Paleontology Commons^™

Isotopic Ecology Of Bison And Bootherium At Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, Frances Stephenson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Big Bone Lick (BBL) is a late Pleistocene and Holocene fossil locality in the Ohio River valley of Kentucky. This study utilized stable isotopes (δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O, and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) in tooth enamel to reconstruct mobility and diet in Bison, as well as diet in Bootherium bombifrons. Isotopic results from seven Bison and two B. bombifrons are reported. Results suggest Pleistocene Bison and Bootherium occupied different dietary niches. Although both had C3-dominated diets, Bison occupied more open environments than B. bombifrons. Two bison from the late Holocene deposit had diets that consisted …

Pleistocene Bats (Late Irvingtonian And Late Rancholabrean) From Nuckolls And Sherman Counties, Nebraska, Nicholas J. Czaplewski, Richard George Corner

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

We document rare finds of fossil bats from two localities representing the Pleistocene epoch in southern and central Nebraska, Albert Ahrens locality (No-104, late Irvingtonian age, Middle Pleistocene), Nuckolls County, and Litchfield (Sm-102, late Rancholabrean age, latest Pleistocene), Sherman County. The Albert Ahrens local fauna with strong boreal influence has produced two bats, Lasiurus cf. borealis and Cf. Myotis sp. The Litchfield local fauna, also showing a strong boreal influence, has yielded two bats, Eptesicus fuscus and Cf. Myotis, among a diverse Pleistocene fauna of small vertebrates and a pollen record indicating a boreal mixed conifer and deciduous woodland, …

Field Guide To Big Bone Lick, Kentucky: Birthplace Of American Vertebrate Paleontology, Glenn W. Storrs, H Gregory Mcdonald, Eric Scott, Robert A. Genheimer, Stanley E. Hedeen, Cameron E. Schwalbach

Special Publication--KGS

Big Bone Lick is the birthplace of vertebrate paleontology in the Western Hemisphere and has a long and celebrated history in the exploration of the American colonial frontier and of the early United States. Notable European scientists of the 18th century such as Buffon, Cuvier, and Hunter discussed the fossils found there. Prominent Americans of the time, such as Boone, Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson are also part of the site’s history. It is the type locality for several extinct late Pleistocene megafaunal mammals, most notably the iconic American Mastodon, who were attracted to the area by salt licks dictated by …

Age And Paleontology Of The Turin Pit Locality, Monona County, Iowa, Samantha Wright

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Turin Pit locality (Monona county, Iowa) has been known to paleontologists since 1908, yet the age of the fauna has been unclear. Early paleontologists considered Turin Pit to date to a pre-Illinoian interglacial (the “Aftonian).” Subsequent researchers suggested it dated to the last glaciation. This study provides a partial list of mammals in the Turin Pit fauna, and together with stratigraphic information, uses the known age ranges of taxa to estimate an age for the assemblage. The presence of Mammuthus, Aenocyon, and Castoroides combined with a magnetically-reversed till located stratigraphically above fossil-bearing deposits, suggest the Turin Pit …

Geometric Morphometric Analysis Of Modern Viperid Vertebrae Facilitates Identification Of Fossil Specimens, Lance D. Jessee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Snake vertebrae are common in the fossil record, whereas cranial remains are generally fragile and rare. Consequently, vertebrae are the most commonly studied fossil element of snakes. However, identification of snake vertebrae can be problematic due to extensive variation. This study utilizes 2-D geometric morphometrics and canonical variates analysis to 1) reveal variation between genera and species and 2) classify vertebrae of modern and fossil eastern North American Agkistrodon and Crotalus. The results show that vertebrae of Agkistrodon and Crotalus can reliably be classified to genus and species using these methods. Based on the statistical analyses, four of the …

Morphologic Analyses Of Paleozoic Rhombiferan Echinoderm Stems, Aidan R. Sweeney

Doctoral Dissertations

During the Paleozoic, echinoderms exhibited a diverse array of morphologies. This work specifically deals with an extinct stemmed group called glyptocystitoid rhombiferans. The goal of this work is to investigate functional morphology of the stem in this enigmatic group. Abnormalities in form are addressed herein by a brief literature review of teratologic features and in the description of a new species of pleurocystitid Pleurocystites? scylla. Morphologic specialization is discussed in the investigation of the internal structure and morphometrics of the mesotem of Brockocystis. Linear morphometrics, multiple imputation, and multivariate statistics were used to describe the variability exhibited in …

Utilizing Phylogenetic And Geochemical Techniques To Examine Echinoderms Through Time, Maggie Ryan Limbeck

