1. AN EXERCISE IN DINOSAUR TAPHONOMY
David Varricchio
Earth Sciences
Montana State U.

2. SUMMARY
Students work together to “solve” a dinosaur bonebed. They gather clues on the geologic context and fossil assemblage and then make an informed interpretation about the factors that generated the assemblage.

3. AUDIENCE 100-level dinosaur class. Largely freshmen and sophomores.
Primarily non-science majors.
Also with MSSE class.

4. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Practice with taphonomic concepts.
Information from and limitations of the fossil record.
Formulation of hypotheses.
Distinction between evidence and interpretation.
Consideration of alternative viewpoints.
Working in groups.

5. MECHANICS Students divide into groups (4 to 6 students.)
Provided with a quarry map.
Groups acquire “clues” by formulating hypotheses/questions one at a time. 10 clue maximum.
Students write up interpretation individually.

6. Two dinosaur sites:
1) Cleveland-Lloyd Quarry
Bilbey, 1999 (Gates, 2005)
2) Yale Deinonychus Quarry
Maxwell and Ostrom, 1995
Why?
Controversial with multiple interpretations.
References with needed clues.
Relate to class lectures.
Adjacent groups working on different sites.

7. STUDENT PREPARATION One lecture on taphonomy.
One short reading on taphonomy.

8. Clue Gathering:
Request information, but need to justify its application in testing a hypothesis.
Only 10 clues!

9. CLUES

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22. CLUES

23. ADVANTAGES Simple, few materials (and no specimens) required.
Can be done anywhere.
Generally achieves learning objectives.

24. DISADVANTAGES Students need help connecting hypotheses with evidence.
Need adequate instructor/student ratio.
Potential for some students to only minimally participate.

25. APPLICATION ELSEWHERE
Suitable for any taxonomic group - mammals, trilobites, reef assemblages. Just get the right reference or make it up.
Perhaps suitable for general vert/invert. paleontology class where specimens unavailable.

26. QUESTIONS?

27. REFERENCES
Bilbey, S. A Taphonomy of the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in the Morrison Formation, central Utah—a lethal spring-fed pond. in Gillette, D.D., ed., Vertebrate Paleontology in Utah: Utah Geologic Survey, Miscellaneous Publication 99-1, p. 121– 133.
Perhaps a better/newer reference:
Gates, T. A The Late Jurassic Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry as a Drought-Induced Assemblage. Palaios 20:
Maxwell, W. D. and Ostrom, J. H Taphonomy and paleobiological implications of Tenontosaurus-Deinonychus associations. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 15(4):