Park Paleontology Vo l u m e 8 N u m b e r 2

Fall 2 0 0 4

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

 Table of Contents

Park Paleontology 1

Geologic Resources Division, Paleontology Program

Pete Reser - I was hooked at the age of

seven when my mother took me to the

Field Museum in Chicago, where I saw a

large block of red sandstone on exhibit

containing the skull of something

obviously reptilian. But what really

captured my attention was the network

of chisel marks across the block from

which I understood that someone could

actually shape and remove stone to

reveal what the rocks contained. I was

transfixed.

Other than that, I have led a relatively

normal life for someone of my

generation. I served in Vietnam,

experienced “the Sixties”, and was a

perennial “returning student” at the

University of New Mexico. It was here I

met the young Spencer Lucas who was

an undergraduate in the Anthropology

Department. He assembled a nucleus of

students who were very interested in

Paleontology and we proceeded to

research the rich and varied fossil

resources of New Mexico.

One of the things that we accomplished

happened to be a very large survey, for

the BLM, of the fossil resources of the

San Juan Basin. This resulted in a large

voucher collection in the New Mexico

Museum of Natural History and I made it

my business to learn fossil preparation

techniques to deal with that collection. I

have been a preparator, off and on, ever

since.

I spent fifteen years as the Chief

Preparator at the New Mexico Museum

of Natural History and started as the

fossil preparator at Petrified Forest

National Park in June. The Park’s

incredible fossil resources have always

intrigued me and I have thought that,

like an iceberg, we’ve only seen

approximately 10% of what is really

there. Accordingly, I am delighted to be

part of the team that will work on

Mary C. Carpenter - I was born and

raised in central Wisconsin, I received an

Associate Degree in Graphic Arts in 1984.

I discovered paleontology in the late

1980’s on a motorcycle trip to the Hot

Springs Mammoth Site in Hot Springs,

South Dakota. After several summers as

an EarthWatch volunteer at the

Mammoth Site, I moved to Flagstaff,

Arizona to begin my academic career.

While at Northern Arizona University,

Flagstaff, Arizona I completed my

Bachelor of Arts, with a major in

Anthropology and a minor in Geology. I

complted by Master of Science in

December 2003 through the Quaternary

Sciences Program.

My master’s thesis involved the

identifications of bat, bird, horse,

bighorn sheep, and extinct mountain

goat bones from Rampart Cave, Grand

Canyon National Park. During my 12

years in Flagstaff, I was involved in

numerous archeological and

paleontological projects, including a stint

during the summer of 1998 as a fossil

preparator at Hagerman Fossil Beds

National Monument. Most recently, I

have been involved in ongoing

excavations and research at a Pleistocene,

and possible late Pliocene,

paleontological site in northern Sonora,

Mexico with a crew from Northern

Arizona University.

My paleontological interests are wide,

but I am especially interested in faunal

identifications and morphological

characters of the bones of artiodactyls,

raptors, and vulturids. In my spare time I

enjoy exploring, outdoor activities of all

kinds, travel, and reading. I am looking

forward to the variety of work and

professional research potential that

HAFO has to offer. Certainly the fossil

preparation will be a fun (yes, fun) job

and keep me extremely busy.

Two New Paleontologists Join the NPS

We welcome two new paleontologists to

the National Park Service. Pete Reser has

joined the staff at Petrified Forest National

Park as a preparator and Mary Carpenter

is the new preparator at Hagerman Fossil

Beds National Monument.

Pete Reser

Mary Carpenter

revealing and understanding the other

90%.

Two New Paleontologist Join the NPS...............1

Documentation of Paleontology Resources at

New River Gorge National River ....................... 2

New Discoveries of Fossil Vertebrates at

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument...... 2

New Paleo Center at John DayFossil Beds

National Monument nearing Completion ...... 3

Planned Widening of East Entrance Road

Reveals Important Geological Resources .........4

Report of the 2004 field collections and

mapping of mammoth (Mammuthus exilis and

Mammuthus columbi) remains: Santa Rosa

Island, Channel Islands National Park (CHIS),

California ........................................................... 5

Directed Discovery and the Partnership between

the National Parks and the GeoCorps America

Program ..............................................................6

Paleontologist at Florissant Fossils Beds

Awarded NSF Grant............................................7

Fun in the Sun: The 2004 Paleontological

Survey of Colorado National Monument ........8
2 Park Paleontology

Documentation of

Paleontology Resources

at New River Gorge

National River

Milton ‘Gene’ Clare

Geologist

New River Gorge National River

P.O. Box 246

Glen Jean, West Virginia 25846

The New River Gorge National River is

starting the documentation of

paleontology resources which may exist

in or near the gorge area. This process

began in October 2003 and begins with

research of the existing literature which

has already documented areas that are

known to contain fossils. Another aspect

of the initial inventory is to research the

location of collections which may have

exhibits of fossils from this area. This

portion of the inventory should be

completed by mid summer. Then the

second part of the inventory should be

planned – actually going out and seeing

if rock layers mentioned in the literature

search contain fossils. Once verified

which rock layers contain fossils and

where these rock layers may be found

the third step in the inventory process

can be planned - protecting the fossils

from being lost and preserving a sample

of fossils for public education.

