Palæontological S o c i e t y Bulletin VOLUMEAlberta 19 • NUMBER 1 www.albertapaleo.org MARCH 2004 ALBERTA PALÆONTOLOGICAL SOCIETY

OFFICERS MEMBERSHIP: Any person with a sincere interest in President Dan Quinsey 247-3022 palaeontology is eligible to present their application for Vice-President Keith Mychaluk 228-3211 membership in the Society. (Please enclose membership Treasurer Mona Marsovsky 547-0182 dues with your request for application.) Secretary Kimberley Motz 243-1044 Single membership $20.00 annually Past-President Vaclav Marsovsky 547-0182 Family or Institution $25.00 annually DIRECTORS THE BULLETIN WILL BE PUBLISHED QUARTERLY: Editor Howard Allen 274-1858 March, June, September and December. Deadline for sub- Membership Howard Allen 274-1858 mitting material for publication is the 15th of the month Program Coordinator Philip Benham 280-6283 prior to publication. Events Coordinator Wayne Braunberger 278-5154 Society Mailing Address: APPOINTMENTS APAC Representative† Dan Quinsey 247-3022 Alberta Palaeontological Society Curator Ron Fortier 285-8041 P.O. Box 35111, Sarcee Postal Outlet Fund Raising Dan Quinsey 247-3022 Calgary, Alberta, Canada T3E 7C7 Librarian Mona Marsovsky 547-0182 (Web: www.albertapaleo.org) Social Director Janice Scott 276-4095 Material for the Bulletin: Webmaster Vaclav Marsovsky 547-0182 Howard Allen, Editor, APS † Alberta Palaeontological Advisory Committee 7828 Hunterslea Crescent, N.W. The Society was incorporated in 1986, as a non-profit Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2K 4M2 organization formed to: (E-mail: [email protected]) a. Promote the science of palaeontology through study NOTICE: Readers are advised that opinions expressed in and education. the articles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the Society. Except for articles b. Make contributions to the science by: marked “Copyright ©,” reprinting of articles by exchange 1) discovery 2) collection 3) description bulletins is permitted, as long as appropriate credit is 4) education of the general public given. Requests for missing issues of the Bulletin should 5) preservation of material for study and the future be addressed to the Editor. Back issues are available for c. Provide information and expertise to other collectors. purchase from the Librarian or the Editor, in hard copy or digital formats. Copies are also available for loan in the d. Work with professionals at museums and universities Society library. to add to the palaeontological collections of the province (preserve Alberta’s heritage).

UPCOMING APS MEETINGS Meetings take place at 7:30 p.m., in Room B108 (or B101, across the hall) Mount Royal College: 4825 Richard Road SW, Calgary, Alberta

Friday, April 16, 2004—Dr. Arthur Sweet, Natural Resources Canada: “Stories told by plant microfossils: Diamonds, time and palaeoenvironments.” Friday, May 28, 2004—Leslie Eliuk, GeoTours Consulting, Inc. “Reefs of the Maritimes: Primarily the Jurassic-Cretaceous Abenaki offshore.” June, July, August, 2004—No meetings. See Field Trip Update, Page 7.

ON THE COVER: Alberta fossils! Colonial rugose coral, probably Siphonodendron sp., from Lower Carbon- iferous (340 million years old; Mount Head Formation) rocks of the Rocky Mountain Front Ranges, Alberta. Magnified approximately 2.5 times. Photo by APS member Geoff Barrett. (Copyright ©)

APS Bulletin 2 March 2004 Biography: Art Sweet received a B.Sc. in Geology from the Upcoming University of Alberta and a Ph.D. from the Univer- sity of Calgary under the supervision of Dr. L.V. Programs Hills. He joined the Geological Survey of Canada as a palynologist specializing in terrestrial pollen Friday, April 16, 2004, 7:30 p.m., Room B108 and spores of coal-bearing Jurassic through Tertiary strata. In recent years he has been involved in apply- Stories told by plant microfossils: Diamonds, ing palynology to the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, time and palaeoenvironments sequence stratigraphic studies, kimberlites, and the Speaker: Dr. Arthur Sweet Paleocene of Alberta. Natural Resources Canada, Calgary Friday, May 28, 2004, 7:30 p.m., Room B108 Abstract: Reefs of the Maritimes—Primarily the Jurassic- A chaotic mix of clastic xenoliths and finely Cretaceous Abenaki offshore dispersed clastic material occurs together with kimberlite in diamondiferous diatremes in the Lac de Speaker: Leslie Eliuk Gras area, Northwest Territories. These clastic frag- GeoTours Consulting Inc., Calgary ments are the only remaining record of a now eroded sedimentary cover over the Slave Craton. As in most Abstract: sedimentary rocks, the clastic xenoliths contain an Reefs in the Maritimes have a long, complicated abundance of microscopic plant fossils, including and disjointed history since at least two oceans have pollen and spores from terrestrial plants and marine closed and opened there since the Precambrian. If dinoflagellates having a beauty and symmetry that Gaspé Quebec is included, some of the oldest reefs transcends their fraction-of-a-millimetre size. It is have spectacular seacoast outcrop exposures of hard for these fossils to compete with dinosaurs for Silurian tropical reefs. Though most of the Carbon- the public’s interest, even though they are mighty in iferous successor basins are non-marine, there are their age and environmental significance. From them Windsor Group reefs that have been interpreted as we have learned that between 95 and about 110 mil- seep deposits. Today, deep-water corals still form lion years ago (Ma) the shore of the mid-continental thickets and “reefs” that act as nurseries protecting seaway was in the vicinity of Lac de Gras; from be- young fish among their branches in channels and tween 90 to 85 Ma and again between about 70 to 80 gullies at the edge of the Nova Scotia shelf. This talk the seaway covered most of the northern Canadian will give a brief pictorial survey of these reefs of dif- Shield. By 67 Ma the seaway had withdrawn and the ferent ages and types. However, it will concentrate on resulting terrestrial landscape was similar to that of fossil reefs of the Nova Scotia offshore Jurassic-Cre- the latest Cretaceous in southwestern Canada. The taceous Abenaki Formation with their great variety similarity of the latest Cretaceous flora throughout from microbial-based mud mounds to deep-water western Canada supports the possibility that the sponge reefs to coral-coralline sponge shallow-water range of dinosaurs may have commonly extended reefs. into these northern regions, then significantly Carbonate reefs usually are thought of as indica- warmer than at present. tors of clear, shallow, near-tropical waters. But both Middle Eocene (about 45 Ma) post-eruptive bed- the history of the Maritimes reefs from Silurian to ded crater-fill of clays and lignite records a landscape Recent and the variety of reefs in a single forma- dominated by oak and gymnosperms related to the tion, the Abenaki, show that there are very different dawn redwood. At the same time dawn redwoods kinds of reefs in very different climatic, bathymetric and spruce, preserved in a fossil forest, dominated and palaeogeographic settings. One does not need the landscape of Axel Heiberg Island, both reflecting to annex the Turks-Caicos or Caymans for a Cana- a Tertiary temperature maximum with at most only dian reef since modern sponge reefs occur off British infrequent frosts in the arctic. Columbia and in the high Arctic Ocean and coral thickets occur off Nova Scotia and probably BC as

