Big Bend National Park is home to a variety of species. Within the park there are 1,200 species of plants, 60 species of cacti, 11 species of amphibians, 56 species of reptiles, 40 species of fish, 75 species of mammals, 400 species of birds and 3,600 species of insects.

The national park also has over 130 million years of fossil life preserved and is known as a geological paradise. Over the years, geologists have found fossils and 500-million-year-old rocks at the Persimmon Gap.