Park Paleontology, Spring 1998 — Page 1

PARK PALEONTOLOGY

Volume 4, No. 2 Spring 1998

Surfers Discover Park Fossils

n the last four months Web surfers [email protected]. park’s website in several places. visiting the Park Geology website The website also attempts to high- I http://www.aqd.nps.gov/grd Under Construction at light the educational value of park geol- have discovered a great deal of new in- ogy by using broad themes to link park There are several projects in the works formation, especially in the area of park sites throughout the System. However, that could enhance the park paleontol- paleontology. “Park Geology” is a most of the material from brochures is ogy information on the Web: website designed by the Geologic Re- park-specific and doesn’t take advantage • We are currently testing an on-line sources Division to serve as a central hub of the multi-park approach to explain- searchable photo database that will for information about “geoparks” and ing complex geology. One exception is have more than 400 USGS photo- to link parks from across the System the “Age of Mammals: Life in the graphs of park geologic features through common Cenozoic Era”, with descriptions. Photographs of geologic themes. Park Geology website at which is used on fossils and paleontology projects The original de- http://www.aqd.nps.gov/grd several park bro- would be welcome additions. sign was tested chures. Using • A web-based park geology timeline using information this illustration designed by Vince Santucci is be- from fossil parks, and now that a basic rich material, designers were able to ex- ing expanded into a National Park framework is in place we would like to periment with a thematic feature, creat- see Website, page 2 see park paleontology features continue ing a model for other themes (see http:/ to grow. /www.aqd.nps.gov/grd/parks/ The bulk of the website’s pages are Age_of_Mammals.htm). Table of Contents park focused content pages called “ge- Yahoo! The Park Geology Surfers Discover Park Fossils ...... 1 ology fieldnotes.” There are currently website has recently become more vis- more than 150 individual park geology ible to Web users. In December the site Fairy Tales Can Come True ...... 2 fieldnote pages posted on the site’s tour was listed by the Yahoo search engine Aquarium in Stone ...... 2 of park geology. The initial content for and since then it has been added by other Florissant Compiles New Database ...... 3 these pages was taken from park bro- search engines. Park Geology is grow- chures and site bulletins, with the scan- ing in popularity among teachers, stu- John Day yields unique primate tooth ...... 3 ning and editing done by students and a dents, and visitors that use the Web. The Teaching Fossils Through the Mail ...... 3 contractor. However, many of the park server that hosts Park Geology and brochures are weak in their coverage of NatureNet now records more than Dinosaur bonebed discovered at Big Bend ....4 geology, so the work of locating or cre- 100,000 “hits” each week. Linking a Paleo at Delaware Water Gap NRA ...... 4 ating additional text and photos for each park’s home page to the geology PARK PALEO Recognition Pin ...... 4 park is just beginning. If you can con- fieldnotes or to other parks that share tribute any geologic information for the geologic themes is encouraged. The FOSSIL FORUM ...... 5 NPS website, please contact geology fieldnotes already link to each Page 2 — Park Paleontology, Spring 1998 Fairy Tales Can Come True Dan Chure—DINO etween 1990 and 1996 the pale known as gamma particles, can be emit- his face. The staff, needless to say, was Bontology staff at Dinosaur Na ted from fossilized bone and he had de- ecstatic. tional Monument excavated and veloped a machine for detecting these It took many weeks to excavate the prepared the skeleton of a new species emissions. Ray had used his “dinosaur skull and ultimately helicopter it back of meat-eating dinosaur. This spectacu- dowser” successfully with other paleon- to the lab. By the beginning of 1997 lar specimen is one of the most impor- tologists and he came to Dinosaur hop- one side of the skull was completely ex- tant ever found in the Monument and ing that he could help us solve our prob- posed and its was a site to behold; a two- one of the best from rocks of Late Ju- lem. Ray gridded off the quarry and foot long skull, complete with a toothy rassic age anywhere in the world. Even systematically measured gamma emis- smile. The remarkable “dinosaur so, it was, unfortunately, another “head- sions over a 30 by 6 foot area. Back at dowser” had lived up to its reputation less wonder” — a skeleton missing the the lab he analyzed the data to remove and