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2016 Year in Review

2016 Year in Review

DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE Department of Earth Sciences 2016 in Review

Happy New Year! We are excited to continue our tradition of “year-in-review” reports. In the following pages, the curators in the department share details on the progress of our multi-year research projects in the field and in the lab. You’ll also learn about some of the research accomplishments by our volunteers, associates and staff. As we continue to pursue our long-term vision to be the best field-based department in and build a world-class paleontology collection, we look to you for your amazing and continued support in the field, labs, collections, and research. The outstanding volunteer core in the Department of Earth Sciences at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science makes this all possible.

In 2016, we added several new staff to the Department and celebrated those that moved on. The most recent addition to our team is David Krause. Dave recently “retired” as a Distinguished Service Professor from in NY and joined our department as a half-time Curator of Paleontology. Dave brings expertise on to our team. After the promotion of Carla Bradmon, we hired our new Business Support Specialist, Taylor Foreman. Hailing from the flats of Lubbock, Texas, Taylor is not only excited about living next to the mountains, but also the opportunity to join our field teams. Kristen MacKenzie has also stepped into a new role in the Department, and is now our Interim Collections Manager. Thus far, her team of volunteers and collections assistants has catalogued over 30,000 microfossils from Snowmass and Porcupine Cave. Now Kristen is turning her talents to the rest of our collections. Finally, after being an intern with the Department for a year, Gabi Rossetto stepped into a term Collections Assistant position. Gabi supports all aspects of the collections but is focused on and leading the Leaf Whacker volunteer group, which has now been going strong for six months.

Last year, we also saw two dedicated staff members leave our department. After 24 as Collections Manager, Logan Ivy retired. During his time, he saw the collections grow from about 5,000 specimens to more than 1.2 million specimens. He mentored a few undergrads and high school students along the way, including two of our current curators (Ian & Joe). We will miss Logan already and we hope he comes back soon to join our team in a volunteer capacity. Adam Behlke, our preparator and head of the casting and molding lab, landed his dream job at the Smithsonian, helping to assemble specimens for their new Hall of .

We are currently hiring for both Adam and Logan’s positions in 2017. We will also be adding three new term Collections Assistants to Vertebrate Paleontology and Geology/Invertebrate Paleontology in addition to a new “Digital Technician” working to expand our volunteer-driven science into 3D fossil “preparation.” 2017 is shaping up to be a huge year for Earth Sciences.

Thank you again for all the support you have given the Department in 2016! We are looking forward to an incredible 2017 field with new and new discoveries!

Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2016 Earth Sciences Year in Review

Ian Miller Curator of Paleobotany Chair, Department of Earth Sciences

Over the past few years, my work at the Museum has concentrated on 1) field, lab, and collections activities focused on fossils from formations in , , , North , and ; 2) growing and sustaining the amazing Department of Earth Sciences; and 3) leading an ongoing major Museum initiative called the Natural World of Colorado, which aims to deepen people’s connection with the natural world. In 2016, I spent most of my research time focused on the Denver and Williston Basins in North Dakota and Montana with Tyler Lyson, and the -Escalante National Monument in Utah with Joe Sertich. In truth, most of my fieldwork is supported by the massive, long-term projects that my colleagues in the Department are leading. I am fortunate to be part of this incredibly collegial and collaborative group of scientists as we work together to tell the grand story of life on Earth. Finally, I am so grateful for the incredible support that the Earth Sciences volunteers give to the Department. Without them, our field, lab and collections work would not be possible.

Denver Basin , Colorado to

During the summer of 2010, we were gearing up to make a major push to restart the Project. That fall, our lives changed and with the incredible discoveries in Snowmass. With that project done and after nearly a nearly six year hiatus, I was thrilled to be working in the Denver Basin again last summer. Here, I am working with Tyler and we are mostly concentrating on the recovery of life after the at the KT boundary. Even though my work is primarily partnered with Tyler, Joe and I co-authored a paper on the recovery this past summer with our colleagues at CU (Dahlberg, E.L., J.J. Eberle, J.J.W. Sertich, I.M. Miller. 2016. A new earliest Paleocene () mammalian from Colorado’s Denver Basin, U.S.A. Rocky Mountain Geology 51: 1-22.)

Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2016 Earth Sciences Year in Review

In addition to this work, I’ve also helped supervise a master’s student at Wesleyan University. She applied four different proxies for estimating past CO2 levels in the atmosphere to fossils from the Castle Rock Rainforest. While the paper is imminent, she presented our work at AGU. Science Magazine picked up the story and wrote about it in the first issue of 2017. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/01/fossil-leaves-suggest-global-warming-will-be-harder-fight-scientists- thought.

Early Paleocene fossil leaves from the Denver Basin collected in 2016.

Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2016 Earth Sciences Year in Review

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) , Utah

My work in the Kaiparowits Formation and collaboration with Joe Sertich on the Project continued in 2016. I was in the field for only a few days (8 to be exact). My fieldwork focused mostly on prospecting new areas and supporting the field camps. In my time, we found a few new leaf and vertebrate sites. I’m looking forward to a big field in 2017!

In the lab, we did a tremendous amount of work on the existing Kaiparowits collection, which numbers in the tens of thousands of specimens. As a result, we have a huge backlog. Thanks the diligent work of Gabi and the Leaf Whacker volunteer core, I expect we will have all existing Kaiparowits fossil prepared and curated by August 2017.

Finally, I am also supervising Gussie Maccracken as she pursues her PhD at the University of Maryland. In a couple of months, I’ll be out to help administer her qualification exams! After that, she will have time to focus on her research work, which is centered on the insect- interactions in the Kaiparowits Formation.

