History of paleontology in the United States 1

History of paleontology in the United States

The location of the United States in NorthAmerica.

The history of paleontology in the United States refers to thedevelopments and discoveries regarding fossils discovered within or bypeople from the United States of America. Local paleontology beganinformally with Native Americans, who have been familiar with fossilsfor thousands of years. They both told myths about them and appliedthem to practical purposes. African slaves also contributed theirknowledge; the first reasonably accurate recorded identification ofvertebrate fossils in the new world was made by slaves on a SouthCarolina plantation who recognized the elephant affinities of mammothmolars uncovered there in 1725. The first major fossil discovery toattract the attention of formally trained scientists were the Ice Agefossils of Kentucky's Big Bone Lick. These fossils were studied by eminent intellectuals like France's George Cuvierand local statesmen and frontiersman like Daniel Boone, Benjamin Franklin, William Henry Harrison, ThomasJefferson, and George Washington. By the end of the 18th century possible dinosaur fossils had already been found.

By the beginning of the 19th, their fossil footprints definitely had. Later in the century as more dinosaur fossils wereuncovered eminent paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh were embroiled in a bitterrivalry to collect the most fossils and name the most new prehistoric species. Early in the 20th century major findscontinued, like the Ice Age mammals of the La Brea Tar Pits, the Oligocene bonebeds of South Dakota, and theTriassic bonebeds of New Mexico. Mid-to-late twentieth century discoveries in the United States triggered theDinosaur Renaissance as the discovery of the bird-like Deinonychus overturned misguided notions of dinosaurs asplodding lizard-like animals, cemented their sophisticated physiology and relationship with birds. Other notablefinds include Maiasaura, which provided early evidence for parental care in dinosaurs and "Seismosaurus" thelargest known dinosaur.

Indigenous interpretations

Fossils of large Ice Age birds likeTeratornis may have inspiredNative American Thunderbird

legends.

The indigenous people of the United States interpreted the fossil record through amythological lens. Some of the tactics they used to understand the fossil recordwere nevertheless similar to scientific approaches. Native American fossil legendsoften derived from observation and rational speculation based on fossil finds. Theindigenous people of the United States also frequently attempted to verify andmodify interpretations of the fossil record in order to make sense of newdiscoveries. Although imperfect, Native American oral histories can preserveaccurate information for extended periods of time. Since contact with Europeans,the ensuing epidemics, colonial violence, the Indian Wars, and forced displacementof Native peoples to reservations has resulted in the loss of much of theirfossil-related culture. According to folklorist Adrienne Mayor, a common theme inindigenous American fossil legends is "the eternal struggle for natural balanceamong earth, water and sky forces". Indigenous fossil legends also frequently showmotifs resembling major themes in scientific paleontology like deep time,extinction, change over time and relationships between different life forms. Fossils have been used by NativeAmericans for evidence about the past, healing, personal protection, and trade. Fossil sites were often chosen as thesetting of vision quests. Modern Comanche in Oklahoma still use dinosaur and mammoth bones for medicinalpurposes.

History of paleontology in the United States 2

18th century

George Cuvier's illustrationcomparing the lower jaw of a wooly

mammoth (above) and an Indianelephant (below).

The first reasonably correct identification of a vertebrate fossil in North Americawas made in 1725, at a South Carolina plantation called Stono. There slaves haduncovered several large fossil teeth while digging in a swamp. The slavesunanimously identified the teeth as elephant molars, which they would haverecognized from life in Africa. In the early 19th century, Georges Cuvierauthored an 1806 translated account of the discovery at Stono. He remarked thatthe African slaves understood the similarity between mammoth remains andelephants before European naturalists.

The first major vertebrate fossil discovery in North America to attract theattention of formally trainer scientists occurred just a few decades later. In Julyof 1739 a French military expedition comprising 123 French soldiers and 319Native American warriors left Quebec under the command of Charles Le Moyne,Baron de Longueuil to help defend New Orleans from the Chickasaw, who wereattacking the city on behalf of England. While on their journey down the OhioRiver towards the Mississippi, they camped in what is now Kentucky. Some ofthe expeditions Native members formed a hunting party and embarked to acquirethat evening's meal. When they returned that evening their canoes were ladenwith massive fossils including long tusks, massive teeth, and a thighbone almostas tall as a person. The source of their fossils was the site now known as Big Bone Lick.

Near the end of 1740, Baron Charles de Longueuil departed from New Orleans to France, carrying with him fossilsfrom Big Bone Lick. Longueuil left the remains at the Cabinet du Roi. The Cabinet du Rois was a collection ofcuriosities stored in the chateau of the king's botanical garden. These fossils were speculated on by eminent Frenchscientists like Jean-Etienne Guettard and Georges Cuvier.

In 1767 George Crogan (an Indian agent) sent several fossils from Big Bone Lick to Benjamin Franklin. BenjaminFranklin wrote back to express his amazement that the tusks resembled those of an elephant, yet the molarsresembled those of a carnivorous animal. Franklin also wondered at the fact that the elephant-like fossils of Big BoneLick were found in places so much colder than places modern elephants live. He speculated that maybe earth was ina different position in the past and its climate correspondingly different. Soon after the fossils attracted the attentionof other major American figures like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Daniel Boone, William HenryHarrison, and James Taylor. The mammoth quickly became a symbol of American patriotism and equality with theOld World.One of the earliest notable events in American dinosaur paleontology occurred on October 5th, 1787. Caspar Wistarand Timothy Matlack gave a presentation to the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia regarding a "'a largethigh bone'" from some mysterious ancient creature discovered in Late Cretaceous rocks near Woodbury Creek, NewJersey. Modern scientist suspect this bone was actually a metatarsal from a duck-billed dinosaur, which are knownfrom the same sediments.