It is already known what types of fossils

ought to be found in this area. The New

River Gorge is comprised of rock layers

from the Carboniferous Period (Coalbearing) - specifically, the late

Mississippian and early Pennsylvanian.

Rocks from the early Pennsylvanian are

dated to about 300 million years before

present time. Fossils from this period of

time are generally limited to invertebrate

(animals without backbones) and plant

fossils. Plant fossils at the very earliest

part of the Pennsylvanian system include

one that is used as a boundary marker

between the earlier Mississippian and

later Pennsylvanian rock layers –

Neuropteris pocahontas.

Neuropteris pocahontas is classified as a

seed fern. The taxonomy indicates that

the leaf pattern terminates into a single

leaflet attached to the stem at a single

point and that the stem pattern shows a

tri-pinnate geometry. The N. pocahontas

produces a seed – Holcospermum sp. and

pollen bearing organ – Aulacotheca sp.

The latest portion of the Mississippian

system contains the Hinton Formation,

the Princeton Sandstone, and the

Bluestone Formation. A short

transitional sequence is encountered

before starting into the first formation of

the Pennsylvanian system – an un-named

‘early member’ of the Pocahontas

formation. N. pocahontas is first

encountered in this transitional area and

occurs throughout the early

Pennsylvanian until it became extinct.

Leaf of the seed fern Neuropteris

pocahontas.

Seed of of the seed fern, Neuropteris

pocahontas, also known as

Holcospermum.

What is a

Seed Fern?

http://taggart.glg.msu.edu/bot335/sfern.htm

Seed ferns (Pteridospermales) are an extinct

group of gymnosperms distantly related to

living pine, spruce and cycads. Although

their foliage resembled that of modern

ferns, they reproduced by means of seeds.

This distinguishes them from true ferns

which reproduce by spores. Seed ferns

were large, spongy-wooded trees that grew

in swampy forests during the Carboniferous.

and helped form many of our major coal

deposits. Some seed ferns continued into

the Mesozoic.

New Discoveries of

Fossil Vertebrates at

Florissant Fossil Beds

National Monument

Marie Worley

Geological Sciences

University of Colorado

Boulder, Colorado 80309

Last summer I was a paleontology intern

at Florissant Fossil Beds National

Monument in Colorado, sponsored by

the GeoCorps program of the Geological

Society of America. Although Florissant

is famous for its plant and insect fossils, a

few mammal fossils had been discovered

over the years. Because I am interested

in mammalian paleontology, I revisited

the site where a jaw of the early horse

Mesohippus had been discovered in 1992

(Evanoff and De Toledo 1999). After

weeks of crawling the surface and

screening sediment, the project yielded

20 teeth and four jaws of mammals, in

addition to hundreds of bone fragments.

This new material, which has added

considerably to the diversity of the

known mammalian fauna of the

Florissant Formation, forms the core of

my master’s thesis in Museum and Field

Studies at the University of Colorado at

Boulder.

In addition to the Mesohippus, other

prior known mammals include a full

skeleton of the mouse opossum

Peratherium found in lake shales in the

1930s (Gazin 1936), an upper jaw

fragment of the artiodactyl (even-toed

ungulate) Merycoidodon, and a vertebra

of a large rhino-like animal called a

brontothere (Evanoff and De Toledo

1999). New material I discovered in

2003 includes a large molar tooth of a

brontothere, which confirms the the

Tooth of Eutypomys parvus, an

extinct relative of beavers, from

Florissant Fossil Beds. Scale is in

millimeters.

 continued on page 3
Park Paleontology 3

presence of the group in the Park. I also

recovered lower molars of two different

artiodactyls. The smaller artiodactyl

tooth has been identified as Leptomeryx

cf L. speciosus, which was a very tiny

hoofed creature. The larger belongs to

the family merycoidodontidae, the same

as that of Merycoidodon. Six

lagomorph teeth were found, the first

rabbit fossils from the park. Four belong

to the genus Megalagus, while the

others may be from the smaller

Paleolagus.