Doctoral Dissertations

Understanding biotic changes through Earth’s history has been the goal of paleobiology since the inception of the field. Advances in science and technology have progressed allowing us to reassess old questions and new questions that could have not been addressed without these new methods. Echinoderms (sea stars, sea urchins, etc.) appear in the fossil record during the early Cambrian and are still abundant in marine ecosystems today. This persistence through time has made echinoderms model organisms to answer questions about Earth’s past and present. Despite this role as a model organism there are many questions that remain with respect to …

History Of Ice-Rafting In The Arctic Ocean During Glacial Maxima Through Marine Isotope Stage 6, Shannon M. Cofield

OES Theses and Dissertations

Numerous studies attempted to reconstruct Arctic paleoclimate, specifically ice mass timing and locations, during glacial maxima. While some regions, like the Barents-Svalbard Ice Sheet (BSIS) are well-studied, they may benefit from a high-resolution paleo proxy. Other regions are highly contested, such as the East Siberian Sea or the presence of a central Arctic Ocean ice mass.

This research uses an Fe-grain provenance method to (1) define how the BSIS behaved during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2, 4, and 6, and when it retreated; (2) determine the presence and ages of Shelf Ice Masses (SIMs) in the Beaufort Sea and East …

Exploring The Relationships Between Mammalian Functional Trait Distributions And Regional Biomes, With Application To Miocene Paleoecology, Devra Hock-Reid

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Paleoecology relies on understanding relationships between modern animals and their environment. Animals are adapted to niches in their environments, and those physical adaptations, or functional traits, are utilized as proxies to interpret aspects of paleo-ecosystems. Much is known about individual functional traits in extant mammals and their relationship to the environment. Less is known about how multiple functional traits across a community can be utilized for paleoecological interpretations. I develop models utilizing traits in mammalian communities at the biome level. For Chapter 1, I build a model for North American regional biomes using mammalian trait frequencies. I quantify changes in …

A Review Of Theropithecus Oswaldi With The Proposal Of A New Subspecies, Dagmawit Abebe Getahun, Eric Delson, Chalachew Mesfin Seyoum

Publications and Research

Theropithecus oswaldi darti, as currently understood, is the oldest Theropithecus taxon in the fossil record and the earliest subspecies in the Theropithecus oswaldi lineage. Theropithecus oswaldi darti is typified at the site of Makapansgat in South Africa, and a similar form (T. o. cf. darti) is usually recognized at Hadar, Dikika, some Middle Awash localities, and Woranso-Mille in Ethiopia. This taxon is also tentatively believed to occur in Kenya at Kanam and Koobi Fora and in Member C of the Shungura Formation in Ethiopia. While there is a general consensus that the East African ‘darti’ specimens are …

New Insights Into The Paleovegetation Of The Ancient Underwater Forest Located In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Karla Lizarraga Garcia

Master's Theses

A well-preserved remnant of an ancient bald cypress forest (hereafter, Underwater Forest) constitutes the only known archive of a glacial refuge on the once exposed continental shelf of the Northern Gulf of Mexico. This forest existed around 41-72 yBP (MIS 3-5) according to the existing dating methods applied on previous studies. As the climate conditions and sea levels changed, the vegetation of this glacial refuge shifted from bald cypress forests to open marshes, altering the vegetation dynamics. The present research analyzed four new cores (21DF-5A, 21DF-5B, 15DF-6, and 16DF-3A), which provided additional insights into the vegetation that once existed in …

Automated Classification Of Pectinodon Bakkeri Teeth Images Using Machine Learning, Jacob A. Bahn

MS in Computer Science Project Reports

Microfossil dinosaur teeth are studied by paleontologists in order to better under- stand dinosaurs. Currently, tooth classification is a long, manual, error-ridden process. Deep learning offers a solution that allows for an automated way of classifying images of these microfossil teeth. In this thesis, we aimed to use deep learning in order to develop an automated approach for classifying images of Pectinodon bakkeri teeth. The proposed model was trained using a custom topology and it classified the images based on clusters created via K-Means. The model had an accuracy of 71%, a precision of 71%, a recall of 70.5%, and …

Assessing College Students' Understanding Of Geologic Timescales, Ethan Couture

Honors College

Geologic timescales are central to many concepts in the natural sciences, including evolution, climate change and plate tectonics. However, geologic time scales can be challenging to appreciate, especially for those who have not had exposure to such topics previously. During primary and secondary education (K-12) students are provided with foundational information about geology that is then further developed in specialized classes in college. Yet most students are not getting this foundation, which could arguably lead to deficits in their post-secondary education. Despite the importance of these concepts, especially for those interested in careers associated with geologic timescales, there have been …

Nebraska Statewide Groundwater-Level Monitoring Report 2022, Aaron R. Young, Mark E. Burbach, Sue Olafsen Lackey, Robert Matthew Joeckel, Jeffrey Westrop