APS Bulletin 3 March 2004 well. Of course if you want a holiday by warm shal- erators look again at the cuttings and core from these low reefs in clear waters then maybe the Caribbean Jurassic-Cretaceous carbonates in both old 1974 is still our closest best bet. If we lived 150 million and new 2003 wells. Thus his intention to go back to years ago, we wouldn’t need to drive or fly south for university and look more closely at these East Coast tropical vacations but simply head a hundred miles carbonates has been helped in the data acquisition or so off Halifax. However we might be surprised to and financing by these welcome events but slowed see that sponges and corals then seemed able to get by the requirement for confidentiality and the happy along with the muddy waters of a major delta centred continuing addition of new data to mull over. on Sable Island unlike today when nutrients and Leslie Eliuk’s email address: [email protected] ❏ clays are inimical to coral growth. Now of course one needs to drill 3 to 4 km below the seabed and look at the cuttings, sidewall cores and limited number of Program Summary whole cores in the ten or so wells drilled at the Late Jurassic continental shelf margin. February 20, 2004 Early results are presented from a re-examination Super deadly killer dinosaurs? T. rex’s of the Abenaki reefs some three decades since Shell biomechanical truce with incompetence Demascota G-32 first drilled them. New wells and continued research on European Jurassic reefs by Speaker: Eric Snively, University of Calgary Reinhold Leinfelder and others allow a better look at the reefs of the Abenaki. EnCana’s (PanCanadian) Abstract: discovery of the 1–2 billion cubic feet Panuke Field Tyrannosaurid dinosaurs, including Albertosaurus between the two oldest wells near the margin and and Tyrannosaurus rex, are culturally notorious the additional wells associated with that discovery as avatars of destructive force. Recent research have been particularly helpful in adding more to has brought their behaviour into the realm of our knowledge of these mid-Mesozoic reefs. The quantitative testability. Deductions about their presence of corals of the modern hexacorals (Order predatory ecology are possible, if variably certain. Scleractinia) and the prolific evidence of bioerosion Tyrannosaurids were unusual as the only large give these reefs a modern aspect but the coralline carnivorous animals in their habitat. This raises the sponges and proximity in some cases of very argil- question of whether and how tyrannosaurid adapta- laceous beds to reefal beds is more problematic. tions contributed to monopolization of their niche. However this juxtaposition may indicate that what Tyrannosaurids possessed escalating adaptations are considered classical warm-shallow-water reefs for dismembering prey, but their bodies and limbs and “atypical” non-tropical and deep (and/or “dirty”) represent compromises for circumventing decreased water reefs receiving increasing study recently are agility at large sizes. The jaws and neck of Tyran- not that far apart. It does seem to confirm the obser- nosaurus rex are implicated as uniquely powerful vation that if a fossil reef actually looks like an in-situ amongst terrestrial vertebrates, with high measured build-up with framebuilders in growth position then and calculated bite forces and neck muscles that it is probably anomalous and not a shallow high- exerted immensely high torque for tearing flesh and energy margin reef. Indeed given enough physical bone from prey. As a biped with a mass up to ten degradation and bioerosion, some reefs may “disap- tonnes and high turning inertia, catching prey was pear” before they have a chance to be buried in the more problematic. Tyrannosaurus rex and other rock record. giant carnivorous dinosaurs had bodies proportion- ally short from nose to tail, which reduced their Biography: rotational inertia sufficiently for procuring live Leslie Eliuk, P.Geol. (B.Sc and. M.Sc University of food. Uniquely for large predatory theropods, the Alberta). Early retirement in 1999 from Shell Canada feet of tyrannosaurids became stronger the harder after 30 years helping them explore and produce they tried to maneuver. This paradoxical adaptation from mostly carbonate reservoirs was short-lived. probably assisted tyrannosaurids in bringing down The 1998 PanCanadian Deep Panuke Field discovery comparatively agile or dangerous prey, such as adult in his beloved Abenaki Formation has meant work pachycephalosaurs, juvenile duckbilled hadrosaurs, helping geologists of EnCana and several other op- and adult horned ceratopsians.

APS Bulletin 4 March 2004 Biography: Eric Snively received a B.A. in integrative Biology CALGARY ROCK & LAPIDARY CLUB from the University of California at Berkeley and an www.crlc.ca M.Sc. from the University of Calgary. He has done GEM, MINERAL & FOSSIL SHOW fieldwork with the Royal Tyrrell Museum the last three summers. Eric is currently working on a Ph.D. at the Uni- versity of Calgary with Dr. Anthony Russell. His research involves computer modelling of tyrannosaur and bird neck muscle function and electrical activity of neck muscles in predatory birds. And yes, T. rex is the coolest dinosaur by an absurd margin. ❏ A HOBBY FOR ALL AGES SATURDAY MAY 1/2004 9 AM - 6 PM Archaeological SUNDAY MAY 2/2004 10 AM - 5 PM FISH POND, SILENT AUCTION DISPLAYS, DEMONSTRATIONS, DEALERS Free Parking at the Arena & at Queen Elizabeth School Society of Alberta Food Concession at the Arena

Calgary Centre ADMISSION Spring talk schedule Adults $4.00 Youth {7-17} $3.00 Seniors $3.00 Meetings are held monthly at University of Calgary TWO DAY PASS - Adults $6.00 Seniors/Students $4.00 Earth Sciences Building, Room ES162 at 7:30 p.m. Children 6 and under admitted FREE if accompanied by an adult Free program—coffee and treat provided. Any ques- tions or concerns please contact: Joanne Braaten at WEST HILLHURST ARENA (403) 239-3970 or [email protected] 1940 - 6 AVE. NW CALGARY, ALBERTA Chairman Publicity Displays Wednesday, April 21, 2004 Wayne Trudy Donna 278-5154 287-1570 272-4917 Speaker: Alison Landals, University of Calgary The Little Bow Reservoir (Mosquito Creek seg- ment) archaeology project Abstract: The construction of the Little Bow Reservoir near Champion, Alberta, resulted in a three-year program of archaeological site mitigation for the Mosquito Creek segment of the development zone. This project was undertaken as a joint venture between a consult- ing firm (FMA) and the Peigan Nation/Treaty 7 Co- alition. The project area proved to be amazingly rich in archaeological material, particularly relating to the Contact Period. This paper will present an overview of the most interesting of the sites and preliminary findings. ❏

Look for the Alberta Palaeontological Society and Archaeological Society of Alberta booths at the CRLC Show, May 1 and 2. Another big success: The 2004 APS Symposium attracted a good crowd, including this future palaeontologist. (Photo: Dan Quinsey)