The diversity of extinct rodents includes

Ischyromys cf I. douglassi, and a second

large species of Ischyromys, as well as

two different species of the genus

Pelycomys, which may not be referable

to any known species. Eutypomys parvus,

known from the latest Eocene of

Montana and Saskatchewan, is a

member of the family eutypomyidae,

which later gave rise to the castoridae,

the family of the modern beavers (Korth

1994). The eomyid Adjidaumo minimus

is also represented. One jaw of the tiny

shrew Domnina cf D. thompsoni was

recovered, in addition to the geolabidid

insectivore Centetodon magnus. An

additional insectivoran jaw was found,

Tooth of a large species of the

rodent, Ischyromys, from Florissant

Fossil Beds. Scale in millimeters.

fauna of the Chadronian section at

Flagstaff Rim, Wyoming. The similarity to

these particular faunas stems from a

similar age, but also supports an

emerging Rocky Mountain region faunal

coherence.

It is especially exciting for me to have

made these discoveries in a National

Monument because the possibility of

using the information to inform and

inspire the public is so much more

immediate. I am confident that further

investigation of the Florissant formation

will uncover even more mammalian

diversity.

Additional Reading

Evanoff, E. and P. de Toledo 1999, Fossil

Mammals and Biting Insects from the

Upper Eocene Florissant Formation of

Colorado. Journal of Vertebrate

Paleontology 19, suppl no. 3:43A.

Evanoff, E., W.C. McIntosh, and P. C.

Murphey 2001, Stratigraphic Summary

and 40Ar/39Ar Geochronology of the

Florissant Formation, Colorado.

Proceedings of the Denver Museum of

Nature and Science, ser. 4, no. 1:1-16.

Gazin, C.L. 1936, A marsupial from the

Florissant beds (Tertiary) of Colorado.

Journal of Paleontology 9:57-62.

Korth, W.W. 1994, The Tertiary Record of

Rodents in North America. Topics in

Geobiology 12:1-319.

Lower jaw of Domninia, the earliest

known shrew, from Florissant

Fossils Beds. Scale in millimeters.

New Paleo Center at

John DayFossil Beds

National Monument

nearing Completion

Ted Fremd

John Day Fossil Beds National

Monument

32651 Hwy 19

Kimberly, Oregon 97848-9701

The Thomas Condon Paleontology

Center (TCPC) is a new facility devoted to

curation, research, and education.

Named for 19th-century Oregon pioneer,

minister, and geologist Thomas Condon,

the 11,000 square-foot facility houses

more than 40,000 paleontological and

geological objects that represent over 45

million years of evolutionary history in

the John Day region. Consisting of

museum collections storage, research

areas, a paleontology preparation

laboratory, a research library, an

audiovisual theater, classroom, multiple

temporary exhibits, and a 2,500 squarefoot museum exhibition gallery, the new

building effectively introduces students

and the general public to paleontology

research processes and the knowledge

gained from study of the John Day

region.

The TCPC opened to the public with

limited operation in December (2003),

and the museum collections move was

completed in May 2004. The museum

gallery exhibits will be completed in time

for a grand opening during the summer

of 2005.

General view of the Thomas Condon

Paleontological Center.

Left - View of the new paleontology

laboratory at the Thomas Condon

Paleontological Center at John Day Fossil

Beds

which has thus far not been identified,

and may be a member of the

proscalopidae.

This mammalian fauna is consistent with

the Chadronian North American Land

Mammal Age (NALMA), which agrees

with the 40Ar/39Ar age of 34.07 ± 0.10

Ma of the Florissant Formation (Evanoff

et al. 2001). The Florissant fauna

appears to be most similar to the middle

Chadronian Pipestone Springs Local

Fauna of Montana and also closely

resembles the middle Chadronian Calf

Creek Local Fauna of Saskatchewan, and
along the road between the East

Entrance and Sylvan Pass is anything but

ordinary. Research on the geology of the

East Entrance road revealed a crosssection through an ancient, now extinct

volcano that was centered near Hoyt

Peak, about a mile north of Sylvan Pass

and was active about 45 million years

ago during the Eocene Epoch. I have

been working with Yellowstone scientific

and administrative personnel to evaluate

the geologic and paleontologic resources

that will be even better exposed by

planned road improvement activities

along the East Entrance road. As part of

this work, I mapped, studied,

photographed, and sampled each

natural outcrop and each artificial

exposure between the East Entrance and

Sylvan Pass. I am currently working with

Park personnel to develop plans for a

series of interpretive road-side pull-outs

designed to highlight various parts of the

volcanic system.

