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January UGA Luncheon Meeting January 9, 2006 UTAH’S DINOSAUR FRONTIER: NEW DISCOVERIES FROM THE KAIPAROWITS AND CEDAR MOUNTAIN FORMATIONS Lindsay E. Zanno, University of Utah Go to Biographical Sketch Although paleontologists have been scouring Cretaceous outcrop on the Colorado plateau for more than a century, late Mesozoic beds exposed in southern Utah still contain a plethora of dinosaurs unknown to science. For example, the Early Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation has been extensively researched for over a decade. However, recent excavations within the lowermost horizon of the Yellow Cat Member (previously considered by some researchers to be part of the Upper Morrison Formation) is revealing the presence of a novel Early Cretaceous ecosystem, the only presently recognizable constituent of which is Falcarius utahensis—the most primitive therizinosaur yet discovered. Elements of other taxa discovered within this and closely related horizons include those of a new species of armored dinosaur, a large and small theropod, a small bird or pterosaur, and an iguanodon. Further south the monumental exposure of the Late Cretaceous Kaiparowits Formation reveals one of the most significant dinosaur frontiers in North America.Containing a Late Campanian ecosystem built almost entirely of novel taxa, the Kaiparowits Formation represents a missing link between the relatively well documented and coeval Late Campanian faunas along a north-south transect of the Western Interior Basin. In just five years of intensive excavation, the Kaiparowits Basin Project, headed by the Utah Museum of Natural History, has uncovered the presence of at least four novel dinosaur taxa including, a new genus of horned dinosaur, a new species of duckbill dinosaur, a new taxon of tyrannosaur, and a new genus of small theropod, as well as elements of small and large herbivores and bird-like theropods, previously unrecorded in the Late Campanian of Utah.
Luncheon LocationThe luncheon meeting will be at 1200 Noon, Monday January 9, at the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) , 1594 W. North Temple, Salt Lake City. The DNR Building is just east of the intersection of Redwood Road (1600 W) and North Temple. Luncheon attendees can park anywhere there is space available, including the visitor parking area in front of the main entrance and the employee's parking area. The luncheon will be held in room 1050. Lunch at 1200 Noon. Cost $13.00 with reservations; $5.00 student. Please make reservations (537-3300) no later than 4:00 p.m. on Friday, January 6, 2006. Cash or Checks only please.
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Copyright 2006, Utah Geological Association Last Modified February 03, 2006 Webmaster: Bill Case, billcase@utah.gov
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Lindsay E. Zanno earned a
Bachelor’s of Science degree, Summa Cum Laude studying Biological Anthropology
at the University of New Mexico in 1999, a Master’s of Science degree in Geology
and Geophysics at the University of Utah in 2004, and is presently continuing
her work at the University of Utah as a doctoral student in Vertebrate
Paleontology. She has over eight years of domestic and international field
experience in mammalogy, primatology, cultural anthropology, geology, and
paleontology. She is a two-year recipient of the National Science Foundation
GK-12 teaching fellowship and has participated in numerous public and
professional lecture series. Zanno is co-author of four publications and 14
published abstracts. She completed her Master’s degree on the morphology and
phylogeny of Falcarius utahensis and is continuing her doctoral work
reconstructing the paleobiology of Falcarius and its place in the dinosaur
family tree.