Paleontology in North Dakota

state of North Dakota

Paleontology in North Dakota refers to

mastodons roamed the local woodlands

.

Local

state fossil

.

Prehistory

*Teredolites* borings in a modern wharf piling.

No

molluscs. Sea levels continued to fluctuate throughout the remainder of the Paleozoic, and by the Permian period significant areas of the state were dry land. By the end of the Paleozoic the state was positioned near the equator.^[1]

During the

pachycephalosaurs, Triceratops, and Tyrannosaurus.^[5]

During the ensuing

mastodons.^[1]

History

Indigenous interpretations

Mosasaur.

When the

mosasaurs of the region's Mesozoic rock. Unktehi was described as a snakelike monster equipped with feet, like the elongate sinuous mosasaurs who had four short limbs. Its back was described as ridged and saw like, a configuration similar to the appearance of a fossil vertebral column eroding from rock. In more recent times Lakota storyteller James LaPointe has explicitly called Unktehi a dinosaur.^[7]

The Sioux of the

bonebeds. They interpreted the bones as the remains of monstrous, evil serpents that tunneled underground. Lightning continuously sought to kill the serpents and successful kills became numbered with the abundant local fossils. The lightning had been so devastating to the area that it was responsible for the conversion of the region to badlands and the Sioux avoid physical contact with the fossils out of fear that doing so might make themselves more likely to be killed by lightning.^[8]

Scientific research

The first scientifically documented fossils in North Dakota were collected during the Lewis and Clark Expedition between 1804 and 1806 as they mapped the course of the Missouri River. The first fossil written about in the state were petrified wood preserved in sandstone concretions discovered at the Cannonball River. In 1833 a German named Alexander Philip Maximilian observed leaf impressions preserved in sandstone in the upper Missouri River area. He thought the plants were similar to modern phanerogammic plants still growing in the area. Maximilian collected a large number of them but in 1835 his fossils were destroyed near what is now Bismarck in a fire on the steam ship transporting them. In 1843 John James Audubon collected fossils like petrified wood and marine shells in the area but the specimens were of low quality.^[3]^: 225

In the mid-19th century the US government began intensely surveying the upper Missouri region.^[3]^: 225 In the course of these surveys, a geologist with the Northern Pacific Railroad Survey named John Evans described the region between the Sioux River and the Falls of the Missouri as one of the best places in the world for collecting Cretaceous and Tertiary fossils.^[3]^{: 225–226}

Evans sent vertebrate fossils to

Ferdinand V. Hayden and Dr. Fielding Bradford Meek. New York geologist W. James Hall became interested in North Dakota paleontology as a result of Evans and Leidy's research. Hall sent Hayden and Meek into the area. The expedition was a great success, with Hayden and Meek "collected an enormous quantity of fossils." Hall and Meek formally described their non-mammalian discoveries, while Leidy described their mammals.^[3]

^: 226

In 1883

Slope County near the town of Marmarth. It was regarded as the best Triceratops skeleton ever found at the time. The excavation of the specimen was funded by many organizations at both the national and state levels. Among the excavators were Dr. Holland, Jack W. Crawford, and Michael F. Archbold from the Department of Geology at the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks. Marshall Lambert of Ekalaka, Montana was another participant.^[3]^: 228 Between 1963 and 1966 several significant Pleistocene mammal skulls were discovered in North Dakota and were described for the scientific literature.^[3]

^{: 227–228}

People

Charles Lewis Camp was born in Jamestown on 12 March, 1893.

Natural history museums

Dakota Dinosaur Museum, Dickinson

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Springer, and Scotchmoor (2006); "Paleontology and geology".
^ Everhart (2005); "One Day in the Life of a Mosasaur", page 5.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p Murray (1974), "North Dakota"
^ Everhart (2005); "Enter the Mosasaurs", page 174.
^ Weishampel, et al. (2004); "3.14 North Dakota, United States", page 585.
^ Mayor (2005); "Water Monsters and Thunder Birds on the Prairie and in the Badlands", page 235.
^ Mayor (2005); "Water Monsters and Thunder Birds on the Prairie and in the Badlands", page 237.
^ Mayor (2005); "Cope's Young Indian Guide", page 262.

References

Everhart, M. J. 2005. Oceans of Kansas - A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea. Indiana University Press, 320 pp.
Mayor, Adrienne. Fossil Legends of the First Americans. Princeton University Press. 2005.
ISBN 0-691-11345-9
.

Murray, Marian (1974). Hunting for Fossils: A Guide to Finding and Collecting Fossils in All 50 States. Collier Books.
ISBN 9780020935506
.

Springer, Dale, Judy Scotchmoor. July 21, 2006. "North Dakota, US." The Paleontology Portal. Accessed September 21, 2012.
Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp.
ISBN 0-520-24209-2
.

External links

[north-dakota-paleoportal-general-1] Springer, and Scotchmoor (2006); "Paleontology and geology".

[oceans-oneday-5-2] Everhart (2005); "One Day in the Life of a Mosasaur", page 5.

[50states-northdakota-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p Murray (1974), "North Dakota"

[oceans-mosasaurs-174-4] Everhart (2005); "Enter the Mosasaurs", page 174.

[weishampel-distribution-2004-5] Weishampel, et al. (2004); "3.14 North Dakota, United States", page 585.

[mayor-monstersbirds-235-6] Mayor (2005); "Water Monsters and Thunder Birds on the Prairie and in the Badlands", page 235.

[mayor-monstersbirds-237-7] Mayor (2005); "Water Monsters and Thunder Birds on the Prairie and in the Badlands", page 237.

[mayor-young-262-8] Mayor (2005); "Cope's Young Indian Guide", page 262.

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