The stretch of highway between Sylvan

Pass and the East Entrance passes by a

series of rocks that together represent a

cross-section through the eastern flank

of an extinct Eocene volcano. Cropping

out at Sylvan Pass are layers of volcanic

breccia, a rock type itself composed of

angular bits of volcanic rock probably

derived mostly from surface talus that

formed the steep sides of the volcano.

Intruding and cross-cutting the breccia

layers are vertically-oriented sheets of

andesitic volcanic rock. The vertical

sheets, called dikes, formed by injection

of molten magma into vertical cracks in

the interior of the volcano. Well-formed

mineral crystals of hornblende and

plagioclase in the andesite suggest the

magma cooled slowly underground after

being injected into the cracks. Though it

can’t be demonstrated yet, it is likely that

some of these subterranean magmatic

injections corresponded with actual

eruptions of material from the volcanic

vent. Viewed on a geologic map, the

andesitic dikes form a radial pattern that

converges on the postulated site of the

volcanic mouth just north of Sylvan Pass.

Moving east from Sylvan Pass, the road

cuts through the breccia/dike complex

inferred to represent the nominal

volcanic center, through a series of easttilted basalt and andesitic lava flows that

are also locally intruded by andesite dikes

and that likely represent the eastern

flank of the volcano. Further along

towards the East Entrance, layers of

brown conglomeratic rocks crop out.

These sedimentary rocks were deposited

by debris flows that slid down the side of

the volcano. Although conglomeratic

strata associated with the debris apron

occurs within the park, the best

exposures of this part of the volcano are

found outside of the park in the

impressive cliffs, canyons, and

mountainsides of brown volcaniclastic

conglomerate on the road to Cody.

Careful study of these debris flow layers

reveals that they commonly contain casts

of fossil wood from forests that

colonized the sides of the Eocene

volcano. Due to the poor state of

preservation, however, it has not yet

been possible to identify the wood

further.

Now that the initial site surveys and prereconstruction geologic assessments have

been completed, crews are preparing to

begin widening the highway between

Sylvan Pass and the East Entrance.

During the reconstruction process,

trained personnel will be present to

evaluate and catalog any fossil debris

that the road crews recover. This

material will be added to the collection I

have started and will contribute to the

development of the road-side

information signs that will be posted

along the route. Reconstruction of the

East Entrance road is scheduled to be

completed in 2006.

Planned Widening of

East Entrance Road

Reveals Important

Geological Resources

Marc S. Hendrix

Department of Geology

University of Montana

Missoula, Montana 59812

As most recent visitors to Yellowstone

have noticed, the park’s road system has

been undergoing a lot of reconstruction

lately. The Park’s aging network of paved

roads not only is showing signs of

deterioration, but also is proving

undersized to the more than 2 million

people that visit the Park each year, many

driving large vehicles.

In order to improve accessibility to

Yellowstone’s natural treasures, the Park

has begun a 20-year plan to reconstruct

and, in places, widen its extensive road

system. This road improvement is a

delicate operation. Like the old historic

road network, the new one is designed

to ‘lie lightly on the land’ and thus to

provide access to the Park’s beauty

without dominating its landscapes. Part

of the plan to integrate these road

improvements into the Park’s educational

outreach program is a systematic effort

to study the paleontologic and geologic

resources that are revealed during the

reconstruction process.

Current road improvement efforts are

focusing on a six-mile stretch of highway

that runs from the East Entrance west to

Sylvan Pass. This stretch of road is one of

4 Park Paleontology

Closeup of coarse boulders in an inferred paleo-valley fill on the Sylvan PassEast Entrance highway. Fossil wood casts are also present in the deposits.

Example of the fossil wood casts

preserved in the Tertiary debris flow

deposits.
Park Paleontology 5

Report of the 2004 field

collections and

mapping of mammoth

(Mammuthus exilis and

Mammuthus columbi)

remains: Santa Rosa

Island, Channel Islands

National Park (CHIS),

California.

Larry Agenbroad

The Mammoth Site

P.O. Box 692

Hot Springs, South Dakota 57747-0692

Field mapping and collection of

mammoth remains was conducted from

May, 26-June, 2, 2004 by a four person

team consisting of Kelly Minas (CHIS),

Sam Spauling (CHIS), Don Morris (CHISretired), and Larry Agenbroad

(Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, SD). The

field procedure was the same as

employed since the excavation and

recovery of the 1994 skeleton of

Mammuthus exilis; i. e. pedestrian survey

with GPS control of fossil discoveries.

