Paleontology Commons^™

Shallow-Marine Crinoid Genera May Have Been More Resilient Across Permian Extinction Events In Terms Of Richness Than Deep-Marine Crinoid Genera, Amelia C. Kolstad

University Honors Theses

Throughout the Phanerozoic, one of the most successful phyla of marine invertebrates has been Echinodermata. Echinodermata was particularly successful throughout the Paleozoic, with class Crinoidea making up a majority of occurrences. The proportion of echinoderm occurrences that are crinoids declined massively at the end of the Permian and continued to decrease into modern day, never fully recovering. One of the factors thought to have been so important for crinoid success in the Paleozoic and their decreasing success throughout geologic time has been their propensity for success in shallow-marine environments, though crinoids also exist within deep-marine environments. This study seeks to …

The Tyrant King Of The Auction House: The Disastrous “Fine Artification” Of The Dinosaur, Amelia C. Kolstad

Anthós

This article examines how fine art auctioneers market dinosaur fossils as art pieces to wealthy collectors, depriving the paleontological field of specimens for scientific research. Drawing from recent examples of fossils sold at fine art auctions, this article notes how rising auction prices for specimens as ‘art’ prevent museums and research institutions from acquiring specimens for research and restoration. Kolstad concludes that the art auction houses’ marketing of fossils as art is detrimental to paleontological research. To protect fossils and their scientific value, Kolstad proposes alternatives, such as selling replicas to collectors and highlighting the importance of original specimens for …

A Basilosaurid Archaeocete (Cetacea, Pelagiceti) From The Late Eocene Of Oregon, Usa, Mark D. Uhen, David Taylor

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Basilosaurid archaeocetes are known from the Late Eocene of virtually all coastlines bearing coeval marine rocks except the North Pacific Basin, until now. Here we report on three consecutive posterior thoracic vertebrae of a large, basilosaurid archaeocete from a Late Eocene horizon in the Keasey Formation in Oregon.

Methods: These vertebrae were morphologically and morphometrically compared to other vertebrae of similar age from around the world.

Results: The specimens were determined to be different from all currently named species of fossil cetacean, but most similar to those found in the Gulf Coast region of North America. …

Ancient Cataclysmic Floods In The Pacific Northwest: Ancestors To The Missoula Floods, Erica Medley

Dissertations and Theses

Ancient Cataclysmic Floods were the Ice Age Floods that left erosional and depositional features and preceded the Missoula Floods (15-18,000 ka) in the Pacific Northwest of the United States (Allen et al., 2009). All previously studied ancient sites were visited (14) and new sites (11) were found; four Missoula Flood quarries were also visited; a total of 29 sites were studied in this thesis. The use of calcrete paleosols to provide relative age dates for flood deposits was analyzed in this thesis. Missoula Flood gravel pits were sampled in order to examine the degree of calcrete development in flood deposits …

Biostratigraphy Of The Snowshoe Formation (Jurassic) In The Izee Area, Grant County, Oregon, Paul Lawrence Smith

Dissertations and Theses

Using the standard Jurassic zonal scheme, this work attempts to determine the ages of the four members of the Snowshoe Formation that crop out in the Izee area. As a corollary, regional correlations are possible. The stratigraphic relationship between the Snowshoe Formation, the subjacent Hyde Formation and the superjacent Trowbridge Formation is also investigated.

Over one thousand fossils were collected from five stratigraphic sections and eight localities. The sections were measured using tape and compass techniques and the relative stratigraphic ranges of the fossils calculated using a computer program written specifically for this project. The ammonite fauna, dominated by the …

The Geology Of The Southeast Quarter Of The Bone Mountain Quadrangle, Oregon, Richard Cortland Kent

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis is a study of the geology of the southeast quarter of the Bone Mountain Quadrangle. The bedrock geology mapped includes about 56 square miles.The Klamath Mountain and Coast Range Provinces of southwestern Oregon are represented in the area. Rocks in the area include the Rogue, Dothan Riddle, Days Creek, upper member of the Umpqua and Tyee Formations. The ages of these rocks range from Late Jurassic to middle Eocene. Late Jurassic ultramafic and mafic intrusive rocks associated with the Rogue Formation occur in the Klamath Province. The metavolcanics of the Rogue Format ion and an associated linear belt …