A fossil leaf of unnamed new of vine from the Kaiparowits Formation. Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2016 Earth Sciences Year in Review

Williston Basin Hell Creek and Fox Hills Formations, North Dakota and Montana Maastrichtian

Over the past few years, I have been exploring how my paleobotanical work with Tyler in the Williston Basin would dovetail with the decades of work that Kirk Johnson did in the region. During 10 days in the field with Tyler and Kirk this past summer, we devised a plan in which our new research and collecting focus would be in the oldest sections of and also in the underlying . Since Kirk’s research focus has always been the youngest sections of the Hell Creek Formation and the extinction at the KT Boundary in the Williston Basin, by looking at older rocks, we can tie the previous work in the Williston Basin to that of the Laramidia Project.

In 2016, we found several new key localities including a site that produces incredible Leepiercia leaves (figured below). We expect to keep this work going in future .

Leepiercia, an extinct sycamore, collected in 2016. Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2016 Earth Sciences Year in Review

James Hagadorn Tim & Kathryn Ryan Curator of Geology

Ediacaran- Radiation (Sonora, Mexico): La Cienega, Puerto Blanco Formations April

The Ediacaran - Cambrian transition (~550-520 mya) is of broad interest because it spans the evolution of most major phyla, the advent of burrowing and biomineralization (= , teeth, shells!), and the colonization of land and the deep sea. The latest Ediacaran La Cienega Formation and earliest Cambrian Puerto Blanco Formation of Sonora, Mexico are unique among the world’s Ediacaran-Cambrian successions because they contain an intercalated record of siliciclastic, carbonate, and volcanic rocks.

The diverse lithologies of the Sonoran succession permit us to capture information from trace fossils, soft-bodied fossils, and biomineralized fossils, which usually have different modes of preservation governed by lithology. Unlike most successions of this age, which only preserve a fraction of the biological diversity of this interval, the Sonoran strata offer us windows into three of the most common modes of fossil preservation that typify this time period. The succession also offer opportunity to characterize the and environments represented by these strata, and to integrate them with geochemical proxies (mostly from the carbonate rocks) and provenance proxies that help correlate, date, and constrain the environmental evolution of these rocks. The volcanic rocks also help us constrain the age, nature of deposition and paleogeography of this succession, allowing us to tie biological evolution to time, space, and environments – all in one stop. Not to mention that the rocks, despite the abundant cacti of the Sonoran thorn-forest, are superbly exposed!

This year colleagues at the University of Sonora and I spent two weeks in the field examining dikes, sills, tuffs, and Stromboli-like deposits of the region, while simultaneously logging sections through the bounding sedimentary rocks and sampling them at high resolution for 13C, 34S and 87Sr , detrital zircon , and micropaleontology. These samples are currently making their way through the department’s Thin-Section Lab, and we hope to have preliminary data in hand for follow-up fieldwork in 2017!

Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2016 Earth Sciences Year in Review

Grand Canyon Projects (Arizona): Bass, Sixtymile and Tapeats Formations May & October

This year I joined a team of colleagues and students from New Mexico, Utah and California to examine the oldest sedimentary unit in the Grand Canyon – the 1.2 billion- year-old Bass Limestone. The goals were to characterize the environments and paleobiology of the microbialites (mostly stromatolites) and microbiotas of the unit, and to better understand the timing of the Bass’ deposition atop the monadnocks (= earlier topography) of the underlying basement rocks. We also worked to identify the age and environments represented by the Canyon’s lone “tweener” – an enigmatic unit called the Sixtymile Formation, that is notorious for being the only unit in the canyon whose age is unknown. It has been thought to be or possibly Ediacaran (635-542 mya) in age.

The exciting news (see “Papers in Progress” below) is that we found a number of small sand dikes and lags in between the unit’s and dolostones that allowed us to get a maximum depositional age estimate for the unit and the overlying Tapeats . The big surprise was that the detrital zircons from these sands indicated that the Sixtymile is likely early Cambrian in age, rather than older as previously thought. And, archaeocyathid (=weird early reef-forming sponge) fragments found in thin sections of chert nodules from the unit constrain the age to the Lower Cambrian as well. Perhaps the National Park Service will soon need to change the signs, brochures, and the like at the park!

On both our raft and hike-in trips, we also did some reconnaissance fieldwork in the Tapeats Sandstone, focused on identifying arthropod trackways in dune facies that were trapped in erosional remnants. Tracks were not found, but we will return in May 2017 to examine one of the other three dune remnants. Coastal eolian (windborne) deposits are rare in this time period, and the frequent, rapid burial of tracks in damp dew-laden sand offers the best chance to record the presence of early terrestrial pioneers, as they crawled out of the sea and onto land.

Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2016 Earth Sciences Year in Review

Permian- Mass Extinction (Colorado): Lykins, State Bridge Formations June, September, October, November

In 2016 our citizen-science team published their first paper on the -Triassic strata exposed in southeastern Colorado and the Front Range. This paper, referenced below, supported a GSA field trip to these exposures, where we learned about the halite dissolution and solution collapse features (previously interpreted as paleokarst) as well as sand volcanoes in the Lykins Formation carbonates. In this work we also identified the first conodonts and vertebrate trackways from the unit, and characterized stromatolites from 1mm to 10 m in size. These fossils allowed us to construct a biostratigraphic framework for these Permo- Triassic redbeds, and together with our initial 87Sr and 13C chemostratigraphy and detrital zircon work, permitted us to create a working hypothesis for the age and evolution of these strata. The next step is to refine this framework and better constrain the environments in which the Lykins Formation and its equivalents, like the Eagle Basin’s State Bridge Formation, or southeastern ’s Goose Egg Formation, were deposited.

The end-goal of this research is to determine if the granddaddy of mass , the Permian-Triassic event, is represented in these rocks. If it is, a subsequent goal is to understand what happened in this region before/during/after the event, and how this information might support our global understanding of this perturbation and aftermath.