The 2003 trip was cancelled due to

storms, so the 2004 trip had a two-year

erosion interval since the prior (2002)

field season. A total of 60 localities were

documented. As in previous seasons,

only specimens of paleontological

significance, or those threatened by

imminent erosional destruction were

collected. Seven localities contained

elements of Mammuthus columbi, the

remainder were Mammuthus exilis,

maintaining an approximate 1:10 ratio

of Me/Mc, as noted in prior field

collections. Twenty specimens were

collected, transported to the Santa

Barbara Museum of Natural History

(SBMNH) which is the repository for CHIS.

There are currently no personnel at

SBMNH experienced in the preparation,

preservation, and cataloging of the

mammoth remains, so an agreement was

made to take the specimens to The

Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, South

Dakota for those tasks, to be returned to

the SBMNH collections, upon completion.

A paper was presented on the

contemporaneity of mammoths and

early human remains (Arlington Springs

Woman) on Santa Rosa, at the 6th

Channel Islands symposium in Ventura

(12/1-3/03). The paper was submitted

and accepted for inclusion in the

symposium volume and is currently in

press. The importance of the paper is the

confirmation of accelerator-mass

spectrometer (AMS) radiocarbon dates

indicative of temporal overlap of early

humans and mammoths at 11,030 BP

(uncorrected radiocarbon years) on Santa

Rosa Island. This coincidence places a

strong correlation for human hunting,

rather than climate change, or

hyperdisease, as the cause of extinction

of the island mammoths. No ‘smoking

spear’ kill site has yet been discovered,

however. It will take continued field work

to locate and document potential kill

sites.

Map showing outline of the megaisland, Santarosae formed by the lowering

of sea level by 20 meters during the Pleistocene. Pygmy mammoths have

been found on San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands. Modified

from map made by Tom Rockwell, 1994.

Additional Reading

Agenbroad, L.D. 1998. Pygmy (Dwarf)

mammoths of the Channel Islands of

California. Mammoth Site of Hot Springs

SD, Inc.: 27 pp.

Agenbroad, L.D. 2002. New Localities,

Chronology and Comparisons for the Pygmy

Mammoth (Mammuthus exilis):1994-1998.

pp. 518-524 In H. Browne and H. Cheney

(eds.). Proceedings of the Fifth Channel

Islands Symposium. USDI-Mineral

Management Service and the Santa Barbara

Museum of Natural History Vol. 2.

Agenbroad, L. D. 2003. New absolute

dates and comparisons for California’s

Mammuthus exilis. pp. 1-16 in J.W.F.

Reumer, J. de Vos and D. Mol (eds.).

Advances in Mammoth Research,

Proceedings of the Second International

Mammoth Conference. DEINSEA 9.

Agenbroad, L.D., and D.P. Morris. 1999.

Giant Island/Pygmy mammoths: the late

Pleistocene prehistory of Channel Islands

National Park. National Park Service

Paleontological Research, V.L. Santucci and

L. McClelland (eds.). Technical Report NPS/

NRGRD?GRDTR-99/03:27-31.

Agenbroad, L.D., D. Morris, and L. Roth.

1999. Pygmy mammoths Mammuthus exilis

from Channel Islands National Park,

California USA. pp. 89-102 in G. Haynes, J.

Klimowicz, and J.W.F. Reumer (eds.).

Mammoths and Mammoth Fauna: Studies

of an Extinct Ecosystem. Deinsea 6.

Orr, P.C. 1956. Radiocarbon mammoths,

and man on Santa Rosa Island. Geological

Society of America Bulletin 67:1777.

Orr, P.C. 1956. Radiocarbon dates from

Santa Rosa Island. Bulletin of the Santa

Barbara Museum of Natural History 2:1-10.

Orr, P.C. 1956. Dwarf mammoths and man

on Santa Rosa Island. Anthropological

Papers No. 26, Department of Anthropology,

University of Utah:75-81.

Stock, C. and E.L. Furlong. 1928. The

Pleistocene elephants of Santa Rosa Island,

California. Science 68(1754):140-141.
6 Park Paleontology

Directed Discovery and

the Partnership between

the National Parks and

the GeoCorps America

Program

K. Alden Peterson

Interpretive Ranger

Chaco Culture National Historical Park

P.O. Box 220

Nageezi, New Mexico 87037-0220

In the spring of 2003 I applied to the

Geologic Society of America, GeoCorps

America Program and received a position

as a Geoscientist in the Park at Wupatki

National Monument for the summer. My

supervisor, Mary Blasing, defined this

position as 1/2 geology research and 1/2

interpretive ranger. The interpretive

ranger aspects of my position included

operation of the fees desk and

answering general and interpretive

question for on site and off site visitors.