APS Bulletin 5 March 2004 Catalogue of type invertebrate fossils of the Geo- logical Survey of Canada, Volume 1, by Thomas E. Library Notes Bolton, Geological Survey of Canada (1960). —references the publication in which the type by Mona Marsovsky, APS Librarian specimen was described and where the fossil was found. Invertebrate Identification Illustrations of Canadian fossils: Triassic of western Use the following books in the APS library to help and arctic Canada by E.T. Tozer, Geological Survey identify your invertebrate fossils: of Canada Paper 62-19 (1962). —pictures of Triassic Canadian invertebrates. Revision of the families and genera of the Devonian tetracorals by Edwin C. Stumm, The Geological Stromatolites of the Denault Formation, Marion Survey of American (1949). Lake, coast of Labrador, Newfoundland by J.A. —pictures and descriptions of the coral families. Donaldson, Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 102 (1963). Field methods in palaeontology by Samuel J. Nelson, —some plates of stromatolites. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, vol. 13, no. 1 (1965). Late Upper Jurassic and early Lower Cretaceous —Photos and drawings of a variety of inverte- fossil zones of the Canadian Western Cordillera, brates, plus schematics that show over which periods British Columbia by J.A. Jeletzky, Geological Survey the various animals lived. of Canada Bulletin 103 (1965). —lots of clam pictures. Genera of the Bivalvia: A systematic and biblio- graphic catalogue by Harold E. Vokes, Paleontologi- Type lithostrotionid corals from the Mississippian of cal Research Institution, Ithaca, New York (1980). western Canada by E.W. Bamber, Geological Survey —lists the bivalve (clam) genera and references of Canada Bulletin 135 (1966). their descriptive papers. —includes plates on corals. The genus Heliophyllum (Anthozoa, Rugosa) in the Zonation and correlation of Middle Boreal Bath- upper Middle Devonian (Givetian) of New York by onian to Lower Callovian (Jurassic) ammonites, William A. Oliver, Jr. and James E. Sorauf, no. 362 Salmon Cache Canyon, Porcupine River, northern (August 20, 2002). Yukon by T.P. Poulton, Geological Survey of Canada —pictures of corals and references to their de- Bulletin 358 (1987). scriptive papers —lots of pictures of ammonites. Revision of the genus Calapoecia Billings by Ian Contributions to Canadian paleontology by the Cox, Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 80 (1936). Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 396 (1989). —some plates showing this type of coral. —excellent photos of Canadian invertebrates rang- ing from the Ordovician to the Cretaceous. Geology of the southern Alberta plains by L.S. Rus- sell and R.W. Landes, Geological Survey of Canada Hettangian through Aalenian (Jurassic) guide fos- Memoir #221 (1940). sils and biostratigraphy, northern Yukon and adja- —stratigraphy, maps, fossil illustrations and faunal cent Northwest Territories by T.P. Poulton, Geologi- lists of invertebrates. cal Survey of Canada, Bulletin 410 (1991). —pictures of Jurassic invertebrates, especially am- Notes on Triassic ammonoids from northeastern monites. British Columbia by F.H. McLearn, Geological Sur- vey of Canada Paper 53-21 (1953). The dawn of life in full colour—A collector’s intro- —lists names but no pictures. duction to the forms and classifications of fossils of the world by Giovanni Pinna, The World of Nature, Palaeoecology of the marine Pleistocene faunas of Orbis Publishing, London 1972 southwestern British Columbia by Frances J.E. Wag- —photos of invertebrates. ner, Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 52 (1959). —includes a description, faunal list and one page Fossils of the Burgess Shale, a national treasure in of pictures of invertebrates including clams & snails. Yoho National Park, British Columbia by S. Conway Morris and H.B. Whittington, Canadian Geological

APS Bulletin 6 March 2004 Survey Miscellaneous Report 43, 1985. —pictures of the Burgess Shale and the fossil ani- • Trip 2004-3 mals found therein. Saturday and Sunday, August 21 & 22, 2004 Some Ordovician lingulid brachiopods by G. Win- Limestone Mountain, Alberta ston Sinclair, Sir George Williams College Montreal, The Limestone Mountain area will allow a number transactions of Royal Society of Canada, 3rd series, of fossil bearing formations to be examined. At this Section IV, XXXIX (1945). time access to the area is not confirmed as road —pictures of brachiopods. ❏ conditions are unknown. Further details will be available in the June Bulletin. Registration deadline is August 13, 2004. 2004 Field Trip • Trip 2004-4 Saturday, September 18, 2004 Updates Ghost River, Alberta This trip is planned as a one day trip to the Ghost by Wayne Braunberger, APS Events Director River area to examine the Devonian Yahatinda Formation on “End Mountain.” This will be a con- • Trip 2004-1 tinuation of the trip that was made in September of Saturday and Sunday, June 26 & 27, 2004 2000. A long day trip is planned as access to the site Badlands, southeast Alberta is anticipated to be difficult. A long access hike plus a difficult vertical hike is anticipated but the rewards Pending landowners permission we will visit my be outstanding as this is one of the few Devonian sites along the South Saskatchewan River north of plant and fish sites known in the Front Ranges. Medicine Hat. Further information will be available in the June Registration deadline is June 18, 2004. Bulletin. Registration deadline is September 10, 2004 • Trip 2004-2 Saturday and Sunday, July 17 & 18, 2004 • Trip 2004-Special (tentative) Alexo, Alberta Thursday, July 1 to Monday, July 5, 2004 Registration deadline is July 9, 2004. Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, This trip is in the planning stages. Exact dates • Trip 2004-2A and itinerary have not been confirmed. Besides Sunday, July 18, 2004 visiting the sites at Tumbler Ridge a stop at the North Saskatchewan River, south of Alexo, Tyrrell Museum's Pipestone Creek dinosaur location Alberta near Grande Prairie is being considered. If you are interested in this trip please contact me and I will This trip is for those who would like a challenge. forward information as it becomes available. Travel to this location will be by mountain bike along an old forestry road that is no longer driveable by If you are registered, you will be contacted before standard vehicles. This will be a long strenuous day the trip by email or phone. I must receive your involving travelling a considerable distance. An old registration and accompanying fees on or before the guide indicates that the one way distance is approxi- deadline. Late registrations will not be accepted. All mately 16 km (32 km return). If you are interested trips will be held regardless of weather and number you should be able to bike long distances over rough of registrants. terrain and have experience in backcountry cycling. There is no guarantee that we will find the site or any For further information contact: fossils. Wayne Braunberger, APS Events Director, c/o 544 Registration deadline is July 9, 2004. There will Queensland Place SE, Calgary, Alberta, T2J 4T3. be no fee for this trip. Phone: (403) 278-5154 Email: [email protected] ❏

APS Bulletin 7 March 2004 complete the proper form. Copies will be included in the information package that you receive prior to Field Trip each trip. 5) Be Prepared Guidelines Field conditions can vary. While every effort is made to scout locations and inform participants of by Wayne Braunberger, APS Events Director conditions, be aware that changes can and do occur. Your vehicle should be in good working order and he following guidelines have been developed appropriate for the conditions. When necessary we so that you may prepare for the trip and so will car pool so that everyone can get to the location. that everyone may have an enjoyable time. Refer to the article “Personal Safety in the Field” PleaseT contact me with any questions or concerns. published on page 8 in the June, 2003 APS Bulletin for information on items that everyone should have 1) Registration with them. (A copy of this article will also be made Register early as it makes planning much easier. available for download from the APS website, www. Remember that field trips are only open to mem- albertapaleo.org on the “Field Trips” page.) bers of the Society. The stated deadlines are the last day that registrations will be accepted. After this date 6) Equipment the field guides will be printed and any final arrange- Proper equipment is a must. Sandals, running ments will be made. Once you are registered you will shoes or street shoes are not appropriate footwear. It receive either by e-mail (preferred) or regular mail all is recommended that you wear a pair of good quality pertinent information regarding meeting time and hiking boots that fit well and provide adequate sup- place, driving times and directions, itinerary and any port for your feet and ankles. Proper rock hammers other information that may be required. and chisels must be used. Standard carpenters claw hammers are not acceptable and are very dangerous, 2) Arrive On Time as they are not intended for hammering on rocks. Plan to arrive at the appropriate time. In order to Hammers manufactured by the Estwing company complete all the paperwork and distribute the field are recommended and are available at most rock and guides in a timely manner you need to arrive before lapidary shops, geological supply stores and at many the designated departure time. If you are going to be hardware stores. Safety glasses or goggles should be delayed please let me know. I will provide a contact worn when hammering or splitting rocks. number (cellular) for use in the field. Most of our field trip areas have cellular coverage. 7) No Dogs Please do not bring your dog on field trips. Many 3) Medical Questionnaire people find dogs on trips to be annoying and the A medical questionnaire will be included in the dog may become injured in an encounter with a wild information package that is distributed prior to animal (coyote, rattlesnake, porcupine) Contact me the trip. Inform the field trip leader if you have any prior to the trip if you need to bring your dog. medical conditions that they should be aware of in an emergency. 8) No Smoking in the Field Humans are one of the leading causes of wild 4) Waivers and Informed Consent Forms fires (both accidental and intentional) and in order Everyone who attends a field trip will be required to reduce the risk there will be a NO SMOKING to complete a Waiver Form if they are over the age policy on APS field trips. We would ask that you only of 18. Parents and/or Guardians will be required to smoke in your vehicle or at the parking lot. Many of complete an Informed Consent Form for any chil- the areas we visit are extremely dry and a fire could dren under the age of 18 or dependents over the age be devastating to the environment and/or private of 18. One form is required for each participant and property. ❏ must be witnessed by the field trip leader or desig- nate. You will not be allowed on the trip if you do not