End- Event (Colorado): July & August

Our citizen science team collaborated with vertebrate paleontologist Hans-Peter Schultze and with conodontologist Jeff Over and students to refine our understanding of the vertebrate diversity across the end-Devonian (~360 Ma) . In Deep Creek Canyon, near Dotsero, Colorado, we logged a new reference section, appropriately named “Bear Scat Creek”, and sampled it for biostratigraphy, chemostratigraphy, and magnetic susceptibility. The hope is to link it to our other reference sections in the Flat Tops and Glenwood Canyon area, and use it as a regional reference standard for the global Devoniaphile community.

Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2016 Earth Sciences Year in Review

In these sections we’ve identified the so- called “Hangenberg Event”, which is the signature element of this extinction, much like the and shocked- layer is for the K-T extinction. In partnership with WIPS, we focused efforts in the late summer on characterizing an unusual sedimentary facies that occurs just below the Hangenberg Event. Called the “Gooey Lagoon”, it consists of lumpy carbonate mud globs that encase (and are often encrusted by) corals, sponges, and orthocone nautiloids. With dozens of these straight- shelled nautiloids oriented cone-down in the mud like carrots in the soil, it is one of the most unusual facies we’ve yet seen in rocks of any age. Stay tuned while we work through its geochemistry and petrology to try to figure out how it might have formed. Maybe we’ll have to go back to the field next year to collect more data about it. Oh, darn!

Peer-Reviewed Publications in 2016 Hagadorn, J. W., Whiteley, K. R., Lahey, B. L. Henderson, C. M., and Holm-Denoma, C. S., 2016, The Permian-Triassic transition in Colorado: in Keller, S.M., and Morgan, M.L., eds., Unfolding the Geology of the West: Geological Society of America Field Guide 44, p. 73–92. Kosman, C. W., Kopylova, M. G., Stern, R. A., Hagadorn, J. W., and Hurlbut, J. F., 2016, mantle of the Congo craton: Evidence from and fluid inclusions in Kasai alluvial diamonds: Lithos, v. 265, in press. Som, S. M., Buick, R., Hagadorn, J. W., Blake, T. S., Perreault, J. M. Harnmeijer, J. P., and Catling, D. C., 2016, Earth’s air pressure 2.7 billion years ago constrained to less than half modern levels: Nature Geoscience, v. 9, p. 448-451. Raynolds, R. G., and Hagadorn, J. W., 2016, The Colorado stratigraphy chart: Colorado Geological Survey, Map Series 53, 1 p. Hagadorn, J. W., 2016, Mineralogical Maestro: in Nash, S. E., Stories in Stone, University of Colorado Press, Boulder, p. 243-262.

Abstracts and Professional Presentations Hagadorn, J. W., Whiteley, K. R., Lahey, B. L., Holm-Denoma, C. S., and Henderson, C. M., 2016, The Permian- Triassic of eastern Colorado: Redbeds, slime, salt, dunes, and possibly an extinction?: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 48, n. 7. Hagadorn, J. W., Bullecks, J., Soar, L. K., Lahey, B. L., Over, D. J., Wistort, Z. P., and Holm-Denoma, C. S., 2016, Colorado mass extinction: Weird facies and cool fossils from the end-Devonian Dyer Formation: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 48, n. 7. Hagadorn, J. W., and Krell, F-T., 2016, Ghost preservation: Fossil preservation fostered by bleaching: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 48, n. 7. Hagadorn, J. W., and Raynolds, R. G., 2016, Patterns in the strata: Insights from the belly of a continent, Colorado: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 48, n. 7. Hagadorn, J. W., and Holm-Denoma, C. S., 2016, Linking Neoproterozoic to Cambrian strata from Sonora to Utah: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 48, n. 7. Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2016 Earth Sciences Year in Review

Noffke, N. and Hagadorn, J. W., 2016, Microscopic life underfoot of dinosaurs: Microbial mat facies in the Cretaceous South Platte Formation, Dakota Group, Colorado, USA: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 48, n. 7. Raynolds, R. G., and Hagadorn, J. W., 2016, Coloradostratigraphy.org is a new tool to see Colorado’s stratigraphy: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 48, n. 7. Over, D. J., Horner, H. G., Wistort, Z. P., Hagadorn, J. W., Soar, L. K., and Bullecks, J., 2016, Late Devonian conodonts from the shallow shelf strata of the Broken and Coffee Pot Members, Dyer Formation, Chaffee Group, Colorado: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 48, n. 7. Holm-Denoma, C. S., Hagadorn, J. W., Raynolds, R. G., and Neymark, L. A., 2016, One if by land, two if by sea, and three if by air? transport into Colorado basins: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 48, n. 7.

Research Papers in Progress Shahkarami, S., Mángano, M. G., Buatois, L. A., Hagadorn, J. W., and Almond, J., in review, Sequence stratigraphic architecture of the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary: Origin and significance of a relative sea-level fall at the dawn of the Phanerozoic: Research, 73 ms pp. MacNaughton, R., Hagadorn, J. W., Dott, R. H. Jr., in review, Cambrian wave-dominated tidal-flat deposits, central Wisconsin, U.S.A.: Sedimentology, 76 ms. pp. MacGabhann, B. A., Schiffbauer, J. D., Hagadorn, J. W., Van Roy, P., Lynch, E. P., Morrison, L., and Murray, J., in revision, Solving Darwin’s Dilemma? Differential taphonomy of Ediacaran and Paleozoic non-mineralized fossils: , Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 12 ms pp. Hagadorn, J. W., and Allmon, W. D., in revision, Shared morphologies of discoidal early stem-group deuterostomes: Insights from a three-dimensionally preserved paropsonemid () from the Devonian of New York: Journal of Paleontology, 29 ms pp. Karlstrom, K., Crossey, L., Mulder, J., Hagadorn, J., Geiser, D., Gehrels, G., Pecha, M., Matthews, W., Guest, B., Heizler, M., Schmitz, M., Dehler, C., Blakey, R., in preparation, Grand Canyon Sixtymile Formation dates Sauk transgression to <508 Ma: Nature Geoscience, 20 ms pp.