Interpretive activities also included

creation and execution of formal and

informal interpretation on a wide variety

of subjects. Roving front country sites

and participation in and leading of

backcountry hikes rounded out the

interpretive aspect of my position.

Paul Whitefield, Chief of Natural

Resources at the Flagstaff Area

Monuments, defined the research

aspects of my position as a

paleontological investigation of the trace

fossil potential of Wupatki National

Monument. Because of the time

constraints involved in my position, I

narrowed this research to consist of an

evaluation of vertebrate trace fossil

potential of the lower Wupatki member

of the Moenkopi formation. Based on

my research of the literature, the trace

fossil collection at MNA, and examination

of the WUPA P1 trace fossil, I defined my

research parameters to include only the

lowest units of the Lower Wupatki

Member (defined as those units above

the Kaibab Formation and a below the

Lower Massive Sandstone unit of the

Wupatki member). Vertebrate trace

fossil in the Wupatki unit form as sandcast impressions of the tracks and traces

rather than from preservation of the

impressions themselves. As a result, the

trace fossils are found on the underside

of massive sandstone ledges. Through

my initial field work, I quickly confirmed

that the most likely vertebrate trace fossil

potential for these units resides in the

thin, massively bedded sandstone ledge

forming units, which crop-out directly

below the Lower Massive Sandstone unit.

This research and investigation at

Wupatki National Monument resulted in

the discovery on 21 June 2003 of an

important early Triassic trackway that

included very large Chirotherium trace

fossils. The largest trace fossils have been

tentatively assigned to the trace fossil

ichnogenus Chirotherium with a possible

affiliation to the C. rex or C. moquiensis.

The bases for this assignment resides

with the size and shape of the imprints.

The largest dimension was measured at

15cm. This measurement, however, was

only for the digit portion of the hind

foot (pes) track. Descriptions of C. rex

and C. moquiensis pes tracks from the

literature list a length in excess of 30 cm

for complete tracks, showing both digit

and sole imprints. The digit portion of

these described imprints represent a little

less than half the overall length of the

track. Following this line of reasoning,

the entire track length (including both

digit and sole imprints) of the trace

fossils would exceed 30 cms, thereby

placing it within the size range of either

C. rex or C. moquiensis. A distinguishing

feature that separates both C. rex and C.

moquiensis from the other species of

Chirotherium, is the rather blunt and

stubby toe impressions. This unique

feature of the digits matches the

observed imprints of the trackway.

Several imprints of C. rex in the literature

are described as lcaking the fifth digit in

the fossil impression. This digit is also

absent from the new imprints.

The new locality includes a rather rare

occurrence of a trackway, which presents

a series of sequential tracks preserved in

the stratigraphic record. This trackway

runs parallel to the erosional face of the

cliff along a stratigraphic unit showing

nearly 20 meters of exposed and eroded

fossil tracks. Approximately twenty

tracks of a large archosauromorph have

been observed at the locality, both in situ

in the exposed strata and in fragments

eroded from the strata and lying atop

the talus below the exposure. Numerous

smaller, unidentified tracks are visible

along with the archosauromorph tracks,

possibly created by either reptiles or

amphibians.

Trackways provide important evidence

for scientific study of the geometry of

movement of long extinct animals.

Trackways also reveal compelling clues to

associations and environments for extinct

fauna. The newly discovered trackway

offers a strong potential for furthering

the scientific understanding of this early

Triassic fauna. The proximity of the

Outcrop of the early Triassic Wupatki Member of the Moenkopi Formation

at Wupatki in which the fossil tracks were found.

Tracks of Chirotherium from

Wupatki National Monument
Park Paleontology 7

Petrified Wood

Answer to Name the Fossil Park:

Hancock Mammal Quarry and Clarno Nut

Beds, in the Clarno Unit, John Day Fossil

Beds, Oregon

Paleontologist at Florissant

Fossils Beds Awarded NSF

Grant

Herb Meyer

Florissant Fossil Beds

P.O. Box 185

15807 Teller County 1

Florissant, Colorado 80816-0185

The National Science Foundation has

awarded a grant to Dr. Deborah

Woodcock (Clark University) and Dr.