we now had the missing piece to our skull; something which happens all too the emissions from the rock itself. This great dinosaur puzzle. frequently in paleontology. There was done, there remained one high reading Ray’s machine will not find all fos- no clue as to what had happened to the — a hopeful sign. Was it a fragment of sil bones, since some do not emit gamma skull. Was it still buried deep within the a bone....a piece of petrified wood...or particles, and others are buried too deep rocks of the quarry? Had it been washed the missing skull? To answer that ques- to detect. However, in the right situa- away by the river before the skeleton had tion, Ray returned to Dinosaur in July tion, with the right conditions (and a little been buried in sand? Or had the skull 1996 and relocated the spot. He told us bit of luck), it can work wonders and been destroyed even before the skeleton the emission reading suggested that we have the skull to prove it!n had been washed into the river? No one whatever was there was close to the sur- knew and all hope had been lost that the face and that we should proceed care- Aquarium in stone skull would ever be found. fully. Incredibly, the first hammer blow Marcia Fagnant Enter the knight on a white horse, hit bone, and within an hour it was clear Ray Jones, a radiologist at the Univer- that we were looking at the back of the FOBU sity of Utah, with an interest in dino- missing skull. At the end of the day Ray uring the summer of 1996, a saurs. Ray knew that small particles, rode off into the sunset with a smile on Dguided hike to an active re- search Website quarry was added to the week- continued from page 1 end programs at FOBU. The purpose geology time machine, where earth of this program is to give visitors an op- • The work of paleontologists and cu- history and the history of life on portunity to visit an active site on the rators; earth can be experienced through monument and interact with a working • How to get involved: Meetings, fossil parks. paleontologist. Because the Monument preservation issues, general interest is surrounded by active commercial fos- • The USGS National Mapping Pro- publications. sil quarries (many allow visitors to pay gram is supporting the development a fee to collect and keep fossils), this of park geology pages for several Send program provides an opportunity to in- parks. Part of this work will include Please get involved in the park ge- troduce the visitor to concepts associ- general geology pages explaining ology website by sending in ideas, re- ated with the scientific study of fossils. the geologic time scale and provid- ports, articles, photos, meeting an- At the quarry, visitors are provided ing of plate reconstruction diagrams. nouncements, and corrections. Expert with a background and history of the site review and additional material will have and how it fits into the larger strati- Ideally, the paleontology sections of to come from people like yourself. The graphic context of Fossil Basin. The the website would help to conserve Geologic Resources Division can scan park paleontologist or a research assis- park fossil resources by creating more text, photos and slides, and prepare new tant describes the scientific methods of informed visitors. A few ideas that still webpages for posting on our server or collecting fossil specimens and associ- need authors include: yours. If you don’t have web access but ated scientific data. Visitors are then in- • Information about collecting and re- would like to be involved, we can make vited to assist the scientist in the collec- search permits; a CD-ROM with the current website for tion of specimens and recording data. • Alternatives to collecting: Museums you to review. The two hour quarry program at- that hold NPS fossil collections; Contacts: [email protected] tracted 65 participants in 1996 and in • Arranging field trips; or [email protected] 1997, program participation more than doubled with 158 visitors.n Park Paleontology, Spring 1998 — Page 3 Florissant Fossil Beds compiles new database Herb Meyer —FLFO ossil plants and insects have lished specimens from Florissant in or- The database includes information Fbeen collected from the der to facilitate future research and pro- inherent to each individual specimen Florissant fossil beds since the vide a meaningful taxonomic inventory (taxon, museum numbers, collector, lo- 1870s, long before the establishment of of Florissant’s diversity. The project is cality, etc.) as well as all information the National Monument in 1969. These still underway, and to date 3500 speci- pertaining to the publication history of large collections of fossils are housed men records have been added. In