APS Bulletin 8 March 2004 palaeobotanist having collected and studied Meso- zoic Era fossil plant material in Europe, Greenland, Research Day at Canada, Mongolia and Argentina. Her studies of dinosaur diet involving Cretaceous fossil plants of the Royal Tyrrell Alberta are to lead to publications with descriptions, photos, results, genera and species of the above. Eva described and showed photos of several mac- Museum of roscopic and microscopic sections and specimens relating to several plant classes. By establishing an inventory of Alberta Cretaceous Period fossil plants Palaeontology she is then able to correlate these to direct fossils January 31, 2004 connected to dinosaurs such as fragments in between and on the teeth, rarely preserved pieces in dinosaur by Les Adler stomachs and plant material in coprolites (fossil dung) and plant material stuck in dinosaur skin. ntrance to the Museum was available about Phytoliths, stony or mineral structures secreted by 9:30 a.m. so that registration could start and some plants are sorted and identified. A variety of coffee was also available. Auditorium presen- methods are required to identify the fossils. A new Etations ran from 10.30 a.m. to 3:45. p.m. with breaks method involving isotopes is being refined. Thin for coffee and lunch. After the presentations there sections of spores and horizontal, vertical, tangential were posters, Museum tours and displays of the and radial sections of wood slices are required for Museum’s latest discoveries. At the same time there microscopic examination. A small amount of sedi- were activities for children—a talk, casting, painting, ment can provide hundreds of specimens of spores digging and a movie in the ATCO Tyrrell Learning and pollen (palynomorphs). Amongst the plants be- Centre. Ticket prices were $20 in advance, $25 at the ing identified are mosses, lycopods, horsetails, ferns, door and $18 for children, advance only with coffee gymnosperms, conifers and angiosperms. Several and lunch included. specimens appear to be very close to present-day Compared to a year ago the Museum now has species. a large ceramic mural at the entrance, the ATCO Eva’s conclusions are that identified dinosaurs ate Learning Centre is functioning, a time pathway cones, seeds, leaves, twigs, flowers and bark from has been firmly established through the Palaeozoic, cycads, conifers and flowering plants. Mesozoic and Cenozoic fossil areas and through the Cretaceous Palaeo-Conservatory. A section has been he second presentation was by Dr. Don set up with mostly theropod dinosaurs from Alberta TBrinkman, Head Curator and head of the and China. The commercial area has a large stock research program on vertebrates. Don is a world-re- of designer clothing. With John Acorn’s videos in nowned specialist on fossil turtles and is also known strategic locations, everything about this museum is for his researches on meso-reptiles and fishes. impressive. Don, with John Tardino of the University of Bruce Naylor, the Museum Director welcomed Rochester and Matt Friedman of the University of some 200 visitors and discussed the placing of the Cambridge has been studying a supply of fish and provincial museums onto a national agenda for the reptilian fossils (but no dinosaur material) from the organizing of programs and finances. A member Canadian Arctic. The rock is a siltstone deposited of the Royal Tyrrell Museum Co-operating Society about 94 million years ago when the location was introduced each speaker who, after his or her presen- then at latitude 71° N. tation, was awarded an item of designer clothing. The fish are incomplete with many isolated ele- Herein follows a review of the auditorium pro- ments, many of which can be either partly or fully gram titled, “Palaeontology across the globe,” ranging identified. Amongst the fish are members of the from the arctic to the antarctic and fossil sites from Amiidae, Lepisosteiformes, Vidalaamiinae, Semiono- every continent. tiformes and Holosteans. There is a huge variety of ganoid scales. Don compares specimens from Axel he first presentation was by Dr. Eva Koppelhus, Heiberg Island of Turonian age with others from the Ttitled “Dinosaur Fodder.” Eva is a professional Uzbekistan Turonian age and those of the Dinosaur

APS Bulletin 9 March 2004 Park Formation, Campanian age, of Alberta. Scales warming and then cooling again. Dinosaurs have are rectangular and ornamented. He is able to match been found over a 6000 km distance across Alaska, a variety of Cretaceous Period fish with Green River Alberta, the United States and Mexico. This project is Eocene Epoch and Recent teleostean fish. concentrating on the southern occurrence of dino- Maps have been constructed to show relationships saurs. The area is rich in a diverse suite of inverte- between North American and Asian specimens to brate, plant and vertebrate fossils. The stratigraphic show the directions of interchanges and latitudinal section is ten times the thickness of Alberta’s—2500 patterns with the resulting climatic implications from m in Mexico, compared to 250 m in Alberta. deduced temperature changes. Radiometric dating using isotopes is not possible Comparing turtle distribution, Asia was dominat- here because there are no suitable volcanic rocks ed by members of the Macrobaenidae family as was available. However magnetostratigraphy is used with North America during the Early Cretaceous Period. a compass, global positioning system and a staff to During the Late Cretaceous Period the interchange measure polarity. Drs. Lerbekmo and Braman from was one-way only. Don has access to the following the University of Alberta published reference charts turtles: Hangaremys, early Cretaceous of Mongolia in 2002. Many samples have been taken to construct and Judithemys, Late Cretaceous Period of Alberta a composite section to compare against the Gilbert, and “Eucryptodire indeterminate.” There is also Gauss, Matyama and Brunhes sequences. Aspideretes of the Trionychidae of Alberta. The type section of the Cerro del Puebla Forma- Don has also studied the interchange of non-ma- tion, established in the 1960s, is no longer valid and rine aquatic vertebrates. Champsosaurus, close to has to be re-established with a new section due to a crocodiles, is abundant only in Alberta and Mon- large residential development having been built over tana; otherwise rare to very rare. The arctic material the former rock outcrops. contains plesiosaur elements and the end of a bird Dave is studying the implications of sea level humerus has been collected. change on fossil occurrences and preservation. Three The presence of Amiidae and Lepisosteidae with dinosaur zones in the Parras Shale with non-ma- large Champsosaurus indicates high temperatures. rine to brackish water influences indicate repeated The diversity of fossils through the Cretaceous transgressive and regressive cycles. At present there Period at Axel Heiberg Island is linked to changes in is no indication of the existence of large herds of climate indicating temperatures during the Turonian dinosaurs as in Alberta. There is a large variety of Stage reached 12°C. small theropods, ornithopods, large theropods, hadrosaurine, lambeosaurine and ceratopsian he third presentation was by Dr. Dave Eberth dinosaurs. At Los Aguilas in an area of about two Ttitled “Mexico Rocks.” Dave is part of the Parras square kilometres there is a location with a 70 m Basin Dinosaur Project with participants from the long trackway plus dinosaur bones and skin, fish, a United States and Mexico. mosasaur (possibly Clidastes), crocodile and ptero- The area is at the edge of the Sierra Madre Oriental saur. Range, about 750 km north-northwest from Mexico Sedimentary studies show that this area was a City, close to the city of Saltillo in the south end of lowland coastal plain with sand and silt flats, minor Coahuila State. Parras is at latitude 25°30' N, longi- water channels, no tidal influences and non-for- tude 102°20' W. estal, although some trees were present. There are The focus of research is the palaeogeography and symmetrical ripple-marks indicating shallow water palaeoenvironment for the time period of the Cerro and wind-generated waves with a storm-influenced del Puebla Formation, part of the Difuntia Group, 83 coastline, similar to present-day areas east of Darwin to 65 million years ago—an 18 million year time slot. and around the Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Aus- The elevation is from 1300 to 1600 m on the high tralia. The diverse invertebrate, plant and vertebrate desert with sparse vegetation. It is a very old land- fossils show that rapid burial took place with a lack scape with scarce shade. of scavengers. The trackways show unexpected traits Dave is a sedimentologist experienced in studying of walking. rocks, their lithology and fossil content in Europe, Asia and North and South America. In Alberta the he fourth presentation, which came after lunch Horseshoe Canyon Formation and the Scollard For- Twas “Triassic Fish” by Dr. Raoul Mutter of the mation demonstrate changes in climate of cooling, University of Alberta, dealing with the biogeographic