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

A Miocene Nannofossil Biostratigraphic Case Study: Alaminos Canyon Block 627 And Mississippi Canyon Block 555, And Sedimentation Rates In The Gulf Of Mexico, Bethany L. Cobb Faulk, Murlene W. Clark

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The Miocene sediments of 2 deep—water boreholes from the northern Gulf of Mexico, from Alaminos Canyon (AC) Block 627 and Mississippi Canyon (MC) Block 555, have been biostratigraphically analyzed using calcareous nannofossils, revealing changes in sedimentation rates and depositional environments between these 2 areas. High nannofossil abundance values and low sedimentation rates generally recorded in the Alaminos Canyon region suggest a condensed section during much of the Miocene, associated with a basinal environment. Mississippi Canyon exhibits lower nannofossil abundance and higher sedimentation rates compared to Alaminos Canyon during the majority of the Miocene. Increased sediment volumes are largely attributed to …

Reconstructing The Ecological Relationships Of The Latest Cretaceous Antarctic Dinosaurs And How Functional Tooth Morphology Influenced Diet And Ecological Niche Among Basal Ornithopod Dinosaurs, Ian Broxson

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Of the final three connected Gondwanan landmasses, the dinosaur fossil record of Antarctica in the Cretaceous is the least complete. Most dinosaur faunas in this time period (145 Ma to 66.0 Ma) are widely separated geographically and temporally from one another by million years. However, a group of non-avian dinosaurs from the James Ross Basin (JRB) of the Antarctic Peninsula, composed of two elasmarians, a parankylosaurian ankylosaur, a hadrosaur and a suspected megaraptor, all are represented by fragmentary remains have emerged from the same horizon of the Sandwich Bluff Member (SBM) of the López de Bertodano Formation and were thus, …

The Mystery Of The Missing Megafauna, Maggie Colangelo, Bernard Means

Virtual Curation Lab's Comic Publications

The creative team behind Founding Monsters and Founding Monsters Tales have created a new comic that takes a more scientific and less historic approach to the giant mammals that once roamed North America. The Mystery of the Missing Megafauna explores how changing climate impacted biodiversity and megafauna populations in North America at the end of the last Ice Age. Particular attention is placed on the extinction of mastodons, mammoths, giant ground sloths and other megafauna whose fossils are found at Saltville in southwestern Virginia. This comic draws a connection to contemporary climate change and the major extinctions happening today. The …

Rapid Growth In Late Cretaceous Sea Turtles Reveals Life History Strategies Similar To Extant Leatherbacks, Laura E. Wilson

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Modern sea turtle long bone osteohistology has been surprisingly well-studied, as it is used to understand sea turtle growth and the timing of life history events, thus informing conservation decisions. Previous histologic studies reveal two distinct bone growth patterns in extant sea turtle taxa, with Dermochelys (leatherbacks) growing faster than the cheloniids (all other living sea turtles). Dermochelys also has a unique life history compared to other sea turtles (large size, elevated metabolism, broad biogeographic distribution, etc.) that is likely linked to bone growth strategies. Despite the abundance of data on modern sea turtle bone growth, extinct sea turtle osteohistology …

The Anatomy And Phylogeny Of A New Large Plioplatecarpine Mosasaur From The Campanian Bearpaw Shale Of Montana (Usa), Richard A. Carr

Master's Theses

In 2018, a large and associated plioplatecarpine mosasaur skull, pectoral girdle, and rib cage, whose total body length may have exceeded five meters, was uncovered in the Late Campanian Bearpaw Shale of Northeast Montana (USA). Phylogenetic analysis of this specimen, MOR 10855, recovers this individual as a basal member of the genus Plioplatecarpus. This specimen, is unique in that it is estimated to be nearly twice the size of any of the other species of Plioplatecarpus found in the Western Interior Seaway during this part of the Cretaceous. While the included phylogenetic study suggests MOR 10855 represents a new …

Timing Of Diversification, Dispersal, And Biogeography Of Parrots In The Genus Amazona (Psittaciformes: Psittacidae) Throughout The Caribbean, Visualized In Gis, Christopher Kingwill

Master's Theses

Avian fossil records from across the Caribbean (Greater and Lesser Antilles) demonstrate higher avian diversity prior to extinction events due to climate change at the end of the Pleistocene and human impact across the Caribbean throughout the Holocene. Amazon parrots (Amazona) are a diverse genus of New World parrots found throughout Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean. Their phylogeny and evolutionary history, specifically for Caribbean species, has been debated in terms of source areas in Central and South America and the timing of and number of colonization events to different islands that preceded diversification into …