all the specimen (original publication and in museums throughout the country and cases, new original photographic trans- all subsequent citations in publication). include thousands of published type parencies are being taken and eventu- Many cataloguing problems are being specimens upon which 1200-1500 new ally will be digitized. Time-consuming recognized and corrected in the process, species were based. These new species on-site visits have been necessary to and publication inconsistencies are of- often originally were described without record specimen data and to complete ten resolved according to the Interna- illustrations, or those that were illus- photography. Museums that have been tional Codes of Botanical and Zoologi- trated were done with line drawings or visited so far include University of Colo- cal Nomenclature. We expect that the artistic renditions. The publications in rado Museum, Denver Museum of Natu- project will be on-going for another two which they were described number in ral History, University of California Mu- to three years. Internet access to the da- the hundreds, and only limited informa- seum of Paleontology, American Mu- tabase is one of our long range objec- tion has been available to draw this vast seum of Natural History, U.S. National tives. For more information, contact array of information into a single for- Museum of Natural History, Natural Florissant’s paleontologist: mat. Some of the museums do not main- History Museum of London, Harvard n tain their own computerized databases. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Yale In some instances, entire collections Peabody Museum, Florida Museum of Teaching fossils have been moved to different museums Natural History, San Diego Museum of since their original citation in publica- Natural History, California Academy of through the mail tion, making it difficult for researchers Sciences, and National Museum of Scot- Marcia Fagnant to locate needed specimens. land. We are striving to establish a close FOBU Beginning in 1995, Florissant Fos- working relationship with each of these ossil Butte National Monument’s sil Beds National Monument initiated a museums, and all of them have been most successful outreach program project to develop a new integrated da- very generously supportive of the F involves teachers and students tabase that will document all of the pub- project. from all over the United States. Teach- ing Paleontology in the National Parks, John Day Fossil Beds yields unique primate tooth Monuments, and Public Lands is a cur- www article riculum guide that travels with many tiny tooth recently found on an years of collecting in the John Day Ba- teaching aids, such as; replicas, slide isolated peak in central Oregon sin, this is the only one of its kind. “This shows, posters, a computer game, fossil A is about as rare as fossils get,” Fremd rubbing plate, and a fossil preparation represents the youngest known fossil primate in North America. added. kit (a replica). It is designed to aid teach- The 4mm (0.15 inch) specimen was The isolated lower molar is unique ers presenting concepts of time, past life, found within John Day Fossil Beds Na- because it is the only North American and fossils to students in the second and tional Monument during routine pros- primate fossil of the late Oligocene Ep- third grades. pecting under the direction of the park’s och (28 to 24 million years ago) to be The program began in the fall of paleontologist Ted Fremd. It was dis- found in proximity to volcanic ash lay- 1994. Through the generous support of covered by John Zancanella of the Bu- ers. Using new, high precision argon the Dinosaur Nature Association, fifteen reau of Land Management who was isotopes, scientists are able to date these kits over the last four years have reached working in the park on an interagency ash tuffs. Previously described evidence approximately 4,000 children from the team. of this animal in the Pacific Northwest first through ninth grades in thirty states During cataloguing this fall, when was limited to a fragmentary maxilla and Canada. One hundred and sixty several other new kinds of animal fos- with minimal stratigraphic data. teachers have requested that the kit be sils were also identified, this tooth “We try to continuously examine sent to them. It has been a wonderful “jumped out as something we’ve been fossil-bearing rocks to collect scientifi- way for “the keepers of our fossil heri- looking for with very little hope, for cally significant fossils on federal lands. tage” to spread understanding of a very many years,” Fremd said. After 130 Otherwise, weathering and other factors unique resource.n will destroy them,” said