Paleontology Commons^™

Fossil Mammals From Hickory Tree Cave, Sullivan County, Tennessee, Alexis Rivera

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hickory Tree Cave, also known as Big Spring Cave, is located in the southern Appalachians and is known for fossils that are considered to be Quaternary in age. Fossil mammals were identified and assigned to the lowest taxonomical level possible. Most remains are fragmented or digested and it seems likely that various taphonomic processes are responsible for the resulting assemblage. The site lacks the extreme boreal component of Pleistocene cave faunas in the region (e.g. Baker Bluff Cave), with most reported taxa inhabiting Appalachian deciduous forest environments in North America today. While the presence of tapir (Tapirus sp.) …

Spatial Analyses Of Gray Fossil Site Vertebrate Remains: Implications For Depositional Setting And Site Formation Processes, David Carney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project uses exploratory 3D geospatial analyses to assess the taphonomy of the Gray Fossil Site (GFS). During the Pliocene, the GFS was a forested, inundated sinkhole that accumulated biological materials between 4.9-4.5 mya. This deposit contains fossils exhibiting different preservation modes: from low energy lacustrine settings to high energy colluvial deposits. All macro-paleontological materials have been mapped in situ using survey-grade instrumentation. Vertebrate skeletal material from the site is well-preserved, but the degree of skeletal articulation varies spatially within the deposit. This analysis uses geographic information systems (GIS) to analyze the distribution of mapped specimens at different spatial scales. …

Taphonomy Of Late Jurassic (Tithonian) Morrison Formation Apatosaurus Sp. Vertebrae Found Associated With Teeth From Allosaurus Sp. And Ceratosaurus Sp., And Body Size Extrapolation From The Associated Theropod Teeth., Greg C. Agyan

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

An Apatosaurus sp. locality from Dinosaur National Monument designated DNM-15 was excavated in 1985, and associated with two Allosaurus teeth and one Ceratosaurus tooth that were near one of the caudal vertebrae. The Ceratosaurus tooth was buried between an overlying rib and that same caudal vertebra. The caudal vertebrae of the DNM-15 Apatosaurus were intact and articulated, but the anterior skeleton was mostly absent, with a row of articulated sacral vertebrae in close association with a femur. Two other Allosaurus teeth were reported near the preserved ilium of the Apatosaurus, but they could not be located in the collections. …

Microbe-Mineral Interactions During Exceptional Fossil Preservation, Stromatolite Formation, And Desert Varnish Growth, Michael Strange

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Ediacaran to Cambrian Deep Spring Formation consists of mixed carbonate-siliciclastic strata which contain an increasingly complex and biogeographically important biota. Past investigations of the Deep Spring Formation at Mt. Dunfee, Nevada, explored the highly diverse microbialite reefs consisting of a wide range of stromatolite morphologies which exerted significant control on local sedimentation and topography. Early investigations also documented the biomineralizing metazoan Cloudina (an Ediacaran index fossil). However, recent exploration of the area has resulted in the discovery of several new metazoan fossil communities consisting of a diverse assemblage of Ediacaran soft-tissue tubicolous vermiforms (tube fossils) similar to Cloudina. The …

Assessing The Recalibration Interval For Nearshore Sediment Assemblages After Hurricane Irma: Implications For Developing Long-Term Records Of Overwash Deposits, Stephen Mitchell

Master's Theses

Surface distributions are commonly collected to assist with overwash interpretation; however, many of these are first established immediately after a major overwash event as part of a post-event field survey. This study documents the impacts of Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm, on nearshore sediments off the coast of Anegada (British Virgin Islands) using distributions of Homotrema rubra, an encrusting foraminifer with a defined provenance in coral reef ecosystems. Over four sampling intervals spanning 2 years, from six months pre-Hurricane Irma to 18 months post-Hurricane Irma, surface sediment was collected from three shore-perpendicular transects on both the northern and …

Preservation Of Latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) - Paleocene Frogs (Eorubeta Nevadensis) Of The Sheep Pass Formation Of East-Central Nevada And Implications For Paleogeography Of The Nevadaplano, Joshua W. Bonde, Peter A. Druschke, Richard P. Hilton, Amy C. Henrici, Stephen M. Rowland