Herbert Meyer (National Park Service,

Florissant Fossil Beds) to complete a

research and conservation project for the

petrified forest site at Sexi, Peru. The

project is “The Peruvian Fossil Forest

Piedra Chamana: A Record of

Continental Conditions during the

Middle Eocene.” The grant provides

funds of $146,000.

The research aspects of the project will

involve a combination of field and

laboratory studies to reconstruct the

environment and climate of a Middle

Eocene low-latitude site, using fossil

wood (i.e., monocots and dicots) from

the northern Peruvian Andes. The

scientific premise for the research is that

while continental and oceanic proxy

records have established the existence of

warm climates at high latitudes during

the Middle Eocene, conditions at tropical

latitudes during this period are not as

well documented. It has, in addition,

been difficult for climate models to

simulate the degree of high-latitude

warmth indicated for the Eocene and

also the much lesser extent of warming

in the lower latitudes. The fossil forest is

thereby an important record of tropical

conditions during a time of notable

warmth worldwide and before the

changes of the latter part of the Eocene.

The diversity of taxa at the Peru site is

ideally suited for paleoclimate

reconstructions.

The project also provides assistance for

conservation of the site, and it will

include establishing a site inventory and

monitoring project. The grant will

provide the funding for developing a

museum in the small community of Sexi,

as well as educational and interpretive

information for the local school and for

visitors. The site currently remains very

remote and generally unvisited, although

the community is eager to develop

ecotourism. The fossil forest was formally

designated for protection by the

Peruvian government in 1997 under the

Cultural Patrimony of the Nation.

This project will facilitate international

exchange of ideas and analytical

techniques between US and Peruvian

scientists, enhance the conservation of

important scientific specimens, and

provide a unique learning experience for

a graduate student. In addition, the

project represents a strong and

supportive collaboration between the US

National Science Foundation, Clark

University, the US National Park Service,

and the National University San Marcos

in Peru that will help the research and

conservation efforts progress effectively.

trackway to the Permian/Triassic border

adds another component of interest to

these trace fossils. The fossil forming

stratagraphic unit occurs only 18 to 20

meters above the Permian boundary,

placing the dates on these track firmly in

the early Triassic, approximately 137 to

240 million years ago. The Permian/

Triassic border represents an event of

unprecedented extinction in the history

of the Earth. The trace fossils at the

locality provide potential insights into the

recovery and evolutionary radiation of

fauna after this catastrophic event. My

Geocorps America position at Wupatki

National Monument provided me with

an extraordinary opportunity to extend

my experience as a geoscientist beyond

the boundaries of the academic

environment, participate in the discovery

of an important paleontological resource

for the park system, and fulfill a life-time

interest in natural history and education

as an interpretive park ranger. It is my

hope that the GeoCorp America

program will continue providing this

unique partnership between the National

Parks and geoscientists for many more

generations.

Trackway of Chirotherium from

Wupatki National Monument.

Most types of fossil wood that we refer to as

“petrified” or turned to stone is formed by a

process called permineralization. Fossils

that are permineralized when spaces in the

wood (or bone) become filled with mineralrich water. As water rich in minerals passes

through the wood, concentrations of the

minerals increase and eventually the

minerals precipitate out, filling the voids and

surrounding the original cell walls and cell

membranes. The types of minerals that are

deposited depends on the mineral content of

the sediments that buried the tree. Some

examples of minerals that commonly dissolve

and saturate in solution include silica (SiO2),

calcium carbonate(CaCO3), and iron ores

like pyrite (FeS2). Each type of mineral a

distinctive color and this is what makes fossil

wood so colorful.

http://paleo.cortland.edu/tutorial/

Taphonomy&Pres/preservation.htm
8 Park Paleontology

Fun in the Sun: The

2004 Paleontological

Survey of Colorado

National Monument

Kelli C. Trujillo, Ph.D.

Geology and Geophysics Department

The University of Wyoming

Laramie, Wyoming 82071

Colorado National Monument is a

paradise for photographers, hikers, and

geologists. Sedimentary rocks ranging

in age from Late Triassic to Late

Cretaceous are exposed within the

boundaries of Colorado National

Monument (COLM), and they form

many picturesque canyons and cliffs,

towers and spires. But these rocks are

not just scenic – they also hold a

wealth of fossil resources.

During the summer of 2004, Margaret

Imhof (Museum of Northern Arizona),

Zach Walke (recently graduated from

Southern Oregon University), and I

spent 11 weeks hiking the trails and

bushwacking through the backcountry

of Colorado National Monument in

search of fossils. Our mission was

threefold: 1) to assess fossil localities

that had previously been located, 2) to

survey areas of COLM that had not yet

been prospected for fossils, and 3) to

compile all this information into one

easily accessed database using GIS.