2017 Field Plans

Our work locations, thin-section lab and collections (, rocks, meteorites, and invertebrate fossils) will be moving in 2017, so our efforts will be focused on that first, and research second. That said, our citizen science team will continue research on Permian-Triassic strata, extending our Front Range fieldwork to the Eagle Basin, North and Middle Park, and Wyoming. We may revitalize field projects in the Sawatch Sandstone and Fairplay placer deposits, and Hagadorn will likely make a return trip to the Grand Canyon in May.

Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2016 Earth Sciences Year in Review

Joe Sertich Curator of Dinosaurs & Manager of Earth Sciences Laboratories

2016 Field Report

Laramidia Project: New Mexico, Fruitland and Kirtland Formations May 1st – 20th

The Late Campanian (74.5 million years old) and (73 million years old) of the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico are both rich in non-marine and marginal marine vertebrate fossils,

San Juan Basin, we hoped to begin excavations of several important dinosaur localities including a nearly complete . Despite setbacks in permitting, we made several major discoveries including:

(1) a partial skeleton of a juvenile hadrosaur including portions of the skull, one of the few associated dinosaur skeletons ever recovered from the Fruitland Fm. (2) A partial skull of a horned dinosaur discovered by Hillary McClean (3) Several beautiful intact discovered by Tom Gardner, Carol Lucking, Eric Lund, Kristen MacKenzie, and Mike Getty, among others. This area is crazy rich in turtles! (4) A large and productive microsite discovered by Adam Behlke named “Black Bowl” currently being worked by Charles Nelson (4) A disarticulated tyrannosaurid skull, likely the poorly known taxon Bistahieversor, discovered by John Hankla (5) A partial, articulated skeleton of a juvenile hadrosaur for excavation next season

The 2016 season produced thousands of fossils from 82 localities. A total of 30 volunteers and 5 interns contributed 300 person days of work in the basin making this one of the largest and most productive in the San Juan Basin. Let’s hope for more excavations, and fossils, in 2017! Please let me know if you are in terested in participating next May!

© GABRIEL N. UGUETO 2016 Field Report continued...

denver paleontology Basins: Wyoming June & July Eocene Basins The late Paleocene and early Eocene (57 – 47 million years ago) fossil record of Wyoming is among the most produc- tive in the world and has contributed major insights into the early evolution of many modern vertebrate groups.

(1) Green Fm-- area south of Rock Springs produced several slabs from a bonebed of the Presbyornis (2) -- brief work in the “Bat Bench” area recovered several partial crocodylians and jaws (3) Wind River Fm-- several days in the Buck Spring and Sullivan Ranch with Mark Hunter and Dena Meade Hunter yielded a partial skeleton of a rhino, several partial of crocodylians, and abundant mammal jaws and teeth from established localities (4) Willwood Fm-- This productive unit in the Bighorn Basin is being examined by a team from CSU and a brief visit yielded many mammal jaws and a partial Hyracotherium (early ) skeleton

Mountain : Salida, Colorado, Dry Union Fm July 17th - 22nd

This year, two Teen Science Scholars joined the DMNS team exploring outcrops of the Dry Union Formation in and around the city of Salida, Colorado searching for Miocene including camels, , pigs, and giant carnivores. Though productive during initial exploration in 2015, the week largely turned up only fragments of this unique high elevation fauna. However, we did have some success that includes:

(1) Discovery of new small rodent material by Charles Nelson (2) A beautiful associated leg of a small artiodactyl by Kent Hups 2016 Field Report continued...

Laramidia Project: Utah, Kaiparowits and Wahweap Formations September 14 – November 6

fall collecting sites from the Kaiparowits Formation, and exploring for new sites in the Wahweap Formation. The

Laramidia Project and one of the most productive Cretaceous areas in North America. This season, we focused on - weap work produced:

(1) Finished “Ian’s Hadrosaur” quarry after years of grueling work with rock saws. Two huge jackets and many large jackets await helicopter lifts to bring them back to DMNS. The site is done after many weeks of pain! (2) Opened a ceratopsian site in the Blues discovered in 2015 by Clinton Bellingar and Gabi Rossetto. The site is

Blues” next season.

(4) Kent Hups discovered an intact ankylosaur tail club and handle portion of the tail

Parasaurolohus, is a possibility for excavation next year! (6) Gabi Rossetto discovered a possible hadrosaur site for next season with many well-preserved vertebrae. Still hard to tell, but maybe (7) Exploration of a productive, and rare, hadrosaur site in the Brigham Plain area of the Wahweap. This area has a ton of potential for next season!

- whelming support of DMNS volunteers. This year produced hundreds of fossils from 60 localities. A total of 40 volunteers and 12 interns contributed 670 person days of work in the Monument. Please let me know if you are interested in participating next Fall, we hope to get to work immediately following the SVP annual meeting in late August. Associate Field Updates

Each season, Research Associates and other a liated researchers contribute to the collections and research of the Department of Earth Sciences while also providing volunteer opportunities and experiences.