Geoscience Faculty Publications

Here we report on exceptional preservation of remains of the frog Eorubeta nevadensis in deposits of the Sheep Pass Formation, ranging from Late Cretaceous to Eocene, in the south Egan Range, Nevada. This formation represents a lacustrine basin within the Sevier retroarc hinterland. The formation is subdivided into six members (A–F); of interest here are members B and C. The base of member B is ?uppermost Cretaceous-Paleocene, while member C is Paleocene. Member B frogs are preserved in three taphonomic modes. Mode 1 frogs are nearly complete and accumulated under attritional processes, with frogs settling on microbial mats, as evidenced …

Eutherian Biogeography During The Puercan North American Land Mammal Age (Paleocene, Earliest Danian): Problems And Potential Solutions, Jason Sterling Silviria

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Puercan North American Land Mammal Age (NALMA) is the earliest major North American terrestrial biochron of the Cenozoic era, spanning roughly the first one million years of the Paleogene period (Paleocene epoch, Danian stage; ~66.04-65.12 Ma). It is typified by the explosive ecomorphological diversification of the mammalian clade Eutheria (particularly our subclade, Placentalia), following the annihilation of non-avian dinosaurs and “archaic” mammal groups during the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event. The spatiotemporal mode and tempo of Puercan eutherian diversification has long been the subject of debate, with disagreements over biogeographic zonation. The traditional model – based largely on well-sampled, …

Differential Preservation Of Vertebrates In Southeast Asian Caves, Julien Louys, Shimona Kealy, Sue O'Connor, Gilbert J. Price, Stuart Hawkins, Ken Aplin, Yan Rizal, Jahdi Zaim, Mahirta, Daud A. Tanudirjo, Wahyu Dwijo Santoso, Ati Rati Hidayah, Agus Trihascaryo, Rachel Wood, Joseph Bevitt, Tara Clark

International Journal of Speleology

Caves have been an important source of vertebrate fossils for much of Southeast Asia, particularly for the Quaternary. Despite this importance, the mechanisms by which vertebrate remains accumulate and preserve in Southeast Asian caves has never been systematically reviewed or examined. Here, we present the results of three years of cave surveys in Indonesia and Timor-Leste, describing cave systems and their attendant vertebrate accumulations in diverse geological, biogeographical, and environmental settings. While each cave system is unique, we find that the accumulation and preservation of vertebrate remains are highly dependent on local geology and environment. These factors notwithstanding, we find …

Description, Taphonomy, And Paleoecology Of The Late Pleistocene Peccaries (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) From Bat Cave, Pulaski County, Missouri, Aaron L. Woodruff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The late Pleistocene faunal assemblage from Bat Cave, central Ozarks, Missouri provides an opportunity to assess specific aspects of behavior, ecology, and ontogeny of the extinct peccary Platygonus compressus. All identifiable elements referable to this taxon were catalogued and examined, and a minimum number of individuals of 70 was determined for the sample. The presence of distinct, non-overlapping age groups suggests that P. compressus utilized Bat Cave on a seasonal basis. A predator-prey relationship with Canis dirus, the second most abundant vertebrate from the Bat Cave site, is also described in this study. Damage patterns suggest that the …

Microstratigraphic Analysis Of Burrow-Reworked Dinosaur Track Bed At Joanna's Track Site, Cretaceous Glen Rose Formation, Glen Rose, Texas, Michael Blair, Benjamin Dattilo, Anthony Martin, James Farlow

Benjamin F. Dattilo

Although dinosaur trackways are common in the Cretaceous Glen Rose Formation of Texas, the recently discovered Joanna track site illustrates a unique ichnological relationship where dinosaur tracks were disrupted by invertebrate burrows made long after burial. In an effort to document the precise sequence of events, we described the interval from 0.3 m below the track layer through 2.7 m above it in a vertical outcrop adjacent to the track site, focusing on the 70-cm of strata immediately above the track horizon. An 8-meter N-S cross-section of this 70-cm interval was power-washed, examined for trace fossils, body fossils, and lithology …

