Summary: Vertebrate microfossil bonebeds (aka microsites) are accumulations of disarticulated and dissociated fossil debris dominated by bones and shells in the millimeter to centimeter size range. Modes of accumulation for these types of sites are often difficult to decipher from reports in the literature, although predatory (scatological) and fluvial/hydraulic origins are typically proposed. We will explore these unique and highly informative sites in the Cretaceous rock record of Montana, with the goal of better understanding the details of dinosaur ecosystems (these types of sites preserve the diversity of animals that existed at the feet of the dinosaurs). We will also take some time to reflect on the likely conditions that led to the formation of these amazing, and in places quite abundant, fossil deposits. 

Biography: My research is focused on sedimentary geology and vertebrate taphonomy. With regard to the rocks, I am most interested in terrestrial depositional systems. My work to date has focused on the reconstruction of nonmarine depositional systems and the application of sequence stratigraphic methods in nonmarine records. With regard to the fossils, I have spent most of my time exploring the taphonomy of dinosaur-bearing rocks. My work on rocks and dinosaurs (and dinosaur precursors) has taken me to the Cretaceous foreland basin of Montana, the Triassic Ischigualasto Basin of Argentina, the Triassic-Jurassic Karoo-equivalent rocks of southern Zimbabwe, and the Mahajanga Basin of Madagascar. I am fortunate to teach a selection of courses that relate to my research interests, including: (1) History and Evolution of Earth (GEOL 155), (2) Paleobiology (of both Vertebrates and Invertebrates), and (3) Sedimentology and Stratigraphy (GEOL 265).