The information gathered would then

be used to help manage the fossil

resources of COLM.

Over the past 30 years, several formal

paleontological surveys were

conducted at COLM. The first two

surveys, by Dr. George L. Callison in

1977 and Dr. George F. Engelmann in

1995, focused exclusively on the

Morrison Formation (Late Jurassic).

Both of these surveys found many

occurrences of dinosaur bone as well

as fossils of smaller vertebrates and

invertebrates. A third study, by Dr.

Rodney D. Scheetz in 2001 and 2002,

was based around the trails of COLM

and surveyed most rock units in the

monument. A preliminary study of the

Quaternary fossil resources in COLM

was done in 1994 by Dr. Kirk Andersen

from the Museum of Northern Arizona,

and bones recovered from a fissure

exposed by a rockfall were collected in

2000 and identified by Dr. Jim Mead of

MNA. In addition to these studies,

scientists affiliated with the Museum of

Western Colorado have occasionally

surveyed various areas and formations

in COLM. Several new dinosaur

tracksites have been located by Dr.

John Foster, Ryan King, and Josh Smith

over the past few years.

In our survey, we located 19 new fossil

localities and formally reported 57

others that had been known previously.

Each of these 76 localities was given a

COLM locality number, and at each

locality we took GPS coordinates and

photographs. In addition, we assessed

the condition of each locality with

regard to the numbers of fossils seen,

weathering rates and stability of the

site, and occurring or potential

vandalism or theft. All of the data

collected is housed at COLM in both

print and electronic forms.

As a result of our summer’s work, we

now know that all sedimentary rock

units exposed in COLM contain fossils.

The types of fossil localities reported

from COLM include trace and body

fossils of plants, invertebrates, and

vertebrates. The most exciting finds

include well-preserved sauropod bones

in fallen blocks of the Burro Canyon

Fm., a lungfish tooth from the Tidwell

Member of the Morrison Formation,

the only known vertebrate bone from

the Kayenta Fm. of Colorado, and large

numbers of dinosaur tracks from the

Wingate Fm. We also learned about

metoposaur scutes and teeth that had

been collected from the Chinle Fm.

(Late Triassic) in COLM about 50 years

ago. The fossils were donated to the

Museum of Western Colorado many

years ago, and a search is underway to

locate them.

All in all, we had a productive and fun

summer. The information we provided

will allow resource managers and

others at COLM to keep track of their

fossil resources in order to preserve

and protect them. All of the folks at

COLM were great to work with. And

we got to spend our summer

wandering around Colorado National

Monument! For geologists and

paleontologists, it doesn’t get any

better than that!

General overview of the geology of Colorado National Monument.

 Independence Monument in the center.

Margaret Imhof and Zach Walke,

two GeoCorps volunteers, sitting

on the Brushy Basin Member of the

Morrison Formation at Colorado

National Monument.
Park Paleontology 9

PLEASE NOTE

 Recent Literature on Park Paleontology Resources

The final report of a paleontological survey of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area has just been completed by Alison

Koch, Vince Santucci and Ted Weasma. The report provides an overview of the variety of paleontological resources present in the

park.

Copies of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Paleontological Survey, Technical Report NPS/NRGRD/GRDTR-04-01 are

available from the: Geologic Resources Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 25287,Denver, Colorado 80227

Two of the most famous fossil quarries in North America are subtly

visible in this landscape image from a small National Monument.

Answer on page 7.

 Name the Fossil Park
Park Paleontology is published intermittently

each year by the Geologic Resources Division.

It is available as a PDF file on the Internet at

http:www2.nature.nps.gov/grd/geology/

paleo/news/newsletter.htm

Copies may be printed from the internet for

free distribution.

Editor

Greg McDonald

Contributors

Larry Agenbroad

Mary Carpenter

 Gene Clare

 Ted Fremd

 Marc S. Hendrix

 Herb Meyer

 K. Alden Peterson

 Pete Reser

 Kelli Trujillo

 Marie Worley

Comments? Write to:

Greg McDonald

Geologic Resources Division

National Park Service

P.O. Box 25287

Denver, Colorado 80227

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Natural Resource Program Center

Geologic Resources Division

Paleontology Program

P.O. Box 25287

Denver, Colorado 80225

303 969-2821

First Class Mail

Postage and Fees

P A I D

City, State

Permit number

EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA

10 Park Paleontology

Echinoid from the Permian Bird Spring Formation, top of the

Providence Mountains, Mojave National Preserve, California.

 Photograph by Ted R. Weasma