Stirred Not Shaken: Using Taphonomy To Reconstruct Paleoecological Succession And Taphonomic Feedback In A Cincinnatian (Ordovician, Ohio) Storm-Disturbed Shell Bed, Rebecca Freeman, Benjamin Dattilo, Aaron Morse, Michael Blair, Steve Felton, John Pojeta

Benjamin F. Dattilo

Walker and Alberstadt’s 1975 idea that a single shell bed contains a record of ecological succession has seemingly been refuted through stratinomic studies. These studies suggest that fossils are destroyed and accumulations are reworked by storms to the point of obliterating any record of successional-scale changes in faunas. Therefore storm-disturbed shell beds are not considered ideal for reconstruction of paleoecological succession.

Nevertheless, a storm-winnowed shell bed from the Fairview Formation, Ohio preserves a wide variety of shells in a range of taphonomic conditions that reveal succession-like changes. Exceptionally-preserved lingulid brachiopods found as intact pyrite-lined spar-filled shells rule out the final …

The Curse Of Rafinesquina: Negative Taphonomic Feedback Exerted By Strophomenid Shells On Storm-Buried Lingulids In The Cincinnatian (Katian, Ordovician) Series Of Ohio, Rebecca Freeman, Benjamin Dattilo, Aaron Morse, Michael Blair, Steve Felton, John Pojeta

Benjamin F. Dattilo

Thousands of lingulid brachiopods were found clustered beneath hundreds of individual valves of the strophomenid brachiopod Rafinesquina in the Upper Ordovician of Ohio. This association suggested a relationship between the two brachiopods, but the nature of this relationship was unclear. We utilized serial thin sectioning to examine these brachiopods and to determine the origin of the bed in which they were found. Sedimentary structures, mixed taphonomies, and stratigraphic and paleogeographic setting suggest that the lingulids occupied a hiatal concentration that had previously been reworked, but not significantly transported, by tropical storms. The final burial event was a storm that exhumed …

Remarkable Preservation Of A New Genus And Species Of Limuline Horseshoe Crab From The Cretaceous Of Texas, U.S.A., Rodney Feldman, Carrie Schweitzer, Benjamin Dattilo, James Farlow

Benjamin F. Dattilo

A single specimen, part and counterpart of a carapace, of a horseshoe crab from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Glen Rose Formation in north-central Texas, forms the basis for the definition of a new genus and species, Crenatolimulus paluxyensis. The discovery represents only the fifth limuline known from the Cretaceous. Its preservational style is remarkable in that the carapace exterior is faithfully replicated by a massive overgrowth of serpulid worms.

An Enigmatic Lobate Mat-Like Fossil(?) In The Kope Formation (Upper Ordovician), Kenton County, Kentucky, Ron Fine, Carlton Brett, Benjamin Dattilo, David Meyer

Benjamin F. Dattilo

A new, enigmatic, large fossil(?) object from a thin silty mudstone bed (up to 3 cm thick) underlain by siltstone was excavated from the lower Kope Formation (Economy Member, basal Pioneer Valley submember) near Covington, KY. The excavated object is roughly elliptical in outline, over 2 m long, with a parallel-fluted structure at one end that terminates in a complex of conjoined, flattened, ellipsoidal or spatulate concretion-like lobes at the other end. The lobes are about 10 cm and range to 45 cm long. Internally, some lobes show lamination, sometimes convoluted. The most perplexing feature of the lobe-like structures is …

Gastrointestinal Microbial Diversity And Diagenetic Alteration Of Bone From The American Alligator (Alligator Mississippiensis), Sarah Wheeler Keenan

Doctoral Dissertations

One of the most challenging questions in paleobiology is how bone transforms from a living tissue into a fossil. In life, the gastrointestinal tract microbiome of an animal promotes host health. But, in death, these microbial communities, as well as soil communities, begin to degrade tissue, including bones. Using the American alligator from coastal wetland habitats as a model system, the gastrointestinal tract microbiome was found to contain microbial communities consisting of Fusobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes, with variations based on tissue type along the length of the digestive tract. The overall dominance of Fusobacteria is distinct from any other …

