney knew he enjoyed camping, hiking, and wildlife. When he arrived at college at Eastern New Mexico University, he discovered that love could become a career.
![Aerial view of an isolated, cone-shaped volcanic hill with a winding road circling its slope, surrounded by flat, sparsely vegetated land. [gen-ai]](https://elpalacio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Volcanoes_Capulin-400x225.jpg)
Story and Photographs by Larry Crumpler Every volcano is like a living thing. They are born, live, die, and leave behind their remains, eventually returning to the Earth as fragmented rock and soil.
![Person wearing outdoor gear and a backpack sits on a rocky slope, examining an object in their hands, under a partly cloudy sky in a barren landscape. [gen-ai]](https://elpalacio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/mammals_2woTEXT-400x225.jpg)
by Thomas E. Williamson Walking alone over the uneven ground of the badlands of the San Juan Basin, David Baldwin tugged again at the bridle of his mule, leading it around a hoodoo—a tall pinnacle of banded rock.
![A fossilized dinosaur skull and neck embedded in reddish-brown rock. [gen-ai]](https://elpalacio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/featuredC-400x225.jpg)
BY SPENCER G. LUCAS AND RICK HENDRICKS New Mexico has long been world-famous as a place where people have made many important dinosaur discoveries. Fossils from our state have helped paleontologists learn much about dinosaurs, including how they evolved, how they lived, and how they became extinct.