Fremd.n Page 4 — Park Paleontology, Spring 1998 Dinosaur bonebed discovered at Big Bend Park Paleontology National Park Recognition Pin Andrew Stanton staff writer FOBU n an effort to acknowledge indi ecent excavations at Big Bend According to Fiorillo, the bonebed Ividuals making positive contribu National Park have unearthed a offers “new insights into the life history tions to the National Park Service Pa- R of Alamosaurus.” The site is significant leontological Resource Program, two bonebed of Alamosaurus, a sau- ropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous because it has yielded new material, recognition pins have been created to re- of North America. Anthony Fiorillo of “giving portions of Alamosaurus ward these individuals. Both pins are the Dallas Museum of Natural History anatomy that have never been seen be- modeled after the PARK PALEONTOL- says that the bonebed is believed to con- fore.” It is also the first time a group OGY Newsletter logo. sist of three individuals, an adult and two has been found together, as well as a The first version of the pin is black juveniles, both of which are half of the juvenile being found with an adult. and gold and will be presented to indi- adult’s size. The bones at the sight show Fiorillo believes that may indicate so- viduals making noteworthy contributions signs of being trampled, such as abra- cial behavior in Alamosaurus. to promote paleontology in the national sions, and some bones being on end Alamosaurus is the only sauropod parks. A solid gold version of the pin rather than laying flat. It is believed that dinosaur known from the late Creta- will be presented to individuals making the bonebed may represent an ancient ceous of North America. It was a significant contributions to the National watering hole. Titanosaur, a family of sauropods that Park Service Paleontology Program. mostly inhabited the southern continents The first recipient of the gold PARK of Africa, South America, and India. PALEO pin is Rachel Benton, paleon- After other families became extinct in tologist at Badlands National Park. North America earlier in the Cretaceous, Among the many accomplishments by Titanosaurs entered from a land bridge Rachel, she has coordinated two Fossil to South America just before the dino- Resource Conferences. saurs became extinct at the close of the The second pin recipient is Greg Mesozoic.n McDonald, paleontologist at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument. Dur- ing 1997, Greg obtained a $50,000 grant Paleontology at Delaware Water Gap from Cannon Corporation to conduct an excavation of the Hagerman Horse National Recreation Area Quarry. Christian George The third pin recipient is Diann Gese, Franklin & Marshall University geologist in the Geologic Resources Di- vision. Through her efforts with the Ge- ologists-In-The-Park Program, Diann n the summer of 1997 the paleonto Devonian fishes are preserved in sev- has successfully promoted paleontology Ilogical resource data from Dela eral locations. by placing geology and paleontology stu- ware Water Gap National Recreation This information was used to create dent interns in National Park Service Area were incorporated into the parks a database which was then linked to the areas.n geographic information system. Using geographic information in ArcView. data from a comprehensive survey con- This gives the park a digital record of ducted from 1979 to 1980 of the the paleontological resources and makes paleonotological resources of the park, it quickly accessible to any personnel a database was populated and the loca- who may need it. An interpretive dis- tions of the fossil sites were digitized. play was then developed to show ex- This survey identified 130 sites amples of some of the fossils found in which contained fossil bearing rocks. the park. Most of the fossils found in the park are This project was undertaken by Ordovician and Silurian invertebrates, Christian George an intern in archeol- including brachiopods, sponges, bryo- ogy and GIS. He was advised by John zoans, corals and trilobites. In addition Wright, park archeologist and Keith to the invertebrates the dermal plates of High, resource management.n Park Paleontology, Spring 1998 — Page 5

FOSSIL FORUM National Parks: Geology Matters

The following two letters were published in GEOTIMES. The original letter by David Applegate was printed in the August 1997 issue. The reply by Roland Gangloff was printed in the June 1998 issue. The letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the National Park Service or any other agency, however, the letters address key issues related to the management of geologic/paleontologic resources on federal lands.