The “Curse Of Rafinesquina:” Negative Taphonomic Feedback Exerted By Strophomenid Shells On Storm-Buried Lingulids In The Cincinnatian Series (Katian, Ordovician) Of Ohio, Rebecca Freeman, Benjamin Dattilo, Aaron Morse, Michael Blair, Steve Felton, John Pojeta

Benjamin F. Dattilo

Taphonomic feedback is the idea that accumulation of organic remains either enhances the habitat for some organisms (positive taphonomic feedback), and/or degrades the habitat for others (negative taphonomic feedback). Examples of epibionts living on skeletal remains are direct evidence of positive taphonomic feedback. Disruption of infaunal burrowing activities by skeletal fragments is an example of negative taphonomic feedback; direct fossil evidence of this phenomenon has not been documented previously. Infaunal organisms are vulnerable to exhumation or entombment during storms, but organisms that burrow can also re-establish viable life positions subsequently. For example, when modern lingulids re-burrow after exhumation, they first …

From The Foreland To The Hinterland: Taphonomy Across The Cretaceous To Paleogene Sevier Retroarc Region Of Nevada, Joshua William Bonde

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Until 2004 very little paleobiology, let alone paleoecology, had been studied within exposures of the Sevier retro-arc foreland and hinterland, in the state of Nevada. This is due largely to poor and spotty exposure. This study focuses on taphonomic processes within three stratigraphic intervals in the foreland and hinterland of the Sevier retro-arc region, and what these taphonomic indicators reveal about the geography of the hinterland.

First, the Willow Tank Formation of southern Nevada was deposited in the foredeep of the Sevier retroarc foreland basin. This unit represents a multi-channel, aggradational, fluvial system that drained the Sevier highlands to the …

A Large Cervidae Holocene Accumulation In Eastern Brazil: An Example Of Extreme Taphonomical Control In A Cave Environment, Alex Hubbe, Augusto S. Auler

International Journal of Speleology

A remarkable cervid bone accumulation occurs at a single passage (named Cervid Passage; CP) at Lapa Nova, a maze cave in eastern Brazil. CP lies away from cave entrances, is a typical pitfall passage and contains bone remains of at least 121 cervids, besides few bats, peccaries and rodents remains. There is no evidence of water (or sediment) flow at the site and in general bones lack post depositional alterations and display anatomical proximity, suggesting that the majority of the remains found inside CP (mainly cervids) are due to animals that after entering the cave got trapped in the site. …

The Paleoecology And Biogeography Of Ordovician Edrioasteroids, Rene Anne Lewis

Doctoral Dissertations

All organisms are subjected to the living and non-living influences of their surroundings. They derive their energy and essential materials, such as sunlight and nutrients, from their environment, sharing their world not only with members of their own species but also with members of other species. These interactions are central to the survival of the organism, forming reciprocating and integrated systems with other members of their environment. Paleoecology uses the fossil record to interpret and reconstruct life habits of past organisms and environments. By examining well-preserved fossil populations we can assess the relationship between the organisms and their surrounding environment, …

A Morphological And Geochemical Investigation Of Grypania Spiralis: Implications For Early Earth Evolution, Miles Anthony Henderson

Masters Theses

Macroscopic “carbonaceous” fossils such as Grypania, Katnia, Chuaria, and Tawuia play a critical role in our understanding of biological evolution in the Precambrian and their environmental implications. Unfortunately, understanding of these fossils remains limited by their relative simplicity of form, mode of preservation, and broad taphonomic variability. As a result, debate continues as to even the fundamental taxonomic affinity of the organisms. Megascopic coiled forms (i.e. Grypania and Katnia), for instance, have been interpreted as trace fossils, multicellular algae, prokaryotic filaments, macroscopic bacteria, cyanobacteria, or a transitional form from macroscopic to megascopic bacterial life. Similarly, Chuaria …