Lecture 3 - Taphonomy with Dr Ray Rogers (Fall 2024)

Exploring Dinosaurs Through Taphonomy Raymond Rogers, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN  TAPHONOMY HOW DOES ONE BECOME A FOSSIL? …soon to be published in The Dinosauria (3rd Edition) #1 - Have a Hard Skeleton #2 - Get Buried - Fast! OBRUTION Ash Fall Fossil Beds Nebraska Rhin...

Exploring Dinosaurs Through Taphonomy Raymond Rogers, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN  TAPHONOMY HOW DOES ONE BECOME A FOSSIL? …soon to be published in The Dinosauria (3rd Edition) #1 - Have a Hard Skeleton #2 - Get Buried - Fast! OBRUTION Ash Fall Fossil Beds Nebraska Rhinos in Volcanic Ash 12 Million Years Ago #3 - Mass Death - Good Choice LIFESTYLE CHOICES GREGARIOUS HABITS GOOD SCAVENGERS OVERWHELMED LONERS USUALLY DON’T MAKE IT INTO THE RECORD OR MUSEUM WHY? #4 - Dig Your Own Grave  Diictydon Late Permian of Karoo ~255 Million Years Ago  Varricchio et al., 2007 Oryctodromeus #5 - Live in Depositional Settings (basins) Classic Cold Case The Fighting Dinosaurs of Mongolia 1971 Djadokhta Fm. Southern Gobi Classic Cold Case Velociraptor mongoliensis Protoceratops andrewsi Dave Loope, Geologist, University of Nebraska  Caliche cross-stratified sandstone (unfossiliferous) structureless sandstone (fossiliferous) future fan A B 100 m Interdune deposits Buried fans 200 m During rain storms, water soaks into the 30sand and dunes slu  Caliche cross-stratified sandstone (unfossiliferous) structureless sandstone (fossiliferous) future fan A B 100 m Interdune deposits Buried fans 200 m  Caliche cross-stratified sandstone (unfossiliferous) structureless sandstone (fossiliferous) future fantastic dino A B 100 m Interdune deposits Buried fans 200 m 33 Taphonomy is Key A “Snapshot” of Behavior and Ecology in the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia Dueling Dinos of Montana Again - Taphonomy is Key Dueling Dinos of Montana Again - Taphonomy is Key …hopefully it is happening