APS Bulletin 10 March 2004 significance of this fauna. A chart showing Triassic the world’s largest ichthyosaur—23 m long—exca- stages was shown then condensed and moved to the vated in British Columbia. right of each illustration. Each fish or group being Pat listed in sequence the marine vertebrates col- discussed was matched to one or more of the stages. lected from the mine. His research objectives are Amongst several fish and classes were Acrodus, to discover the overall dimensions of these marine Latimeria, Placopleuris, Australosomus, Bobastrania reptiles and their phylogeny (relationships) of the and Helmolepis. Fish structure was discussed and plesiosaurs, comparing specimens from the Oxford eustatic sea levels related to the diversity of fish Clay of the United Kingdom and other global loca- forms, rift tectonics and volcanicity. A dispersal tions with those from the North American Interior graph was shown. Maps of the continents in the Late Seaway. Using CAT-scan imagery and cladistic Permian and Early Triassic with extinctions at the analysis of many species, the validity of new hypoth- end of each of the Permian and Triassic Periods ap- eses is being tested. A map of Alberta showing the peared. palaeogeography of the Upper Gething/Ostracod/ Access is available to seven locations worldwide Wabiskaw interval has been produced. providing seven or eight families of cartilaginous and lobe-finned fishes, some fifteen orders of ray-finned he sixth presentation was by Dr. Philip Currie, fishes with some sixty-five fossil localities for the Ear- TDirector of Dinosaur Research, who has been ly to Middle Triassic Period. Raoul has available 190 featured in Time Magazine as a leading Canadian species in 134 genera of the above. The explorer, a television personality and phylogeny of most Triassic fish groups a well-known speaker on theropod is still unknown. A detailed analysis “The Wabiskaw dinosaurs and bird-dinosaur relation- of biogeographic patterns will help to ships. His topic was “Hunting Dino- construct evolutionary scenarios. Member saurs in Antarctica.” has yielded Phil reviewed present-day arctic he fifth presentation was by Pat- and antarctic dinosaur explorations, Trick Druckenmiller of the Uni- portions several of which he has participated versity of Calgary: “Mining for reptiles: in; some as leader, some as consul- Plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs from the of two tant. From the China-Canada Project Syncrude Oilsands Mine, northeastern ichthyosaurs the palaeogeography indicated that Alberta.” the dinosaurs from the arctic were The Wabiskaw Member, part of the and seven similar to those found in Alberta. On Clearwater Formation, which overlies plesiosaurs.” Axel Heiberg Island the Chinese and the tar-sand bearing McMurray For- Canadian flags flew together with mation (Cretaceous Period), has been eighteen hours of daylight available for dated at approximately 110 million years old and explorations. In 1999 dinosaurs were found on Bylot has yielded portions of two ichthyosaurs and seven Island. In 2001 dinosaur footprints were found in plesiosaurs (neither are dinosaurs) with the help of Spitzbergen, Greenland and Siberia. observant equipment operators. At Dinosaur Cove, southwest of Melbourne, the The plesiosaurs have been classified as short- capital city of Victoria State, Australia, a dangerous necked with some nineteen vertebrae or long-necked and expensive site was excavated for polar dinosaurs with some seventy-six vertebrae in the neck. of the Cretaceous Period with members of the Royal The Holzmaden Shale of Germany, which has Tyrrell Museum flown in as advisers. produced some ten thousand exceptionally preserved David Elliot found the Cryolophosaurus skeleton specimens, has helped to establish an evolutionary originally. In the early 1990s one-third of the skel- pattern of first lizard-like ichthyosaurs through to eton including half the skull had reached the Fryxell fish-like ichthyosaurs through to tuna-like ichthyo- Museum at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois. saurs. Ichthyosaurs appeared in the Early Triassic A year and a half ago Phil Hammer, with funding Period and became extinct by the middle of the Cre- from the National Science Foundation of the United taceous Period. Plesiosaurs emerged in the Middle States, asked Dr. Philip Currie to accompany him to Triassic Period and became extinct the same time as Antarctica. Phil has cold weather experience and is the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous Period. an experienced excavator of theropod dinosaurs. Betsy Nicholls of this museum has been preparing Even with only one third of the specimen col-

APS Bulletin 11 March 2004 lected comparisons can be made with Tyrannosaurus (Cretaceous Period) and Allosaurus (Jurassic Period). From the front Cryolophosaurus shows a crest on its Fossils in the head, and is related to carnosaurs. Its age appears to be Early Jurassic (Falla Formation). Dinosaurs of this time slot are scarce. A prosauropod foot was found at this location by accident. News A theropod dinosaur was found at another antarc- tic location, approximately latitude 63°58' S, longi- Quirks and Quarks, tude 50°94' W. Mount Kirkpatrick, 4528 m above sea CBC Radio One, March 6, 2004 level has dinosaurs at about the 4000 m level, latitude Two new species of dinosaurs from 84°45' S longitude 164° E, at the south end of the Queen Alexandra Range of the Transantarctic Moun- Antarctica tains, about 650 km north of the South Pole. WASHINGTON—Two recent expeditions to Ant- When weather conditions permit, a flight on a arctica have uncovered the remains of two new and Hercules transport from New Zealand to McMurdo different dinosaurs. base takes eight hours. The population ranges from Judd Case of St. Mary’s College of California was 300 to 25,000. There are also Weddell seals and part of the first team that found a small carnivorous emperor and adelie penguins. This area is notable dinosaur about 1.8 m tall. It was found on James for the difficulties Scott and Amundsen experienced Ross Island, off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. from 1902 to 1911. The sediments in which the fossils were buried are A version of an igloo was built at a base camp 38 thought to be of a marine nature, dated at about 70 km from Mount Kirkpatrick with survival supplies million years old. After death, the animal floated out for one week. The sun shines twenty-four hours a day on a river entering a shallow sea and then it sank and but during a twenty-eight day period only six days settled to the bottom. Leg and foot bones as well as could be used for excavation due to wind and clouds. teeth and parts of the jaw were found. It is probable A helicopter took the six crew members from the that the carcass was dismembered by scavengers on base camp to the outcrop. Three chisels left behind in land prior to floating out to sea. Enough of the foot 1991 were recovered along with twenty bones visible bones were found to determine that it did not have on the hillside, very well preserved, with nice clean the sickle-claw like that of the dromaeosaurids so it breaks. The rock is shipped and then prepared in a is something else. 70 million years ago, this part of laboratory. Antarctica is thought to have had a warm and rainy Other sites were surveyed by another party close climate with abundant plant life, similar to northern by, using a GPS system. Another mountain in the California today. It is theorized that the climate was range has a Triassic amphibian on it. Dynamite was warmed by a southerly oceanic current flowing along used in the excavation and work with a jackham- the coast of South America, to which Antarctica was mer was tiring. It may be possible in about three still joined. years time to go after the remaining one-third of the A second team led by William Hammer of Au- dinosaur. gustana College in Rock Island, Illinois found the remains of a 200 million-year-old plant-eating n the Distance Learning Studio a display was dinosaur on top of Mt. Kirkpatrick, 3,900 m high, Iset up consisting of transparent showcases con- near the Beardmore Glacier. The area was once a soft taining actual specimens recently prepared for the river bed. Hammer and colleagues were scouring the museum. The specimens included a large skull piece area for fossils after having found other new species of a mosasaur from the Blood Reserve of southern there in the 1990s. The newly discovered dinosaur Alberta; A hybodontid Lower Triassic fish from is a primitive sauropod—a long-necked, four-legged Wapiti Lake, British Columbia—practically complete; grazer similar to the better known brachiosaurs. This one of five specimens of the carapace of a Judithemys individual would have been about 30 m long. Parts of sukhanovi freshwater turtle from Dinosaur Provin- the huge pelvis of this animal were found. cial Park; an ankylosaur skull; and the teeth and Hammer said: “We have so few dinosaur speci- upper jaw of a spectacularly prepared Daspletosaurus mens from the whole continent [Antarctica], com- theropod dinosaur. ❏

