[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index][Subject Index][Author Index]

looking for fresh dinosaur bones II



As promised, this is the response sent to PaleoNet to the request I
just re-distributed here.  Aside from the interesting Alaskan sites, I
thought many of you would find the _T. rex_ story humorous.

--- begin forwarded message -- MR --

  Date: Tue, 11 Apr 1995 12:55:59 -0600
  To: paleonet@nhm.ac.uk
  From: lmarincovich@isdmnl.wr.usgs.gov (Louie Marincovich)
  Subject: Fresh dinosaur bones

  In reply to Chip Pretzman's request for fresh dinosaur bones ---
  
  I read your request for fresh dinosaur bones on PaleoNet, and can
  suggest where you may get such material. Some of the best-preserved
  dinosaur bones come from a place called Ocean Point, along the
  Colville River in northern Alaska. The bulk of the material consists
  of hadrosaur remains and many of the bones are not lithified. These
  bones were first collected in 1961 by Shell Oil geologists, but were
  thought to be mammoth bones because of their outstanding
  preservation!  The bones were then put in a warehouse in Houston for
  22 years. I heard about these bones in 1983 and had them sent to my
  colleague, Charles Repenning (mammal specialist) at the USGS in
  Menlo Park, California. Chuck thus became the first to recognize
  dinosaur bones from northern Alaska, still the northernmost site
  from with dino bones are known. In 1984 I organized a field party to
  relocate and evaluate the Ocean Point bone site. However, I took a
  last-minute opportunity to go collect Paleocene mollusks on
  Ellesmere Island, Canada. So, Elisabeth Brouwers (USGS
  paleontologist, Denver) led the field party that relocated the North
  Slope dinosaurs and she brought back a number of float
  specimens. These and the bones examined by Repenning were sent to
  William Clemens at UC Berkeley for examination, because the USGS had
  no dinosaur specialist to work on them. The USGS funded Clemens to
  go to Ocean Point in 1985, and he confirmed the nature of the bone
  deposit. UC Berkeley personnel, and perhaps others, have since
  revisited the Ocean Point site many times. I am sure that there is a
  treasure trove of extremely well-preserved Alaskan dinosaur bones at
  Berkeley. I think that you should inquire there first. I don't have
  any e-mail addresses for bone folks at Berkeley, but I'm sure other
  PaleoNetters must.
  
  On another matter, a few weeks ago there was some PaleoNet chatter
  that mentioned T. rex in passing. I am always, as you can imagine,
  gratified to see a reference to a species that I myself
  described. The context of the e-mailings, however, led to a creeping
  doubt whether it was MY T. rex that was being talked about. I think
  now that I must accept the conclusion that these good people were
  actually talking about TYRANNOSAURUS rex and not the (to me) more
  noble creature TYRANNOBERINGIUS rex. Sigh, sometimes it seems that
  one's best efforts go unappreciated. For those interested, the
  "other" T. rex is/was a hulking volutid gastropod that exceeded 150
  mm length and 90 mm in diameter that surely must have lorded it over
  lesser mollusks in the shallow seas of southwestern Alaska in the
  middle Miocene. King of the Tyrant Beringii indeed! You may check
  out the reference to this fine species in a library near you:
  Marincovich, Louie, Jr., 1981, Tyrannoberingius rex, a new genus and
  species of Miocene gastropod from Alaska: Journal of Paleontology,
  vol. 55, no. 1, p. 176-179, 1 plate. Just be sure not to confuse the
  two species from now on, as I nearly did.
  
  Cheers,
  
  Louie

  Louie Marincovich, Jr.
  Branch of Paleontology & Stratigraphy
  United States Geological Survey
  345 Middlefield Road, Mail Stop 915
  Menlo Park, California 94025 U.S.A.
  Telephone: (415) 329-4977
  FAX: (415) 329-4975
  Email: lmarincovich@isdmnl.wr.usgs.gov