Paleobiology Commons^™

Behaviors For Which Deinonychosaurs Used Their Feet, Alexander King

Honors Projects

This paper seeks to show for what purpose deinonychosaurs used their feet. Fowler et al., (2011) showed that D. antirrhopus’s feet were closest in function to accipitrids, as they found it was more built for grasping prey than running.

I answered this question by using 2D images of the feet of three modern birds (Buteo jamaicensis, Phasianus colchicus, and Gallus gallus domesticus), one eudromaeosaur (Deinonychus antirrhopus), and one troodontid (Borogovia gracilicrus). I used ImageJ to apply 73 landmarks to each foot, capturing the variation between species in the metatarsals and pedal phalanges. These data were then uploaded to the software …

Paleoimagery: The Artistic Restoration Of Dinosaurs And Prehistoric Life, Colin Mcnulty

Honors Projects

My purpose in creating this paper is to research a holistic view of paleontological illustration (also called paleoimagery or paleoart). A thorough history of paleoimagery is outlined from its roots in biblical illustration in the 17^th and 18^th centuries approaching the modern day. A two-fold examination of the utility of art to communicate science and its use within the science of paleontology is also given. This includes discussions of the specific components of art pieces that help them to successfully communicate scientific ideas and examples of how paleoimagery contributes to paleontology. The author then outlines the conception and …

Analysis Of A Sponge Bioherm From The Hermosa Group, Molas Lake Area, Colorado, Joanna Hamilton

Honors Projects

The Hermosa Group is a Pennsylvanian (~310 Ma) rock package found in the southwestern San Juan Mountains and the Paradox Basin. The Paradox Basin was an evaporite basin in which alternating carbonate, sandstone and siltstone layers were deposited at the margins. Within the carbonate layers, ancient phylloid algal mounds and sponge bioherms can be found. In this project I document fossil sponges and algae from a Hermosa Group locality in southwestern Colorado. I look at the environments in which the sponges lived, those being relatively deep water, above wave-base; as well as inter-sponge growth habits, where one is dominant and …