APS Bulletin 12 March 2004 pared to any other place, that almost anything we to how it may have died. Teeth marks score part of find down there is new to science.” the bone, and the fossilized teeth of sharks also were It is difficult to find dinosaurs or anything else be- found among the bones. – Vaclav Marsovsky cause most of the ground is covered by snow and ice. Neither of the two dinosaurs has yet been named. Internet: www.rmdrc.com, February, 2004 – Vaclav Marsovsky New dinosaur centre to open in Colorado CNN.com, January 30, 2004. 8 million year old whale fossil found WOODLAND PARK, Colorado—Triebold Paleon- in Maryland USA tology, Inc. has announced plans to open the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland SOLOMONS, Maryland—Days after Hurricane Park, Colorado. Triebold, a commercial company Isabel ravaged the cliffs lining St. Mary’s River last that makes and sells casts of dinosaur and other fos- year, Jeff DiMeglio and his girlfriend went scouring sils, plans a 1670 square metre visitor and education for shark teeth and found what DiMeglio, an ama- center with 830 square metres of exhibit space. The teur fossil collector, recognized as the rib of a whale. new centre is slated to open in Spring 2004. [Alternatively, on the Calvert Museum website, it According to the company’s website “Specimens states that DiMeglio discovered the front end of a skull of the land, sea, and air will be represented in protruding from the shelly clay layers of the St. Mary’s this space along with interactive exhibits and Formation. See www.calvertmarinemuseum.com for interpretive placards.” For more information, visit the full story.] www.rmdrc.com – Dan Quinsey ❏ He immediately covered the findings and con- tacted a museum. Heavy erosion from the storm had unearthed the complete fossilized skull of what Reviews palaeontologists say was an 8 million-year-old whale. (continued from Page 18) The find is important because little is known about whales of that era, said Stephen Godfrey, curator of creature’s long tail would have generated extra thrust. palaeontology for the Calvert Marine Museum. Theagarten Lingham-Soliar, who studied mosasaur The remains were shown to the media at the mu- vertebrae, concluded that only the rear two-thirds seum, where scientists are carefully chipping away of the animal’s body undulated when it swam; the sediment around the 1.7 m skull with hopes of one forward one-third was stiffened. day putting it on display. Specimens of mosasaurs that have been excavated The hurricane that unearthed the fossil last Sep- are about ten times as plentiful as dinosaurs are. Still, tember was Maryland’s worst-ever natural disas- questions about them have been difficult to answer. ter. The storm surge collapsed sea walls exposing Gordon C. Bell of the Museum of Geology at the parts of the shoreline. The ancient shorelines, the St South Dakota School of Mines and Technology dis- Mary’s Formation, are rich in marine fossils, shells covered the bones of two prenatal mosasaur embryos and thousands of prehistoric shark teeth and whale along with the fragmentary remains of the mosasaur bones. Plioplatecarpus primaevus. Michael W. Caldwell of To free the fossil from the ground, scientists cov- the University of Alberta published a description of a ered the fossil in burlap and plaster creating a hard fossilized aigialosaur, a precursor of mosasaurs with cast, then called on the Patuxent Naval Air Station at least four well-developed embryos, the orienta- to air-lift the fossil out. Scientists recovered the skull tion suggesting birth was tail-first which would have including the jaws, several vertebrae, fin, shoulder reduced the possibility of drowning. Mosasaur skulls blade and ribs of the 5.5 m whale. may have acted as a ram for stunning prey, defending The fossil was found in an area where the water against sharks or battling rivals. would have been shallow, and Godfrey believes This article discusses at length a possible snake- the whale lived at a time when warm temperatures mosasaur connection. The cladistic diagrams pre- spread across the Atlantic Ocean. Godfrey thinks it sented here show possible connections between was a baleen whale, but he doesn’t know if it was an mosasaurs, monitor lizards and snakes and also be- ancestor of modern baleen whales, like the hump- tween dinosaurs, pterosaurs, crocodiles, plesiosaurs ❏ back, or part of an extinct line. There are a few clues and ichthyosaurs, lizards, turtles and mammals.

APS Bulletin 13 March 2004 Three Weeks in the Life of Iberomesornis by Jesse Scott (Copyright © 2004) Chapter 2 Nesting The following story was written by Jesse Scott, age 6. He was inspired by the four stories and format of s Iberomesornis were very social animals, par- the A Moment in Time series (Philip J. Currie with Aticular pecking orders were not definite in this Eva Koppelhus and Eric P. Felber). Jesse’s love of these group. For now, the female was laying her eggs. An books prompted him to write a story of his own, which elderly female had abandoned her egg clutch and ju- is partially based on fossil evidence, some of which is veniles protected them. No babies would be outcast. included at the end of the story. It was a few days after the two males had fought He was also inspired by the BBC’ s Walking with for the right to mate. All the females knew where Dinosaurs video and its companion books (see bibli- their position was. Sitting on the nest would not be ography). The characters in Jesse’s story are some of the temporary—until the babies hatched. creatures in the video episode Giant of the Skies. “Squaaawk, awch, awchea.” Iberomesornis was Jesse’s story focuses on a small bird, Iberomesornis, afraid of Concornis and would not put up a fight (eye-BER-oh-mes-OR-nis) whose fossils have been against them. The female Iberomesornis checked for found in Spain. He imagines how these birds might danger, intimidated by the Concornis’ threatening have lived in their environment alongside the dino- calls. saurs who may have or did share their world… One week later, six babies popped out of the nest. The group was made of twelve Iberomesornis. Chapter 1 A Mating Session Chapter 3 Feeding quaaawk.” A high-pitched noise spread over a lake in Spain. Two male wo days after the baby birds hatched, the family Iberomesornis had started a fight try- of Iberomesornis were down by the lake. Their “Sing to win the right to mate. These four-inch and T beaks were pointed into the air snatching insects. one-ounce birds were definitely not a greatly feared The babies were still in the nest. Their high- animal on this Early Cretaceous morning. pitched squeaks spread over the lake. Sometimes Another loud squawk came from the trees. The they got a response, but the Iberomesornis adults dinosaur Iguanodon was feeding below, plucking and were now flying over the lake to the lakeshore to eat tearing at the leaves. These beasts weighed nearly five insects. tons and were around thirty-four feet in length. Feeding on vegetation were the Iguanodon. Their Meanwhile, the female Iberomesornis watched large hands stripped the vegetation. These creatures the two males fight. The clamorous session went on. had also developed a different kind of teeth than Their wings were beating rapidly. In the tail bobbing the other iguanodonts, allowing them to chew even it would certainly be imaginary to catch view of the the toughest plant material. The giant herbivores pygostyle. Finally, one male broke off, being woozy moved from bush to bush walking on four legs, with from being knocked on his side. Neither of them the juveniles running even faster on their rear legs. had risked an injury. The Iberomesornis went to get a Iguanodons were very suited for walking on four legs, drink. Their fairly powerful leg muscles were in use. though they ran even faster on two. These carnivores looked for insects. When the female Also with the Iberomesornis was the nodosaur got a dragonfly, the male that won the mating fight Polacanthus. These creatures do not have clubs, but rubbed against the female. They had mated. spikes sticking out of their sides. The animals are