Current Research Associates sponsored by Joe Sertich: Regional: Virginia Tidwell, Karen Chin, Martin Lockley, Bruce Schumacher, Kent Hups, John Hankla Laramidia Project: Randy Irmis, Mark Loewen, Scott Sampson Madagascar Paleontology Project: Ray Rogers, Kristi Curry Rogers, Pat O’Connor, Alan Turner, Madeline Marshall Eocene Basins: Tom Bown, Kim Nichols, Paul Murphey, Ken Rose

Bighorn Mountains , western Powder River Basin, Kaycee Wyoming Project Leaders: Chris Weege & David Schmude June 11-24 The 2016 season was the rst large scale eort in the Ponderosa Quarry, an Upper Jurassic bonebed. After opening the quarry in super-sized fashion with heavy equipment, the team, including several DMNS volunteers, exposed the remains of at least four medium-sized sauropods and recovered more than 70 eld jackets. We are excited to see the results of the eld season!

Willwood Formation, Bighorn Basin Paleocene/Eocene Project Leaders: Kim Nichols & Tom Bown for CSU Paleontology Field Course Ken Rose for other ongoing work in the basin in collaboration with Bown and many others June and July The Colorado State University Paleontology Field Course, expertly led by Kim Nichols and Tom Bown, continued their excellent eldwork, and teaching in 2016. The project led to the discovery of several partial skeletons, and hundreds of important vertebrate remains, from the Willwood Fm. Later in the summer, Ken Rose conducted several weeks of eldwork in the Willwood, recovering hundreds of mammal teeth, jaws, and skeletal elements

Aldo Chiappe © National Geographic Research Papers published in 2016

Sertich, J.J.W. (in revision) New Remains of Miadanasuchus oblita (: ) from the of Madagascar and the Phylogenetic Relationships of Peirosauridae. PLoS ONE. 101 ms pages. Dahlberg, E.L., J.J. Eberle, J.J.W. Sertich, I.M. Miller. 2016. A new earliest Paleocene (Puercan) mammalian fauna from Colorado’s Denver Basin, U.S.A. Rocky Mountain Geology 51: 1-22. - brate paleontological exploration of the Upper Cretaceous succession in the Dakhla and Kharga Oases, Western Desert, Egypt. Journal of African Earth Sciences 117: 223-234.

Abstracts and Professional Presentations

El Dawoudi, I.A., O’Connor, P.M., Kora, M.A., Sallam, H.M., Sertich, J. 2016. New dinosaur remains from the Campanian Quseir Formation, Western Desert, Egypt. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Program and Abstracts 2016: 129. Jones, M.E., Watson, A.P., Sertich, J., Foster, J., Garbe, U., Salvemini, F. 2016. Neutron computed tomography succeeds where X-ray comuted tomography fails: enamel thickness in the herbivorous rynchocephalian Eilenodon from the Morrison Formation of USA. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Program and Abstracts 2016: 163. Mackenzie, K., Sertich, J. 2016. Biostratigraphy of the high-elevation Dry Union Formation (Miocene-) of south central Colorado. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Program and Abstracts 2016: 180. McCormack, L., Sertich, J. 2016. A possible Late Campanian record of Pteranodontia from the Kaiparowits Formation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, southern Utah. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Program and Abstracts 2016: 186.

Saber, S., Sertich, J., Sallam, H., Ouda, K., O’Connor, P.M. 2016. Enigmatic crocodyliform remains from the Upper Cretaceous Quseir Formation of Dakhla Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Program and Abstracts 2016: 216. Evans, E.S.J., Fricke, H., Crystal, V., Sertich, J.J.W., Miller, I. 2016. Fluvial landscapes of the Cretaceous: insights from stable isotope geochemistry, sedimentology and taphonomy. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 48: doi: 10.1130/abs/2016AM-282582 Fricke, H., Crystal, V., Miller, I., Sertich, J., Diefendorf, A.F. 2016. Using isotope ratios to study forest soils and canopies of the Late Cretaceous in southern Utah. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 48: doi: 10.1130/abs/2016AM-285385

Research Papers in progress

A new latest Cretaceous vertebrate fauna from Kenya including a huge T. rex sized Abelisauroid and a new titanosaur.

African paleobiogeography. A new long-snouted from Madagascar. Some specimens being prepared in the lab Sertich, J.J.W., A.H. Turner, A.Pritchard, C. Brochu. A new crocodyliform from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of northwestern Madagascar suggests a Gondwanan radiation of long-snouted eusuchians A new caiman-like alligatorid from the Kaiparowits. Specimen collected by Mike Getty Sertich, J.J.W., R.B. Irmis, T. Green. Unexpectedly early origins of crown Alligatoridae in the Campanian Kaiparowits Formation, southern Utah A new wing phalanx from the Blues area of the Kaiparowits prepared by Jim Englehorn. Sertich, J.J.W. and L. McCormack. A late occurrence of Pteranodontia from the Late Campanian Kaiparowits Formation, southern Utah. PeerJ The new “Pentaceratops” horned dinosaur from the Kaiparowits based on 5 partial skulls and numerous parts of the postcranial skeleton. Prepared by many in the DES Prep Lab, large skull in Oversized Prep being prepared by Mike Lacey and Tom Tucker. Sertich, J.J.W., M.A. Getty, M.A. Loewen, S.D.Sampson. Extreme richness of ceratopsids and a new horned dinosaur from the Late Campanian Kaiparowits Formation, southern Utah The new “hyplisophodontid” from the Kaiparowits based on several partial skeletons from “ Hill” locality. Prepared by many in the lab, including Martin Hannu and Jim Englehorn. Sertich, J.J.W., C. Sartin, M.A. Getty, C. Boyd, T.A. Gates. A new orodromine ornithopod from the Late Campanian Kaiparowits Formation, southern Utah. A new alligator-like crocodile from Madgascar. Sertich, J.J.W., A.H. Turner. An unusual small neosuchian from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Maevarano Formation of northwestern Madagascar 2017 Field Plans

Several major eld excursions are planned for 2017 including trips to New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Additional smaller excursions to Salida CO, the Lance Fm WY, and northwestern CO are also anticipated. For more information, or invitations to participate, please email [email protected].