The need for increased public awareness of the at the U.S. Geological Survey, whose principal gram failed to designate any topics related to the value of geoscience research has become a man- mission is to meet the research and information geosciences. Efforts are underway to correct that tra across our community in this time of tight needs of its sister agencies. This separation of omission. federal budgets. The recent threat of elimina- science from management and regulatory func- tion faced by federal geoscience agencies tions is, of course, designed to ensure credibility A CALL FOR ACTION stemmed largely from a genuine lack of under- and objectivity. But it can also leave managers In the November 1995 issue of GSA Today, Paul standing of what they do. Short-term efforts to and regulators unaware of what scientists have and Heidi Doss urge academic geoscientists inform congress must continue, but long-tern to offer and scientists unclear about the needs of working in national parks to assign a higher pri- support for the geosciences will depend on con- managers and regulators. Although individual ority to educating the public about their research. vincing the public that geology truly matters. projects have been successful and the relation- Although many geoscientists conduct research The recent crop of dinosaur and volcano di- ship should be strengthened, the lack of daily con- in units of the national park system, their inter- saster movies that feature climatic scenes in tact and resulting familiarity may limit the action with park personnel is often limited fill- which the hero, in time of crisis, shouts “Get me arrangement’s effectiveness. ing out an annual Investigator’s report or col- a geologist!” are great. But we cannot rely on lecting permit. Hollywood to keep delivering the goods – or SMALL STEPS FORWARD The Dosses suggest ways to incorporate out- much reality for that matter. The need for better communication between sci- side scientists into the park’s educational pro- So where should our educational efforts be- entists and managers was one of many issues cess, working with interpreters and other park gin? Many of us treasure the geology field trip raised by a 1992 National Research Council study staff. They describe their own success in devel- as our favorite learning experience. The pros- titled Science and the National Parks. The re- oping training programs at Indiana Dunes Na- pect of millions of our fellow citizens voluntar- port noted scientists’ lack of influence among tional Lakeshore and Acadia National Park, and ily going on field trips certainly would be a good policy-makers and the lack of a coordinated ap- argue that such programs can effectively inform start! And millions already do. Each year, large proach to research in support of research man- the public and park service interpreters about numbers of Americans travel to type sections, agement. In response to the latter criticism, the geologic research and geology. They point out unique fossil localities, and other prime examples Park Service created Natural Resources Program that these educational efforts “may be the public’s of geology at its most splendid. Our national Center to provide scientific assistance in the first and only direct exposure to taxpayer-funded park system presents a tremendous opportunity management and protection of natural resources science.” for public education about the geosciences, but in the parks. The call put out by the Dosses should be it is an opportunity largely untapped. Geologists in the National Park Service were echoed throughout our community, not just for consolidated into the center’s Geologic Resources academic geoscientists but for professional ge- GEOLOGY BUT NO GEOLOGISTS division. They are working with the geoscience ologists and all others with an interest in increas- One big obstacle is the overly low profile held societies to raise awareness of the division’s ac- ing public awareness of geology. For example, by the geosciences within the National Park Ser- tivities and promote collaboration in research and volunteering to brief interpretive staff on the geo- vice, which employs only 40 geologists. Com- public education. logic history and processes at work in a park can pare that to the agency’s 900 biologists, a num- In partnership with the Geological Society of make them more comfortable sharing that in- ber that was even higher before the creation of America (GSA), division geologists have devel- formation with the public. the National Biological Survey (now the Biologi- oped a summer internship program that allows With a mission focused on preservation rather cal Resources Division of the U.S. Geological undergraduate geoscience students to spend sev- than multiple use, the national parks have largely Survey) absorbed many of the Park Service’s bio- eral months in a national park working on re- been left out of the debates over fossils, mining, logical research staff. The scarcity of geoscien- search projects, cataloging collections, or devel- and other public lands