Donald Baird and His Fieldwork in the Triassic-Jurassic of Nova Scotia

Sues, H.-D., Hook, R. W., and P. E. Olsen. 2013. Donald Baird and his discoveries of Carboniferous and early Mesozoic vertebrates in Nova Scotia. Atlantic Geology 49:90-103.

Abstract - Donald Baird (1926–2011), an influential and innovative vertebrate paleontologist with a scientific career spanning nearly 50 years, had an exceptional breadth of expertise in the study of late Paleozoic and Mesozoic vertebrates and their life traces. Beginning in 1956, Baird conducted fieldwork in the Carboniferous and Triassic-Jurassic of Nova Scotia, making a total of 21 trips in 30 years. His many scientific contributions include the discoveries of important assemblages of Carboniferous vertebrates as well as an unexpectedly diverse record of early Mesozoic tetrapods and their trackways in the province. Baird also encouraged and supported fieldwork by other vertebrate paleontologists as well as amateurs in Nova Scotia and elsewhere. His career-long commitment to the vertebrate paleontology of the province was instrumental in establishing it as an important source of fossils of Carboniferous and early Mesozoic continental vertebrates.

Archaeologists vs. Paleontologists

The following blurb is from http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Archaeologist#Archaeologists_VS_Paleontologists

The rivalry between archaeologists and paleontologists has been around ever since Hanna Barbara leaked top secret documentary footage showing that humans, dinosaurs, and Pleistocene mega fauna coexisted. This has led to a sibling rivalry, in which neither party can safely work beside the other, for fear of Indian burns, and getting told on to mom and dad. This forces each party to work in complete isolation from each other.

Archaeologists, for their part, hate paleontologists, because nobody in the general public knows what archaeology is, and the general public mistakenly assumes that they are looking for fossils of extinct animals. Paleontologists hate archaeologists for similar reasons, because the general public always asks them if they are archaeologists, and assumes they are looking for buried treasures, such as artifacts, coins, and arrowheads, and constantly asks archaeologists if they are paleontologists.

Public, Please get it right; Archaeologists look for people. Paleontologists look for animals.

I think almost all of us in the paleo profession have encountered this at one time or another explaining what we do to old friends, family, and the public. I've found when I try to correct them I'm just met with blank stares, especially if I try to go beyond the term "dinosaur" at all, so I usually don't bother anymore. It always amazes me that the public is certainly familiar with both terms but consistently gets them backwards when it come to the objects of interest. I've also heard what the first sentence of the article is hinting at, that most people's (Americans at least) only interaction with paleontology is through the Flintstones TV show.  Moreover I also have a hunch that this confusion may be why there are so few paleontologists employed by the U.S. government compared to thousands of archaeologists. A colleague blames the Cope vs. Marsh bone wars for souring the government on paleontology, but I think they might just be confused about the terms and historically thought they actually had it all covered. After all isn't that what archaeologists study?

"Old Paleontologists Never Die. Their Knees Just Give Out"

This is an excellent account of the joys and importance of field paleontology (and some of the luck involved) in an interview with one of the 'greats' in the field of vertebrate paleontology, Dr. Mary Dawson of the Carnegie Museum.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11072/1131175-51.stm

This article also mentions why it is important to revisit your previous digs and look for the pieces you are missing, many times they are often turned up by further erosion. In 2006 Randall Irmis and I described a new species of phytosaur, Pseudopalatus jablonskiae. One of the crucial preserved portions of the specimen was its braincase, which is one of the best preserved Pseudopalatus braincases ever found and in this particular species gives clues of the phylogenetic relationships between Pseudopalatus and the earlier Smilosuchus.  Unfortunately, the specimen had been trampled and slowly kicked apart (it was located on a trail). Many of the fragments had been washed downslope and reburied. We were able to piece together the braincase but lacked the lower portion, the basicranium. 

In 2008 I revisited the site and found more fragments that had eroded out from the downslope area and one of these was the nearly complete basicranium! At some point I will have to prepare a redescription of the entire braincase of this very cool (and important) specimen,

Ned Colbert, Lystrosaurus, and Continental Drift

Arguably one of the most important finds in the history of Triassic paleontology was the discovery of fossil bones assignable to Lystrosaurus from the Early Triassic of Antarctica in 1969 by a team including famed paleontologist Edwin "Ned" Colbert. The finding of this non-marine animal on four different continents helped support the theory of continental drift.