Laramidia Project: New Mexico Fruitland and Kirtland Formations Tentative dates: May 1-20 Excavations of two hadrosaurs in Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness, one hadrosaur in Escavada Wash, and prospecting into the Bisti Wilderness.

denver paleontology Eocene Basins: Bridger Bridger Formation Eocene Basins Tentative dates: June 3-8

Madagascar Paleontology Project Maevarano Formation Tentative dates: June 15 - July 31

Continued work in the most productive southern Hemisphere Cretaceous locality ever discovered with prospecting and excavations of historically productive quarries.

Laramidia Project: Utah Kaiparowits and Wahweap Formations Tentative dates: September 3 - October 14 (Kaiparowits) October 28 - November 11 (Wahweap) Excavations of the productive Blues ceratopsian site and new hadrosaur sites in the Death Ridge/Canyons areas of the Kaiparowits. New excavations and prospecting in Brigham Plain area of the Wahweap. Denver Museum of Nature and Science 2016 Earth Sciences Year in Review

Tyler Lyson; Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology

My field and research interests continue to be focused on the evolution of turtles, earth’s last major extinction event 66 million years ago, and the post dinosaur extinction recovery.

Valley of the Last Dinosaurs Montana & North Dakota Cretaceous, Hell Creek Formation June 15 – August 15

Description: We spent 8 weeks in the Hell Creek Formation of Montana and North Dakota prospecting and collecting several ceratopsian dinosaur skeletons in the “Valley of the Last Dinosaurs” that were within centimeters of the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary. Over 100 volunteers, 4 Teen Science Scholars, 2 Colorado College interns, and numerous collaborators participated in this year’s field season. We used cutting edge technology (i.e., GIS software, differential GPS, and base station) to digitally map in all of our fossil localities relative to the Cretaceous/Tertiary extinction event, making this the gold standard of terrestrial datasets for understanding the tempo and mode of earth’s last major extinction event. The team uncovered the “last” (i.e., stratigraphically highest or geologically youngest) dinosaurs including , , and rex. The team presented two talks on this research project at the annual Geological Society of America meeting in September and two papers are currently in prep (see 2017 research). Finally, the museum partnered with Howard Hughes Medical Institute to create a live blog of our work. Check out www.livesci.org for several videos of our team in action this summer:

Highlights included: 1) a horned dinosaur jaw ~5 cm below the K/T boundary – currently being prepared by DES volunteer Irwin Cohen. 2) numerous partial skeletons of Triceratops – material currently being prepared in the DES lab 3) a partial skeleton of Tyrannosaurus rex 2.42 meters below the K/T boundary. I hope to collect this specimen in 2017. 4) a partial skeleton of an Edmontosaurus <1 meter below the K/T boundary. I hope to collect this specimen in 2017. 5) a 6 ½ foot long articulated Triceratops skull. We will collect this specimen in 2017. 6) a juvenile skeleton. 7) an articulated skeleton ~20 centimeters above the K/T boundary. We will collect this specimen in 2017.

Dawn of the Modern World Denver Basin, Colorado ; Denver Formation ~4 weeks throughout September – November

Description: We spent ~4 weeks in the earliest Paleogene rocks near Colorado Springs searching for the survivors of the K/T extinction event. We collecting numerous mammal jaws, complete shells (including several new species), crocodilian cranial material, and fish material. Much of this material is currently being prepared in the DES labs.

Research Papers published in 2016 Please contact me if you would like a pdf of any of my 2016 papers ([email protected])

1) Bever, G. S., Lyson, T. R., Field, D. J., & Bhullar, B.-A. S. The amniote temporal roof and the diapsid origin of the turtle skull. Zoology. 2) Joyce, W. G., Lyson, T. R., & Kirkland, J. I. An early bothremydid (Tesduines, ) from the Late Cretaceous () of Utah, North America. PeerJ. 3) Joyce, W. G., Lyson, T. R., & Williams, S. New cranial material of Gilmoremys lancensis (Testudines, ) from the Hell Creek Formation of southeastern Montana, USA. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 4) Lyson, T. R., Joyce, W. G., Lucas, S. G., Sullivan, R. M. A new baenid turtle from the early Paleocene (Torrejonian) of New Mexico and a species level phylogenetic analysis of . Journal of Paleontology. 5) Lyson, T. R., Rubidge, B. S., Scheyer, T. M, de Queiroz, K., Schachner, E. R., Smith, R. M. H., Botha-Brink, J., & Bever, G. S. Fossorial origin of the turtle shell. Current Biology. a. Please see The Atlantic article for a wonderful summary of this paper: http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/07/the-turtle-shell-first-evolved- for-digging-not-defence/491087/

Artistic rendering of the early proto turtle Eunotosaurus (foreground) burrowing into the banks of a dried up pond to escape the harsh arid environment present 260 million years ago in South Africa. Meanwhile, a herd of Bradysaurus (background) congregates around the remaining muddy water. (Artwork by Andrey Atuchin)

2016 Professional Presentations

- Willi Hennig Society (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - Plenary Speaker - Geological Society of America (Denver, Colorado)

2017 Planned Papers Please contact me if you have any questions or would like to discuss any of these projects ([email protected])

A new stem kinosternoid turtle, Lutemys gen. and sp. nov., from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) Kaiparowits Formation of south central Utah Lyson, T. R., Joyce, W. G., & Sertich, J. J. W.

This paper describes a new species of turtle (photo on left) that was collected in the Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah in 2013 as part of the DMNS Laramidia Project (see Dr. Sertich’s field update). The specimen is the oldest representative of the modern snapping turtle and mud turtle/stink pot turtle group. In addition to describing the new species, we also present an updated evolutionary tree for the entire group.

