FW: Second hadrosaur from the Smoky Hill Chalk

[Ken.Carpenter@dmns.org]

Passing this on

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-vrtpaleo@usc.edu [mailto:owner-vrtpaleo@usc.edu] On Behalf
Of Mike Everhart
Sent: Monday, June 20, 2005 11:49 AM
To: Vert Paleo list; Paleonet
Subject: Second hadrosaur from the Smoky Hill Chalk

All,
Earlier this month, a friend of mine found a portion of the tail (9
articulated vertebrae) of a dinosaur in the Smoky Hill Chalk. I was with
him at the time and, although disappointed that I hadn't discovered the
remains myself, I was pleased to be a part of their recovery:
http://www.oceansofkansas.com/new-dino.html

This is only the sixth dinosaur specimen (and second hadrosaur) to come
from this marine formation in more than a 130 years (O.C. Marsh found
the first hadrosaur remains there in 1871). All of the others are
nodosaurs, including the type of /Niobrarasaurus coleii/.  The
occurrence of dinosaur remains far from shore in the Smoky Hill Chalk is
a bit of a puzzle because of the distance (hundreds of miles) between
where they have been found and what was thought to be the nearest coast
(east) of the Western Interior Sea at the time. They must have floated
for a long time before reaching their final resting place. In this case,
burial was somewhat hastened by the intervention of a large shark. It's
possible that these and other remains were carried out to sea in tangled
mats of trees and vegetation during floods....

Regards,

Mike Everhart
Adjunct Curator of Paleontology
Sternberg Museum of Natural History
Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS
www.oceansofkansas.com