Project Results

We discovered yet more important fossil sites and collected significant vertebrate, invertebrate, and plant remains. The results of the 2022 survey are found in a short paper called:

VERTEBRATE PALEOFAUNA OF THE CAMPANIAN ALMOND FORMATION OF WYOMING: HISTORY OF STUDY, BIOGEOGRAPHIC SIGNIFICANCE, AND EARLY RESULTS OF AN ONGOING PALEONTOLOGICAL SURVEY."

Link: https://anatomypubs.onlinelibr...

About This Project

The Late Cretaceous Almond Formation has been known to produce dinosaurs since 1937. Still, the fauna it preserves remains almost entirely unknown. In 2021 we found the first turtles, fish, and crocodylomorphs as well as several dinosaurs including hadrosaurids and the first ankylosaur from the formation. Our aim is return to the deposit and thoroughly document its ecosystem for the first time to inform future studies of dinosaur evolution and distribution.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

~83-70 million years ago, during the Campanian stage of the Cretaceous period, North America is believed to have been ecologically extraordinary for its high levels of dinosaur diversity. Though fossils from this interval are well known in Montana, Utah, New Mexico, and Alberta, little is known from Wyoming at this time. The Almond and Rock Springs preserve rocks from this earlier interval. Previously, the only known Almond Formation dinosaurs were those found by the famous paleontologist Barnum Brown in 1937. He found parts of a huge hadrosaurid and a well preserved, though incomplete ceratopsid skull. In 2021 we discovered the first Almond dinosaurs since Brown. Further exploration of the area is needed to better understand and classify this mysterious ecosystem.

What is the significance of this project?

In the Late Cretaceous North America was invaded by a seaway which split the continent into western (Laramidia) and eastern (Appalachia) landmasses. It was in the jungles of Laramidia that generations of snaggle-toothed tyrannosaurs, horned ceratopsians, and snorting hadrosaurs lived, hunted, grazed, raised babies, and ultimately vanished. Paleontologists have long wondered how and why so many dinosaur species survived simultaneously on Laramidia, a landmass just a fraction of North America's present size. Located near what was once the middle of Laramidia, the Almond Formation may provide fossil clues about the evolution and distribution of one of the last dinosaur ecosystems.

What are the goals of the project?

Our goals are to continue exploring the outcrop for new sites and to begin excavating some of the promising sites found last year. These include sites bearing such wonders as a 4.5 foot long dinosaur femur, a partial skull and skeleton of a hadrosaurid, parts of an ankylosaur, and much more. We will start this expedition on May 27 and remain until June 16. Ultimately, once the fossils are collected and cleaned we can begin studying and classifying them. From there we will publish our results in scientific journals where we will describe our specimens and discuss their relevance to dinosaur science.