Below is some old footage (from the 1970s I believe) taken in his office at the Museum of Northern Arizona of Ned discussing this find and its importance. You can feel his excitement in reliving his initial finds, especially when he starts picking up the various fossils. Enjoy!

Who Has Worked on Aetosaurs?

By now almost everyone probably knows that aetosaurs are my favorite Triassic critter and the animal in which I choose to specialize (although I deal from time to time with phytosaurs and other Triassic beasties, as well as early dinosaurs). What amazed me when I first started researching aetosaurs (I was not really familiar with them prior to 1997) was who had worked on them. Here is a short (and certainly not complete) list of prominent researchers who have worked on and/or collected aetosaur specimens. Although many of the earliest workers thought they were dealing with fish, crocodylians, or phytosaurs they laid the foundation for our modern studies. How many other fossil animals can claim this pedigree?

Louis Agassiz. Named Stagonolepis in 1844. First description of an aetosaur.

Thomas Huxley. Provided first detailed descriptons of Stagonolepis and determined its reptilian affinities.

Hermann von Meyer. Described first material of Paratypothorax.

Edward Cope. Named Typothorax coccinarum, Episcoposaurus horridus, and E. haplocerus.

Oscar Fraas. Named Aetosaurus ferratus.

Eberhard Fraas. Named Aetosaurus crassicauda.

Othniel Marsh. Named Stegomus arcuatus.

Freidrich von Huene. Redescribed several taxa.

Barnum Brown. Collected several specimens from Arizona and Utah (see photo above).

Maurice Mehl. Named Acompsosaurus wingatensis.

Ermine Case. Named Desmatosuchus spurensis. Collected holotype of Calyptosuchus wellesi.

Charles Camp. Collected many specimens. Studied Stagonolepis holotype.

Samuel Welles. Collected specimens.

Glenn Jepsen. Described Stegomus arcuatus jerseyensis. First good description of caudal armor.

Joseph Gregory. Collected specimens. Reviewed Typothorax and Desmatosuchus.

Donald Baird. Described more specimens of S. arcuatus.

Alick Walker. Produced defining monograph of Stagonolepis.

Jose Bonaparte. Named Neoaetosauroides engaeus.

Note that I have left out many recent workers, not because they have not made important contributions to aetosaurs, but because it would be premature to judge how they will be remembered by their peers in regards to those named above.

Below is a photo of an aetosaur femur collected from the Chinle Formation of Utah by Barnum Brown in the late 1800s. Photo courtesy of the USMN.

Route 66 and its Influence on Triassic Paleontology of the American Southwest

Route 66; the "mother road"; Bobby Troupe singing "get your kicks"... Anyone who has worked with me knows that I have a keen interest in this historic highway. Part of this stems from living in Northern Arizona for more than a decade, twice within a block of this road. Although officially decommissioned in 1985, Route 66 nostalgia is alive and well in these areas and the road still forms the basis of the many towns and cities it passed through. Furthermore, its scars can still be seen across the landscape in the form of abandoned roadbeds, bridges, roadcuts, and debris, including abandoned structures. In its heyday more than a million cars a year travelled its length from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California.

However, my infatuation with Route 66 stems from more than just searching out abandoned sections as something to do to pass the time while driving across Arizona. This is the road that past paleontologists used when conducting much of the early work in the Triassic rocks of Arizona and New Mexico. Charles Camp's field notes from the 1920s discuss travelling the route and stopping at historic places including Ed's Camp. When Camp mentions camping near the roadbridge across "Little Carrizo" Wash (also known as the Little Lithodendron Wash) we can revisit that camp as the bridge still exists.

Sam Welles did not care to see the Meteor Crater one more time so he had his team drop him off at the intersection of Route 66 and the old Meteor Crater road so he could prospect the Moenkopi Formation. This paid dividends as he discovered the prolific Middle Triassic Meteor Crater Quarry. The Holbrook Quarry was another productive quarry in the Moenkopi right along Route 66.

Petrified Forest National Park is the only National Park that contains a section of Route 66 and until it was replaced by Interstate 40 in the late 1950s was an important marker for paleontologists and geologists working in the park and surrounding area. For example many of Maurice "Spade" Cooley's Chinle geological sections were measured along Route 66 and it would be impossible to relocate them without knowing the old alignments of the road.

Ned Colbert also travelled extensively up and down Route 66 while doing his southwest U.S. work and prominently mentions sites such as Rimmy Jims in his notes.

