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Full-Text Articles in Paleontology

Ecological Controls On The Campanian Distribution Of Hesperornis (Aves: Hesperornithiformes) In The Western Interior Seaway, Blake Chapman Jan 2021

Ecological Controls On The Campanian Distribution Of Hesperornis (Aves: Hesperornithiformes) In The Western Interior Seaway, Blake Chapman

Master's Theses

The epicontinental Western Interior Seaway (WIS) of Late Cretaceous North America provided a unique marine habitat for cephalopods, fish, marine reptiles, and the foot-propelled diving seabird Hesperornis. While several predator-prey relationships among Hesperornis or other hesperornithiforms and other WIS animals have been hypothesized based on gut contents, bite marks, and coprolites/colonites, ecological relationships have not been quantitatively tested. Paleontological species distribution modeling (SDM) studies have focused on extinct non-marine taxa and marine invertebrates, with only two marine vertebrate studies of extant taxa. Here, two SDM methods were used to test the influence of vertebrate faunas, sedimentary rock type, paleogeography, …


Curation Techniques Of Small-Sized Natural History Specimens: A Collection Of Microfossils., Zachary V Biven-Leslie, Guillermo W. Rougier Jan 2021

Curation Techniques Of Small-Sized Natural History Specimens: A Collection Of Microfossils., Zachary V Biven-Leslie, Guillermo W. Rougier

Undergraduate Arts and Research Showcase

Small-sized fossil specimens are challenging regarding safety, storage and traceability of information. A recent collection of several hundred minute early mammalian teeth and jaws (most about 1mm) made impossible the standard practices of specimen numbering. A reliable association of the specimen and the collection number is the minimum required, however, a number of other data easily recoverable from the specimen/curating material is desirable. Geological provenance, locality, systematic and anatomical ID, collector, year, etc. is often included if possible. Use of the specimen is expected to be on the order of hundreds of years, manipulated by investigators, transported, and stored in …