PROCEEDINGS of the 6TH FOSSIL RESOURCE CONFERENCE Edited by Vincent L
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217 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 6TH FOSSIL RESOURCE CONFERENCE Edited by Vincent L. Santucci and Lindsay McClelland Edited by Vincent L. Santucci and Lindsay McClelland Technical Report NPS/NRGRD/GRDTR-01/01 Technical Report NPS/NRGRD/GRDTR-01/01 United States Department of the Interior•National Park Service•Geological Resource Division 218 Copies of this report are available from the editors. Geological Resources Division 12795 West Alameda Parkway Academy Place, Room 480 Lakewood, CO 80227 Please refer to: National Park Service D-2228 (September 2001). Cover Illustration Photo of Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite footprint (upper left); digital contour of track (upper right); Digital Terrain Model of track, planar view (lower left); and Digital Terrain Model of track, oblique view (lower right). 219 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 6TH FOSSIL RESOURCE CONFERENCE EDITED BY Vincent L. Santucci National Park Service PO Box 592 Kemmerer, WY 83101 AND Lindsay McClelland National Park Service Room 3223 - Main Interior 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20240-0001 Geologic Resources Division Technical Report NPS/NRGRD/GRDTR-01/01 September 2001 220 6TH FOSSIL CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS VOLUME 221 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................. v SCIENCE AND RESEARCH ON PUBLIC LANDS The fossil ferns of Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, and their paleoclimatological implications Sidney Ash ................................................................................................................................................................ 3 A marine K/T boundary in Badlands National Park: Geologic and paleontologic implications John A. Chamberlain, Dennis O. Terry, Philip W. Stoffer and Martin A. Becker ........................................ 11 The first record of bird eggs from the Early Oligocene (Orellan) of North America Robert M. Chandler and William P. Wall ........................................................................................................... 23 Cretaceous elasmobranchs of the Greenhorn Formation (Late Cenomanian - Middle Turonian), western South Dakota David J. Cicimurri ................................................................................................................................................. 27 An unusual tetrapod track morphology from the Permian Coconino Sandstone, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona Adrian P. Hunt and Vincent L. Santucci ........................................................................................................... 44 Dinosaur trackway from the Ferron Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of central Utah Ramal Jones .......................................................................................................................................................... 48 Restoration of Late Triassic landscapes at the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona Spencer G. Lucas ................................................................................................................................................. 52 The Fish Creek Canyon ichnofauna: A Pliocene (Blancan) vertebrate footprint assemblage from Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California Paul Remeika ...................................................................................................................................................... 55 A craniodental interpretation of the dietary habits of Poebrotherium wilsoni (Camelidae) from the Oligocene of Badlands National Park, South Dakota William P. Wall and Jacqueline A. Hauptman .............................................................................................. 76 PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Baseline mapping of fossil bone beds at Badlands National Park Rachel C. Benton, Emmett Evanoff, Carrie L. Herbel, and Dennis O. Terry, Jr. .................................... 85 The case of “Big Al” the Allosaurus: A study in paleodetective partnerships Brent H. Breithaupt .......................................................................................................................................... 95 Passport-In-Time Microvertebrate Fossil Project at the University of Wyoming Geology Museum: Late Cretaceous Paleontological Resources in the Public Eye Brent H. Breithaupt ....................................................................................................................................... 107 Innovative documentation methodologies in the study of the most extensive dinosaur tracksite in Wyoming Brent H. Breithaupt, Elizabeth H. Southwell, Thomas L. Adams, and Neffra A. Matthews ............... 113 222 6TH FOSSIL CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS VOLUME Establishing baseline paleontological resource data for research and management needs: Lessons learned from the National Park Service Alaska Region Anthony R. Fiorillo, Vincent L. Santucci, and Roland A. Gangloff ....................................................... 123 Fossil sites as National Natural Landmarks: Recognition as an approach to protection of an important resource Steve Gibbons and H. Gregory McDonald ................................................................................................ 130 Paleontological resources management, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California George T. Jefferson ......................................................................................................................................... 137 The fossil record and contemporary problems in ecology: Contributions from semi-deep time H. Greg McDonald and Daniel J. Chure ................................................................................................... 167 Implementing the public trust in paleontological resources Joseph L. Sax .................................................................................................................................................. 173 An inventory of paleontological resources from the national parks and monuments in Colorado Rebecca L. Scott, Vincent L. Santucci, and Tim Connors ...................................................................... 178 Vertebrate paleontological resources on federal lands: Management principles, proper stewardship, and public opinion Ted J. Vlamis .................................................................................................................................................. 203 223 To Dr. Jim Mead and Dr. Larry Agenbroad Northern Arizona University 225 INTRODUCTION In 1986, the National Park Service organized the first Fossil Resource Conference hosted at Dinosaur National Monument. Fifteen years and five conferences later, the concept has evolved and broadened in scope. The somewhat regular Fossil Conferences have clearly promoted partnerships between the various federal, state, and local land managing agencies, as well as fostering the relationships between those agencies and the professional and avocational paleontological communi- ties. The 6th Fossil Resources Conference theme is “2001 A Fossil Odyssey”. The new millenium has inspired us to look forward and develop a vision for the future. The conference planning committee hopes that this meeting in Grand Junction, Colorado, will continue to build upon the successes of the previous Fossil Conferences. The management of paleontological resources on public lands, including research, protection, public education, and recre- ation continues to experience a renaissance in both the government and the science. Leaders within the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and the Smithsonian Institution have worked both independently and collectively to forge a new future for the fossil record. This volume represents a sample of the scientific and resource management work related to fossils and public lands. Each new discovery, whether it forces us to change our textbooks or the direction of a hiking trail, contributes to our understand- ing of the history of life. Our ability to provide up-to-date paleo-information to enthusiastic groups of third graders is directly related to the work of our academic partners. In recognition of the scientific contributions to paleontology on public lands, this volume is dedicated to two paleontolo- gists that have each made significant contributions to paleontology on public lands, Jim Mead and Larry Agenbroad. Jim began working on the Colorado Plateau in 1974. Over the past quarter century, Jim has assisted the BLM, NPS, and USFS on a variety of paleontological projects including his long term work in Rampart Cave, Grand Canyon National Park. Jim is the Director of the Quaternary Science Program at Northern Arizona University and an editor for the Journal of Paleontology. Similarly, Larry’s career is highlighted with many important discoveries and accomplishments on federal lands. As the founder of the Quaternary Studies Program at Northern Arizona University, Larry established strong links to the federal agencies on the Colorado Plateau and in the western United States. Some of Larry’s more notable achievements are related to work accomplished on BLM lands in the Grand Gulch area, in Bechan Cave in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and the pygmy mammoth research at Channel Islands National Park. Both Jim and Larry have also nurtured a generation of young geologists and paleontologists who are now key partners with federal