APS Bulletin 14 March 2004 about eighteen feet long and weigh two tons. The the sunlight. This time they were sprinting for the armor spikes give these dinosaurs a lot of protection. Pelecanimimus who killed the Iberomesornis. With Still, these creatures accompany the Iguanodon herds five-foot-long strides the Utahraptor came swiftly for even more protection. upon the smaller predator. They are almost ready to Polacanthus has a narrow but short head. At five strike. feet high this one feeds on the lower section of the Utahraptor also holds twelve-inch sickle claws. bushes. Though the tail of Polacanthus is not very These are held upward when running or walking, so stiff, this one waves it, showing the triangular plates the tip can keep sharpened, but are lowered when of armor that line the sides of it. attacking prey. The Iberomesornis were risking their lives by going Suddenly one of the Utahraptors leaps forward, the by these giants. They could easily get smashed. But in jaws opened. The claws are lowered and the leap is their search for insects the small birds were extreme- finished. The mouth of the powerful carnivore holds ly good fliers. the neck of the Pelecanimimus while the claws dig The middle claw of the Iberomesornis stuck way into the flesh. out, but was not useful for catching insects, but dan- The rest of the Utahraptor pack are still sprint- ger was approaching. ing full pelt towards their victim. Then in an enor- mous flurry of spray one pack member leaps from Chapter 4 the water, bending down, grabbing one of the back Danger legs of the Pelecanimimus. The sickle claws of the Utahraptors kick with a huge amount of strength he Iguanodons had huge thumb spikes to while the prey struggles frantically. The Utahraptors Tswipe predators, but what was a danger to the can run forty miles per hour and have huge maneu- Iberomesornis was not a danger to them and the verability. The head of these predators is three feet Polacanthus. Terrified squawks came from the birds. alone. An ornithomimid named Pelecanimimus was rac- The Utahraptor have brought the Pelecanimimus ing toward the birds. Iberomesornis was its favorite down with ease. They are ready to feed. Tearing huge prey. Worse yet, the babies chunks of meat from the carcass, the pack uses their were out of the nest, and vicious techniques again. They will swallow the meat at twenty-seven miles “Confused whole. Their teeth are used for grinding bone and per hour the carnivorous by the attacking prey. They shake their head to help devour creature is easily fast pieces of flesh It is six hours since the Pelecanimimus enough to take one of the intimidating was rushing in to kill the Iberomesornis. The group. Confused by the sounds… Utahraptors have just left the kill and there is peace intimidating sounds made the babies again in the group of birds. They all lay down by the by the Pelecanimimus, the nest. A huge yellow moon rises and the world is soon babies headed straight for headed silent. the predator. The seven straight for foot long and thirty-eight Chapter 5 pound carnivore reached the predator.” Utahraptor City down. The wings of the adult Iberomesornis carried them week has passed and it is clear that the days deftly to the sorry sight, but eventually one got too Ahave gone by in violence. The number of the close and the head of the Pelecanimimus carried it Iberomesornis group has been lowered to four—all three feet above the ground. One adult and one juve- the babies have been killed by Pelecanimimus and nile were gone, which lowered the total of the group now there are tons of Utahraptors in this territory. to eight. The Iberomesornis mate looks out from a tree at eight Then suddenly the Iguanodon began to speed Utahraptors rushing in to kill another Pelecanimimus. across the lake on two legs followed by the four- He lowers his head and squawks. legged Polacanthus. The twenty-one foot and one-ton Around him were the three females by the nest. Utahraptors had arrived. These predators can kill Above him the moon disappeared. It was morning. anything where they live—even Iguanodons. Concornis were already flying, on the lookout for in- The three-inch teeth of the carnivores gleamed in sects. The baby Iberomesornis were gone. The females

APS Bulletin 15 March 2004 were kicking the nest out of the tree. As it dropped The Science to the ground, a Pelecanimimus came to inspect the leaves and twigs for tasty insects, but then a hunting Introduction group of Utahraptors sent it running off. Iberomesornis was a small bird that could fly very This hunt was to kill Iguanodons. Stalking in the swiftly. This book told the story of one group of these tall grass the Utahraptors close in on their victim, but little creatures through their struggles to survive. then the Iguanodon start to run. The predators follow This section is about the evidence behind this book. right beside, running through the herd attempting to confuse the massive herbivores. The feathers and pygostyle and more Then a Utahraptor leaps onto an Iguanodon. The information rest follow his move. Avoiding the thumb spikes, No feathers were found of Iberomesornis, but they kick with their claws to bring the creature down. feathers of other birds were found in the same They start to feast. deposits. This bird lived in what is now Spain. The Iberomesornis have flown down to the lake. Iberomesornis had a pygostyle—fused vertebrae at However, they are not as wary as usual. As a result, the end of the tail. It nested in the trees and means they do not notice the approaching Pelecanimimus “Spanish intermediate bird.” The total length of until it is too late. He grabs three of the birds and Iberomesornis was around three inches, but the skull runs off. One female is alone. It is not a group any- has not yet been discovered so it was possibly a little more. The number is one. longer.

Chapter 6 What lived with Iberomesornis? Surviving Struggle Concornis (mentioned in Chapters 2 and 5) lived with Iberomesornis. This bird was larger than yellow moon rises. The trees sway in the wind Iberomesornis. Eoalulavis was also found in the Aand the white clouds drift across the blue sky. It same deposits. These two creatures ate insects like is a world of peace—a scene of night. Darkness falls Iberomesornis. over the landscape. The dinosaurs that lived with this bird were quite The next morning the female Iberomesornis awak- common. Fossils from Iguanodon are found in Spain, ens. Her struggles have only started. Iberomesornis showing that it lived alongside Iberomesornis. This do not do well on their own. They depend on a dinosaur is famous for its long thumb spikes used for group. This female will be lucky to survive. She starts self-defence. They would poke attackers. Iguanodon her day and goes down to the lakeside to drink. The is found all over the world. Iguanodon herd have already gathered and are being Pelecanimimus was an ornithomimid with teeth— closely watched. Utahraptor. its usual prey could have been Iberomesornis as it The Iberomesornis tries to move around the pred- lived in the same area as this bird. ators, but accidentally the Utahraptor pack give the Polacanthus also lived alongside Iberomesornis. bird a glancing blow as they race at the Iguanodon. This was in the nodosaur group, relatives of the One Iguanodon throws a Utahraptor across the path ankylosaurs, the main difference separating the two as they tackle him, but the other pack members is that ankylosaurs had clubs and nodosaurs didn’t. throw their bodies at the rear of the Iguanodon and Also, most nodosaurs did not have the body armor severely injure the animal, so it eventually dies. projecting out like Polacanthus, and ankylosaurs did. The blow on the Iberomesornis has shattered the It is possible Utahraptor could be found in Spain, female’s wing. It will be hard to survive. though it hasn’t been yet, because limb bones similar to Utahraptor have been found in Spain. Based on Chapter 7 this, Utahraptor is included in this story. Utahraptor Death Ends the Group is the largest in the sickle claw family, stretching twenty-one feet long and weighing around a ton. Its he bird lay down, her life ebbing away, and soon sickle claw was also the largest, the whole thing being Ttwo Utahraptors were fighting over the bird’s about twelve inches long. This carnivore’s jaws were corpse. It was the end of a family—the end of a bone crushing, and Utahraptor could easily kill an group. ❏ Iguanodon or a Pelecanimimus.

