Paleontology in Wyoming

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state of Wyoming

Paleontology in Wyoming includes research into the prehistoric life of the U.S. state of Wyoming as well as investigations conducted by Wyomingite researchers and institutions into ancient life occurring elsewhere.

The

US state of Wyoming spans from the Precambrian to recent deposits. Many fossil sites are spread throughout the state.[1] Wyoming is such a spectacular source of fossils that author Marian Murray noted in 1974 that "[e]ven today, it is the expected thing that any great museum will send its representatives to Wyoming as often as possible."[2] Murray has also written that nearly every major vertebrate paleontologist in United States history has collected fossils in Wyoming.[1] Wyoming is a major source of dinosaur fossils.[1] Wyoming's dinosaur fossils are curated by museums located all over the planet.[2]

During the

sand dunes. The Western Interior Seaway submerged much of the state during the Late Cretaceous
.

During the early part of the

state dinosaur
of Wyoming.

Prehistory

During the

Late Cambrian, Wyoming was home to calcareous algae. Great masses of this algae were preserved in the Gros Ventre Formation. The area of Wyoming now characterized by the Bighorn Mountains was a marine environment during the Ordovician. Ostracoderms swam in this sea.[4] During the Silurian, the sea withdrew from Wyoming and local sediments were eroded away. During the Devonian, the sea returned to the state and remained until the Permian when it started to withdraw once more.[3]

During the

Tusoteuthis longa, was too large to swallow completely and blocked the fish's gills. Western Interior Seaway researcher Michael J. Everhart has called the specimen "[o]ne of the strangest 'death by gluttony' occurrences in the fossil record".[14]

The

Toxochelys latiremis was also present. One specimen was associated with fossil feces preserving fish bones inside. If these feces really belonged to the Toxochelys the inclusion of fish in its diet would distinguish it from all modern sea turtles, none of which are known to eat fish.[16] During the Cretaceous, mammals were common in Wyoming and dinosaurs nested in the area around Powell.[4]Late Cretaceous fossil dinosaur footprints are surprisingly rare in Wyoming compared to other western states with contemporary deposits. This might be due to the local ancient environments not being well suited for track preservation or merely because scientists have not yet looked in the right places.[17]

Knightia.

During the early part of the

insects that left their remains near Henry's Fork, not far from the boundary with neighboring Utah. The Bridger Basin was home to creatures like relatives of camels, carnivorans, elephants, horses, primates, rodents, Uintatherium, and whales.[18] During the Quaternary, volcanic activity continued throughout much of the state and glaciers left significant deposits in the western half of the state.[3]

History

Indigenous interpretations

Triceratops

Evidence for knowledge about fossils among the

stomach stones. The Clovis people who collected the gastroliths from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation probably intended to use them as hammer stones.[19]

petrified, as they believed that mineralized bones found on the prairie or weathering out of stream banks are the remains of ahke.[20]

Dinosaur skulls preserved in the Hell Creek or Lance Creek Formations may have inspired another fossil legend.

oreodonts, or rhinoceroses
.

Other relevant possible influences include

entelodonts, large piglike animals with lower incisors as thick as a human wrist.[21] Arctodus simus, the short-faced bear, is a candidate for a possible source of this legend. Arctodus lived from the Pleistocene to the Holocene and is known from the Rocky and Bighorn Mountains region. It may have survived recent enough in the area for cultural memories of encounters with the beast to persist. Its short muzzle and large fangs resemble the description of the double-toothed bull.[22]

Scientific research

Artist's impression of a C. supremus herd

One of the earliest fossil hunting excursions into Wyoming happened in 1870, when

Thomas Speer.[27] Also around this time, Samuel W. Williston began periodic excavations.[2]

Late in 1877, Marsh's

ornithopod's skeleton. They found a ninth site early in July that would be one of the best sources of Jurassic mammal fossils anywhere on earth. In terms of absolute numbers Quarry 9 was the most productive of any fossil site in the Morrison Formation.[28]

Apatosaurus.

In September, they made another major discovery.

Coelurus fragilis.[31] During the next year Marsh's men focused on quarries thirteen and nine. Later in the year, Arthur Lakes quit. During the next year Reed's brother came to visit, but died while swimming in a nearby creek. After his brother's death Reed lost his enthusiasm for working at Como Bluff. He quit altogether by the spring of 1883. From then on Marsh's operations at Como Bluff were led by E. G. Kennedy and Fred Brown. They continued the previous leadership's emphasis on quarries 9 and 13. By June 1889, fieldwork at Como Bluff had concluded after twelve years. Marsh's fieldwork in the area uncovered the greatest abundance of Jurassic fossils known in the world at the time.[32] By the 1918 conclusion of Samuel W. Williston's work in Wyoming hundreds of tons of dinosaur bones had been recovered from Wyoming rocks.[2]

Another advancement in Wyoming paleontology occurred in 1932 when

amphibians.[35] Support for this hypothesis comes from the track's pointed reptile-like toes.[35] If the tracks had been left by an amphibian they probably would be "blunt [and] rounded".[35] Small dinosaur footprints were also discovered in western Wyoming during the 1930s. They were formally described as Agialopus wyomingensis.[6] They were of Late Triassic age.[5]

Uintatherium.