Last week we were examining outcrops of the Chinle Formation north of Joseph City, Arizona and I had the opportunity to stop at a classic Route 66 stop, Ella's Frontier. Below is a photo of me standing outside of the now abandoned log structure. You can find a picture of this trading post in its heyday here.

The next picture is looking east up old Route 66 from in front of Ella's. The old Howdy Hank's trading post is on the left (with its well-known mural of the cowboy and horse barely visible), and an old campground is on the right side of the road.

I find it absolutely fascinating to trace the footsteps of earlier paleontologists such as Colbert, Welles, Camp, etc... and fortunately Route 66 still allows me to do this. Furthermore, as this was the main route travelled by these workers while conducting fieldwork, it had a major influence on which outcrops were prospected (accessiblity is important) adding to our knowledge of Triassic paleontology in the southwest.

Another New Reference and Amazingly Productive Publishing Paleontologists

This one just missed my "Latest Literature" post a few days back. I had commented earlier how 2008 was an amazing year for new temnospondyl papers (and basal turtles) and here is another in early 2009 (although it had been in press since 2007!).

By the way...I am often just blown away by the productivity of some vertebrate paleontologists. I recently linked to Richard Butler's webpage and here now is Rainer Schoch's. Just look at his upcoming output which includes the new paper featured here. Not only do these individuals produce so many papers, but they are all consistantly excellent. Hat's off to Drs. Schoch and Butler!

Damiani, R., Schoch, R.R., Hellrung, H., Werneburg, R., and S. Gastou. 2009. The plagiosaurid temnospondyl Plagiosuchus pustuliferus (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) from the Middle Triassic of Germany: anatomy and functional morphology of the skull. Zoological Journal of the Linnaean Society 155:348-373. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00444.x

Abstract: The cranial anatomy of the plagiosaurid temnospondyl Plagiosuchus pustuliferus, from the Middle Triassic of Germany, is described in detail on the basis of a newly discovered skull and mandibular material. The highly derived skull is characterized by huge orbitotemporal fenestrae, a reduction of the circumorbital bones – the prefrontal, postfrontal and (probably) postorbital are lost – and the expansion of the jugal to occupy most of the lateral skull margin. Ventrally the extremely long subtemporal vacuities correlate with the elongate adductor fossa of the mandible. The dentition is feebly developed on both skull and mandible. Ossified
?ceratobranchials and 'branchial denticles' indicate the presence of open gills clefts in life. The remarkably divergent cranial morphology of P. pustuliferus highlights the extraordinary cranial diversity within the Plagiosauridae, probably unsurpassed within the Temnospondyli. Specific structural aspects of the skull – including an extremely short marginal tooth row, feeble dentition and an elongated chamber for adductor musculature – together with evidence for a hyobranchial skeleton, suggests that P. pustuliferus utilized directed suction feeding for prey capture.

I have always wondered why temnospondyls are often given names that end with -saurus and suchus?

Petrified Forest Fieldwork Photos - 2008

All of this nasty ice and freezing weather has me longing for summer and fieldwork again. Here are some photos from work in the park this past summer to warm us up a little. The above photo is a picture of a phytosaur skull excavation from May of this year.

Here is our fossil preparator Matt Brown precariously perched excavating a small metoposaurid skull.

Summer intern Kate Hazlehurst working on some poposaurid material from the Sonsela Member.

Poposaurid pubis in-situ.

Myself and Matt Brown carving (literally) a phytosaur skull out of its sandstone tomb. This complete skull is from the type locality of Pseudopalatus jablonskiae and may belong to the same taxon.

Me again, with intern Joanna Panosky excavating aetosaur (Typothorax) plates.


One of the Typothorax plates.

Just to rub it in a little, all of these sites are within an hour drive/hike of my office. Such is the beauty of the Petrified Forest National Park. Hope these warmed you up a bit (at least those of us in the Northern Hemisphere).

Dromomeron, the Hayden Quarry, and Cool Jobs!

These have been out for awhile, but I just became aware of them a little bit ago. Anyhow for those of you who are interested and haven't seen these, here are my Triassic colleagues Randy Irmis, Sterling Nesbitt, and Alex Downs discussing The Skinny on Naming a New Dinosaur, Fossil Hunters Roll the Bones for Clues, and Cool Jobs: Fossil Hunters. These clips are from the Discovery Channel and I found them here. Enjoy!