issues. But the parks rep- tists means that in even the most geologically oping interpretive materials. GSA sponsored two resent a very different sort of resource in the form spectacular parks including the Grand Canyon, internships this summer with matching funds of 268 million visitors a year. Because so many none are available to train interpreters, develop from the division, which is funding several ad- of those visits could represent the geologic field educational materials, and provide resource and ditional internships itself. Projects include de- trip of a lifetime, no better opportunity exists for hazard evaluations. veloping a paleontological database for Denali increasing public awareness of the science and Fully one quarter of the 874 units in the na- National Park in Alaska and working on public capturing the public’s imagination. tional park system – which includes national education projects at Badlands National Park in Gazing over the edge of the Grand Canyon parks, monuments, seashores, historical parks, South Dakota. for the first time is as awesome an experience as recreation areas, and other sites – were created A promising new science scholars program most people are likely to get. Sciences like as- solely for their geologic qualities, and 140 of the funded by the American Association for the Ad- tronomy and oceanography have successfully units contain significant geologic features. Ge- vancement of Science, Canon, and the National mobilized public support through the “wow”, or ology and the parks should have a special rela- Park Foundation invites graduate students in the wonder, factor. It is time for us to do the same. tionship, but where are the geologists? biological, physical, and cultural sciences to in- David Applegate As an agency within the Department of the vestigate specific research topics using the parks AGI Director of Government Affairs Interior, the Park Service relies on geoscientists as laboratories. Unfortunately, this year’s pro- n Page 6 — Park Paleontology, Spring 1998

Fossil Forum (continued) Invitation for contributions I read [the] article in Geotimes (Au- given in 1994 at the Partners in Paleontology gust 1997) concerning the lack of geologists and Conference, held in Colorado Springs. o keep Park Paleontology News geological training within the National Park Ser- However, I have not seen much progress over letter fresh and informative we vice (NPS). I would also call your attention to the last three years by any of the participating T would like to hear from you. If lack of same in the Bureau of Land Management agencies. Now that the USGS has “enfolded” you have paleontological news relevant (BLM). I write from the perspective of over 25 the biologic survey and has been directed toward years [of] work in the Mojave Desert, Alaska, more “pragmatic” avenues,it will be interesting to the national parks please write a few Wyoming, and Nevada. The situation is particu- to see if the balance of specialists within our NPS paragraphs and send to: larly bad in Alaska. There is not a single geolo- and BLM divisions changes in response to this Vince Santucci gist or paleontologist based at BLM in the entire reorganization of the USGS. I think we (Ameri- Fossil Butte National Monument state. Archaeologists have a lock on most posi- can Geological Institute, Geological Society of P.O. Box 592 America, Paleontological Society, and the Soci- tions remotely related to geoscience matters and Kemmerer, WY 83101 permit issuing, etc. In fact, there is only one par- ety of Vertebrate Paleontology) should be more [email protected] tially trained paleontologist-archaeologist in the activist and politically savvy and make our voices entire western region at a managerial level. It is heard. I commend you for pointing to steps now Park Paleontology’s schedule is a very low level at that. ... I have been working being taken, small though they be. I also com- quarterly. The summer issue is planned on dinosaur fauna from Northern Alaska since mend [the] article in general. You are right on! 1987 and still find very little attention or support — for publication in July, 1998. Written available for geologic or paleontologic resources. opinions regarding the Fossil Forum It is my conclusion that this [situation] Roland A. Gangloff topic are also welcomed.n is a direct result of the tradition of relying on the Curator, Earth Science Collections U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for most geo- University of Alaska Museum science investigations until the last decade, when and associate professor of geology the USGS was methodically gutted in such areas University of Alaska-Fairbanks. of expertise. However, NPS and BLM have very poor grasps of their geologic potentials and re- sources. This was very clear from presentations n

Park Paleontology c/o Fossil Butte NM P.O. Box 592 Kemmerer, WY 83101

Superintendent B. Crat decided not to hire a paleontologist at the park, but rather another biologist to study the ad- verse effects that fossils may have on the biological resources.