In 1940 C. L. Gazin led an expedition into Wyoming on behalf of the Smithsonian Institution. Their biggest find was a nearly complete skeleton of Uintatherium. Fossils of Unitatherium are relatively common, but the specimen uncovered by Gazin's expedition was exceptionally complete and in high quality preservation. The only parts missing from the skeleton were the neck vertebrae, part of one forelimb, and a hindlimb.[18] The fossil was discovered on a steep hillside slope.[36] To remove the remains from their place of preservation, the team had to drive a truck up a dry creek bed and physically drag the remains out on canvas. The fossils were so numerous and massive that they filled four crates, each weighing 500 pounds. After being packaged into the crates the bones were shipped to Washington, D.C.[37]

In 1953, C. L. Gazin led another expedition into Wyoming for the Smithsonian. The crew's excavations in the Bison Basin uncovered the jaws and teeth of at least four species in two genera of

creodonts and bear-like clenodonts.[18]

More recently, in 1977,

state dinosaur
of Wyoming.

Protected areas

People

Walter W. Granger died in Lusk on September 6th, 1941 at age 68.

Natural history museums

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c Murray (1974); "Wyoming", page 293.
  2. ^ a b c d e Murray (1974); "Wyoming", page 294.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Springer and Scotchmoor (2010); "Paleontology and geology".
  4. ^ a b c d Murray (1974); "Wyoming", page 296.
  5. ^ a b Lockley and Hunt (1999); "Figure 3.20", page 95.
  6. ^ a b Lockley and Hunt (1999); "The Northern Colorado Plateau Region of the Chinle", page 94.
  7. ^ Lockley and Hunt (1999); "The Moenkopi of the Early and Middle Triassic", page 72.
  8. ^ a b Lockley and Hunt (1999); "The Real Pterosaur Tracks Story", page 160.
  9. ^ Lockley and Hunt (1999); "The Real Pterosaur Tracks Story", pages 159-160.
  10. ^ Everhart (2005); "One Day in the Life of a Mosasaur", page 5.
  11. ^ Everhart (2005); "Enchodus and Cimolichthys", page 84.
  12. ^ Everhart (2005); "Enchodus and Cimolichthys", pages 84-85.
  13. ^ Everhart (2005); "Enchodus and Cimolichthys", page 86.
  14. ^ Everhart (2005); "Enchodus and Cimolichthys", page 87.
  15. ^ Everhart (2005); "Pliosaurs and Polycotylids", page 153.
  16. ^ Everhart (2005); "Turtles: Leatherback Giants", page 112.
  17. ^ Lockley and Hunt (1999); "Rare Tracks of the Laramie Formation", page 236.
  18. ^ a b c d Murray (1974); "Wyoming", page 297.
  19. ^ Mayor (2005); "Hopi and Pueblo Fossil Collectors", pages 157-158.
  20. ^ Mayor (2005); "Cheyenne Fossil Knowledge", pages 211-212.
  21. ^ a b Mayor (2005); "Cheyenne Fossil Knowledge", page 213.
  22. ^ a b Mayor (2005); "Cheyenne Fossil Knowledge", pages 212-213.
  23. ^ Everhart (2005); "Pteranodons: Rulers of the Air", page 195.
  24. ^ Foster (2007); "March 1877", pages 66-67.
  25. ^ Foster (2007); "Cope and Marsh: The Fuel for the Fire", page 68.
  26. ^ a b Foster (2007); "Como Bluff (1877-1889)", page 68.
  27. ^ Murray (1974); "Wyoming", page 295.
  28. ^ a b Foster (2007); "Como Bluff (1877-1889)", page 69.
  29. ^ Foster (2007); "Como Bluff (1877-1889)", pages 69-70.
  30. ^ Foster (2007); "Como Bluff (1877-1889)", page 70.
  31. ^ Foster (2007); "Como Bluff (1877-1889)", page 71.
  32. ^ Foster (2007); "Como Bluff (1877-1889)", page 72.
  33. ^ a b c Lockley and Hunt (1999); "Western Traces in the 'Age of Amphibians'", page 34.
  34. ^ Lockley and Hunt (1999); "Western Traces in the 'Age of Amphibians'", pages 34-35.
  35. ^ a b c Lockley and Hunt (1999); "Western Traces in the 'Age of Amphibians'", page 35.
  36. ^ Murray (1974); "Wyoming", pages 297-298.
  37. ^ Murray (1974); "Wyoming", page 298.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paleontology in Wyoming.
Wikisource has original works on the topic: Paleontology in the United States#Wyoming
  • Everhart, M. J. 2005. Oceans of Kansas - A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea. Indiana University Press, 320 pp.
  • Foster, J. (2007). Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and Their World. Indiana University Press. 389pp.
    ISBN 978-0-253-34870-8
    .
  • Lockley, Martin and Hunt, Adrian. Dinosaur Tracks of Western North America. Columbia University Press. 1999.
  • 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. p. 348.
    ISBN 9780020935506
    .
  • Springer, Dale, Judy Scotchmoor. July 14, 2010. "Wyoming, US." The Paleontology Portal. Accessed September 21, 2012.
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