Evolutionary Origin of the Modern Turtle Anapsid Skull Lyson, T. R., Lautenschlager, S., & Bever, G. S. This paper tests possible ecological pressures for the closure of the upper temporal fenestrae in turtles. The modern unfenestrated anapsid turtle skull has traditionally been regarded as representing the amniote condition. However, new data from the skull of the oldest stem turtle, Eunotosaurus africanus (260 mya), indicate the anapsid condition of the turtle skull is not a retention of the ancestral amniote condition, but rather is built on a diapsid framework, as suggested by abundant molecular data, with the upper temporal fenestrae (UTF) being secondarily closed in a late ontogenetic by enlarged supratemporals. We use 3-D imaging and modelling techniques (photo on left) to test the functional consequences of three cranial configurations for Eunotosaurus (1: adult morphology with closed UTF and open lower temporal fenestrae (LTF); 2: juvenile morphology with open UTF and LTF, and hypothetical anapsid condition with closed UTF and LTF) under different evolutionary scenarios related to head brace burrowing and bite force. Interpolation of the Cretaceous/Paleogene Boundary Rossetto, G., Lyson, T. R., Evans, E., Bercovici, A. Pearson, D., & Johnson, K.

In this paper we provide a detailed description of the methodology behind creating the digital Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary (photo on left) in my ~450 square mile research area in North Dakota and Montana. This dataset places all of our vertebrate, megaflora, and pollen localities into a tight stratigraphic context and allows us to determine precisely how far above or below the digital K/Pg plane we are and allows us to address questions regarding the tempo of earth’s last major extinction event 66 mya.

Pulmonary anatomy and a case of unilateral aplasia in the common snapping turtle: developmental perspectives on cryptodiran Schachner, E. R., Sedlmayr, J. C., Schott, R., Lyson, T. R., Sanders, R. K., & Lambertz, M.

Here we use a wonderful natural experiment, a one lunged turtle collected in Minnesota during the 2016 winter (photo on left; compare specimen on right to that on left), and computed tomography technology to provide a detailed description of the morphology of snapping turtles. In addition, we describe the condition found in the one lunged turtle – a condition called unilateral aplasia. This is a well known condition in humans, but is not well documented in other . Interestingly many of the problems associated with this condition in humans (i.e., scoliosis) are also present in the pathologic turtle. Another great part of this study is that the pathologic turtle was returned to where it was found in Minnesota after it was CT scanned, allowing it to live out its long life.

Vertebrate Microstratigraphy Documenting Terrestrial Ecosystem Recovery within 8,000 years of the K/PG Mass Extinction Bercovici, A., Hunter, J., Knauss, G., Wood, J., Vajda, V., Lyson, T. R., Bowring, S. A., Johnson, K. R., Peppe, D. J., Smith, K., Eble, C. F., Vellekoop, J., & Pearson, D. A.

Here we describe an early Tertiary microsite locality that produced numerous vertebrates and plants. We did an archeological excavation of the hillside (see photo on left) and removed 5,162 kg of screen-washed material and collected a total of 2,742 vertebrate fossils. We demonstrate that the recovery of the terrestrial ecosystem occurs at 83 cm above the K/T boundary. Using a nearby radiometric date and average sedimentation rates we temporally constrained the lower portion of this locality to within 8,000 years post extinction.

A New Species of Baenid Turtle from the Upper Cretaceous of North Dakota and a Revised Maximum Parsimony Phylogenetic Analysis of Paracryptodira Lyson, T. R. & Sayler, J. L.

Over the past 20 years I have collected numerous turtle skeletons from three mass death assemblages from the Hell Creek Formation of southwestern North Dakota. This paper describes a new species of baenid turtle from one of the death assemblages. The material is exquisitely preserved, with the hyoid and stapes preserved in the specimen on the left. In addition to providing a detailed description of this species, we also present a species level phylogeny for the group.

2017 Field Plans Please contact me if you would like more information on any of my 2017 field plans ([email protected])

Valley of the Last Dinosaurs Montana/North Dakota July – early August

I plan to spend most of July and part of August in the Hell Creek and overlying Fort Union formations of North Dakota and Montana. Permits pending, I plan to excavate a complete 6.5 feet Triceratops skull, a partial Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, and prospect for new localities. I plan to spend more time in the Cenozoic in 2017 to continue my work on the post dinosaur extinction recovery.

Dawn of the Modern World Denver Basin Excursions throughout April – November

Along with Dr. Ian Miller, I plan on weekly excursions throughout April – November in the Denver Basin to continue my work on the post dinosaur extinction recovery. Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2016 Earth Sciences Year in Review

David W. Krause (and ) Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology (half-time)

Madagascar Paleontology Project

Dave Krause, formerly a Distinguished Service Professor at Stony Brook University in New York (where he taught human anatomy to medical and dental students for 34 years), joined the Department of Earth Sciences as a half-time Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology in September, 2016. After a couple years of heavy administrative service at Stony Brook, Dave is anxious to get back to research. To that end, he brought with him the 10,000+ vertebrate fossil specimens recovered from the Cretaceous of Madagascar, a project he initiated in 1993 and that has been funded by the National Science Foundation ever since. Half of these will be incorporated into the DMNS collections; the other half will be returned to Madagascar after study. The taxa represented include many new genera and species of , , turtles, , , crocodyliforms, non-avian dinosaurs, , and mammals, most of which are truly bizarre, a reflection of their long history of isolation on the island. Many taxa are represented by exquisitely preserved, virtually complete skulls and skeletons. Several specimens have been prepared or are currently undergoing preparation in the Earth Sciences prep labs. They are, and have been, the subject of active research by over 100 paleontologists worldwide,

Raúl Martin © Scientific American Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2016 Earth Sciences Year in Review including fellow curator Joe Sertich (crocodyliforms, non-avian dinosaurs, ), who joined the Madagascar Paleontology Project as Dave’s Ph.D. student back in 2005. In addition, Ian Miller is studying the plant fossils collected during the last two field seasons from the island. Another large field season, the 14th, is planned for 2017 and will be lead by Joe and DMNS Research Associate Pat O’Connor (Ohio University), another Stony Brook graduate.