APS Bulletin 16 March 2004 Neovenator—another predator—was just as savage fashion, and the force generated has both a horizon- as Utahraptor. This creature lived in Spain and was tal and a vertical component. Although the verti- about thirty feet long and two tons. It could kill an cal component is not necessary for climbing a tree Iguanodon, but was not mentioned in this book. trunk—the bird generates enough force for that with These were just some of the creatures that lived its legs alone—the component shows that the bird with Iberomesornis. The Polacanthus were common (or equally, perhaps, a protobird or a feathered di- amongst the herds of Iguanodon and the three-inch nosaur) can redirect the wing-flapping force merely teeth of Utahraptor were terrifying. All this the birds by altering the plane in which the wings are flapped. had to put up with. The size of Iberomesornis made it Such an ability would have been crucial to the origins hard for this bird to survive. of flight, as wings were co-opted to provide thrust instead of traction. Bibliography According to Adam, the truly amazing discov- Barrett, Paul. 2001. National Geographic dinosaurs. Na- eries of feathered fossils in Liaoning Province in tional Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. northeastern China have enabled paleontologists to identify the group of dinosaurs that gave rise to birds Gardom, Tim and Milner, Angela. 2001. The Natural His- tory Museum book of dinosaurs. Carlton Books Ltd., and suggest the origin of feathers. Palaeontologists London. are still debating one point: How did bipedal but ter- restrial archosaurs (“old lizards” including dinosaurs, Haines, Tim. 2000. Walking with dinosaurs: A natural his- birds and crocodiles) learn to flap their arms and fly? tory. Dorling Kindersley Ltd., New York. Hence, biomechanics. Haines, Tim (Producer). 1999. Walking with dinosaurs According to the “trees-down” camp, arboreal (videotape). BBC Worldwide Americas Inc. dinosaurs first evolved the ability to glide off their Lambert, David, Naish, Darren and Wyse, Elizabeth. 2001. perch in a tree as “flying lemurs,” some frogs, liz- Dinosaur encyclopedia: From dinosaurs to the dawn of ards, snakes and squirrels do today. Later the gliders Man. Dorling Kindersley Ltd., N.Y. evolved the ability to fly from tree to tree. Martill, Dave and Darren Naish. 2000. Walking with dino- Proponents of the trees-down scenario maintain saurs: The evidence. BBC Worldwide Ltd., London. ❏ that wings and feathers would have been useful for gliding, even if they preceded such adaptations as the shoulder girdle, the huge pectoral muscles and the peculiar wrist and hand structures that make pos- Reviews sible the powered, flapping flight of birds. Detractors point out none of the present-day gliding animals by Les Adler perform even rudimentary flapping, they are all strictly gliders and there is no reason to expect that Biomechanics—Uphill flight they ever will be otherwise. Even worse, the dino- by Adam Summers, illustrations by Roberto saurs most closely related to birds, the unfeathered Osti. Natural History, December 2003/January dromaeosaurs, which include such terrors as 2004, p. 30, 31. Deinonychus and the better known Velociraptor were terrestrial. Neither the several independently evolved dam Summers is an assistant professor of ecol- gliders nor the fossil record lend support for a change Aogy and evolutionary biology at the University from gliding to flapping. of California, Irvine, USA. A second camp favors a “ground-up” hypothesis. Four illustrations concern the chukar partridge, Terrestrial bipedal dinosaurs flapped their “arms” Alectoris chukar, in different positions relating to first and later evolved into fliers. Although the fossil its movements. It does not use its wings when on record demonstrates that pre-avian dinosaurs were level ground. When it climbs a steep slope it flaps its fond of terra firma, explanations that require the wings from roughly its head to its tail generating a transition from bald, sprinting dinosaur to feath- force perpendicular to the plane in which the wings ered, flapping bird are far-fetched. Feathers might move. That force “holds” this animal to the ground have evolved as insulation which would imply that giving extra traction to the bird’s feet as it climbs. dromaeosaurs were endothermic or warm-blooded. When the bird climbs a vertical surface such as the Or maybe feathered arms were useful as a net to bark of a tree its wings beat in a more back-to-front catch flying insects, or as a horizontal stabilizer—like

APS Bulletin 17 March 2004 a tightrope-walker’s pole—for swiftly running preda- never be certain. For the first time the ground-up tory bipeds. proponents have a model that’s not so much “off the Kenneth P. Dial studies the biomechanics of flight wall” as up it. at the University of Montana at Missoula and has suggested that flight arose from arm movements in- Terrible Lizards of the sea tended to push a bird (or a feathered dinosaur) into by Richard Ellis, Natural History, the ground rather than lift it up, based on observing September 2003, p. 36–41. a chukar partridge running up a slope. The order Galliformes (from Latin gallus, mean- he following report has been adapted from the ing rooster), including partridges, fowl and quail, Tbook Sea Dragons: Predators of the prehistoric have broad, stubby wings and fatigued flight muscles. ocean (University Press, Kansas). Ellis is a research Their chicks hatch ready to run, but not to fly. When associate in palaeontology at the American Museum threatened by a fox, the bird escapes by fleeing up a of Natural History in New York. steep slope, flapping its wings madly. Dial established The first and still the largest specimen of a that though the remiges (flight feathers) are not long mosasaur was found in 1780 at Maastrict, Nether- enough to enable takeoff, they improve traction lands and is now at Paris, France. Adriaan Camper enough for young chukars to climb. Without feathers pointed out its resemblance to lizards of the family the birds could not run up slopes steeper than sixty Varanidae, such as the monitor lizard. An English ge- degrees. Fully feathered animals could scamper and ologist called it Mosasaurus hoffmani, the Latin name flap their way up vertical and slightly overhanging of the Meuse River and “saurus” for it being a lizard slopes. and “hoffmani” for the army surgeon who directed Dial constructed two kinds of ramp, smooth and the excavation. All relatives in palaeontology then textured, which gave different traction to scrabbling received the suffix “saurus.” claws. Adult birds and young ones couldn’t scale Mosasaurs arose about 90 million years ago and smooth ramps steeper than fifty degrees. The flight flourished for 25 million years and were only dis- feathers, though short on the younger birds nonethe- tantly related to their terrestrial counterparts, the less provided enough vertical lift to make the chicks dinosaurs. In the ocean mosasaurs achieved a com- light on their feet, boosting them up the steeper manding position as predators that would not be slopes. Alternatively, the flapping wings could be matched until whales and dolphins appeared on the generating force in the direction of the ramp, in- scene 30 million years later. The proliferation of the creasing the hind-limb traction of the fleeing chicks. mosasaurs followed a dramatic rise in worldwide sea The stroke of every chukar’s wing beat while running levels when shallow seas covered much of Europe is quite different than that of its wing beat while fly- and North America. Sea levels fell once again render- ing. Instead of flapping the wings from back to belly ing mosasaur remains accessible in the badlands of as other birds do, partridges flap from head to tail. the American west. To test the above hypotheses, Dial and a student, Mosasaurs evolved in the sea, trading feet for Matthew W. Bundle attached a small accelerometer flippers and their tails lengthened and became flat- to the back of a bird and filmed the bird running up tened like those of eels and crocodiles. Whereas their a ramp. This confirmed that the flapping wings help a ancestors had laid eggs on land mosasaurs developed chukar’s feet get traction. the ability to deliver young alive in the water. The This research implies a plausible model for the lower jaws, which were loosely connected at the selective advantage of both the flapping motion front, each had a huge joint in the middle enabling and a poorly feathered wing. Lightly feathered the animals to swallow large prey with a system of dromaeosaurs might have relied on wings for help in continual tooth replacement. In most species the climbing steep slopes and even entering trees, just as pterygoid bones that made up the hard palate on the galliform birds do today. Chukars vary the angle of roof of the mouth were equipped with teeth that kept their wings depending on the slope of the substrate slippery fish, squid or other prey from wriggling free that they are climbing and the angle becomes in- after they had been gripped by the jaw teeth. creasingly similar to that of a flying bird as a chukar The long thin shape of a mosasaur enabled it to cut climbs slopes of ninety degrees or steeper. through water with minimal resistance while using It’s not conclusive evidence for the evolution of its large body surface for propulsion. The end of the flight and since behavior doesn’t fossilize one can (continues on Page 13…)

APS Bulletin 18 March 2004