In addition to a few “side” projects (see Research Papers in Progress section below), Dave current research is focused primarily on the most complete and spectacular mammalian specimen yet recovered as part of the Madagascar Paleontology Project, a well- preserved skull and skeleton of a new and species of gondwanatherian. Gondwanatherians are an extremely poorly known and enigmatic group. Until Dave's and his team’s recent (2014) description and analysis of a gondwanatherian cranium, the group was only known from a few jaw fragments and isolated teeth from across the southern hemisphere. Dave is confident, based on the many bizarre attributes of the new mammal, that it will have a profound impact on knowledge of the relationships and adaptations of gondwanatherians but also of early mammals in general. Three abstracts on this research were published in association with the recent Society of Vertebrate Paleontology meeting in Salt Lake City and the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology meeting in New Orleans.

Dave is incredibly excited to have joined the dynamic, dedicated, and highly productive group of curators, staff, and volunteers at the DMNS and eagerly looks forward to working with them for years to come. Dena Hunter, volunteer extraordinaire, has been indispensable in helping Dave get his cast and loan collections organized over his first few months here.

In addition to his research activities, Dave hopes to continue and to expand his humanitarian outreach work in Madagascar through the Madagascar Ankizy Fund (‘ankizy’ means ‘children’ in the Malagasy language), an organization he founded in 1998. This work is focused on providing education and health care to children living in remote areas of the island, where the Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2016 Earth Sciences Year in Review levels of poverty are unimaginable. Indeed, Madagascar, a large island with over 23 million people, is one of the very poorest countries on Earth. In addition to providing various forms of health care through medical and dental missions and donation of health care supplies (e.g., mosquito netting, vitamins, vaccines), the Madagascar Ankizy Fund has built six schools in areas where no one, including parents, could read and write. Children from MAF’s first school are now attending universities. Dave would be delighted to hear from anyone willing to help the organization with future activities. For more information, please see www.ankizy.org.

Abstracts and Professional Presentations (listed alphabetically by author)

Hoffmann, S., D. W. Krause, and Y. Hu. 2016. The first postcranial remains of a gondwanatherian mammal. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Program with Abstracts, p. 169.

Hoffmann, S., D. W. Krause, and Y. Hu. 2016. The first postcranial remains of a gondwanatherian mammal; implications for posture and locomotion. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.

Krause, D. W., Y. Hu, S. Hoffmann, J. G. Groenke, J. A. Schultz, and W. v. Koenigswald. 2016. The bizarre dental morphology of a new gondwanatherian mammal from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Program with Abstracts, p. 155.

Research Papers in Progress

Gondwanan vertebrate biogeography. Krause, D. W., and J. J. W. Sertich. An invited paper to be submitted to Annual Reviews of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

Inner ear morphology of Cretaceous mammal from Madagascar indicates convergence in cochlear evolution. Hoffmann, S., D. W. Krause, and E. C. Kirk. Based on a remarkably well-preserved of a new genus and species of gondwanatherian mammal. To be submitted to Nature.

Galulatherium enigmatum, gen et sp. nov (Mammalia, Gondwanatheria?) from the Upper Cretaceous , southwestern Tanzania. O’Connor, P. M., D. W. Krause, N. B. Stevens, and R. D. E. MacPhee. To be submitted to Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

Allotherian mammal relationships revealed by skeleton of Cretaceous gondwanatherian mammal from Madagascar. Krause, D. W., S. Hoffmann, Y. Hu, J. R. Wible, E. C. Kirk, J. R. Groenke, J. A. Schultz, and W. von Koenigswald. Excerpts of significant discoveries from the monograph below. To be submitted to Nature.

Adalatherium hui (Mammalia, Gondwanatheria) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. D. W. Krause (editor). To be submitted as a Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir (Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Supplement). A monograph containing the following chapters:

Chapter 1. Introduction, systematic paleontology, and geological context of Adalatherium hui (Mammalia, Gondwanatheria) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Krause, D. W., Y. Hu, R. R. Rogers, and L. Rahantarisoa.

Chapter 2. Skull morphology of Adalatherium hui (Mammalia, Gondwanatheria) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Krause, D. W., S. Hoffmann, Y. Hu, J. R. Wible, G. W. Rougier, and J. R. Groenke.

Denver Museum of Nature & Science 2016 Earth Sciences Year in Review

Chapter 3. Inner ear morphology of Adalatherium hui (Mammalia, Gondwanatheria) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Hoffmann, S., D. W. Krause, and Y. Hu.

Chapter 4. Dental morphology of Adalatherium hui (Mammalia, Gondwanatheria) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Krause, D. W., S. Hoffmann, Y. Hu, J. R. Groenke, J. A. Schultz, and W. von Koenigswald.

Chapter 5. Postcranial morphology of Adalatherium hui (Mammalia, Gondwanatheria) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Hoffmann, S., D. W. Krause, and Y. Hu.

Chapter 6. Jaw movement, dental function, and diet of Adalatherium hui (Mammalia, Gondwanatheria) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Krause, D. W., J. A. Schultz, and Y. Hu.

Chapter 7. Life habits of Adalatherium hui (Mammalia, Gondwanatheria) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. E. C. Kirk, D. W. Krause, and S. Hoffmann.

A multituberculate from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar: first definitive evidence of multituberculates on the island. Krause, D. W., and S. Werning. To be submitted to Cretaceous Research.

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