History of paleontology in the United States 3

19th century

A negative footprint of Grallatorshowing skin impressions.

Among the earliest major fossil discoveries in America occurred in Massachusettsduring the spring of 1802. At that time a boy uncovered a piece of reddishsandstone with bird-like three toed footprints while ploughing on his father's farmin South Hadley. This was the first recorded dinosaur footprint discovery in NorthAmerica. A short while later, Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804 through 1806made several fossils along its journey, including the first documented fossils fromwhat is now North Dakota. However, only a fish jawbone from Iowa remains of thefossils they collected along the way. Another significant, but unrelated event fromthe early 19th century was the 1817 organization of the Lyceum of Natural Historyof New York by Samuel L. Mitchill. In 1869 the American Museum of NaturalHistory was organized out of the Lyceum.

During the Late 1830s Increase Allen Lapham discovered a wide variety of fossilsin great abundance in some rocky hills near Milwaukee. Lapham sent a sizablesampling of the local fossils to James Hall of New York in 1846. Hall began researching the area and in 1862recognized the local reefs for what they were. The Silurian-aged reefs of the Milwaukee area were the first Paleozoicreefs in the world to be described for the scientific literature.

In 1835 another major dinosaur track find occurred in Massachusetts. The town of Greenfield was paving its streetswhen residents noticed fossil footprints on the sandstone slabs that resembled turkey tracks. These rocks were takenfrom what would turn out to be the most productive dinosaur tracksite in the Connecticut Valley. Later that year,word of the find reached Amherst College geology professor Edward B. Hitchcock. Hitchcock spent the rest of thesummer traveling through the Connecticut Valley examining the fossil footprints. The next year Hitchcock wrote ascientific paper on the fossil footprints of the Connecticut Valley. He thought the tracks were made by giant birds. In1858, Hitchcock published again on the Connecticut Valley fossil footprints and still thought of them as bird tracks.

Basilosaurus.

In 1842, fossils were discovered on a plantation owned by a man named JudgeCreagh. Local doctors identified the fossils as belonging to an ancient marinereptile, and called it Basilosaurus. However, some of the fossils were shipped to SirRichard Owen in England. After examining the remains Owen realized the bonesactually belonged to a whale, rather than a reptile. Herman Melville's narratorIshmael gives an account of the discovery in chapters 104–105 of Moby-Dick(1851).

In 1853 the Pacific Railroad Exploration survey became the first to documentArizona's petrified forest. In 1900 the United States Geological Survey dedicated areport to the petrified forest and encouraged swift action to preserve the spectacular

fossils before curiosity seekers removed them all. In 1906, protective action was taken and Petrified Forest officiallybecame a national monument.

History of paleontology in the United States 4

Benjamin WaterhouseHawkins' mounted

Hadrosaurus, the firstmounted dinosaur

skeleton in the world.

In 1858 the United States as home to the world's first "reasonably complete" dinosaurskeleton. A member of the Academy of Natural Sciences named William Foulke heardabout fossil bones that had been discovered on a local farm while spending the summer inHaddonfield. That fall Foulke hired a team to reopen the marl pit the bones had been takenfrom. Roughly 10 feet down they found bones. Paleontologist Joseph Leidy later formallydescribed the fossils. He interpreted the fossils as the remains of a bipedal amphibiousreptile that had been swept out to sea by the river it lived alongside. Leidy called thecreature Hadrosaurus foulkii after Foulke. A decade later, in 1868 Leidy worked withartist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins to mount Hadrosaurus foulkii for the Academy ofNatural Sciences of Philadelphia. This became both the first mounted dinosaur skeletonever mounted for public display but also one of the most popular exhibits in the history ofthe Academy. Estimates have the Hadrosaurus exhibit as increasing the number of visitors by up to 50%.

The year after the Hadrosaurus's fossils were first discovered, 1859, state agricultural chemist Philip T. Tysondiscovered the first dinosaur fossils of the Arundel Formation in an iron pit at Bladensburg, Maryland. The discoveryconsisted of two fossil teeth. Tyson took the dinosaur teeth to a local doctor named Christopher Johnston. Johnstoncut thin sections of one tooth to examine it under a microscope. Johnson named the teeth Astrodon. In 1865 JosephLeidy formally named the species Astrodon johnstoni after Christopher Johnston. This represents the first formalnaming of a sauropod species in North America.Two years later a chance find would bring instant fame to the fossils of the John Day region of Oregon. In 1861, acompany of soldiers arrived in Oregon's Fort Dalles after visiting the Crooked River region brought back fossilbones and teeth, among which was a well-preserved rhinoceros jaw. The pastor of the fort's Congregational church,Thomas Condon, happened to be a paleontology enthusiast. In 1862, some soldiers were dispatched with supplies toHarney Valley. Condon went along with them and prospected for fossils when the troops passed back through theCrooked River area. He went fossil collecting again in 1863 and discovered rich fossil deposits north of PictureGorge in the John Day River Valley. He realized that he had stumbled on a find of major scientific importance. Sincehe himself had no scientific qualifications or references to use in identifying fossils, Condon sent some fossils to O.C. Marsh of Yale University. Marsh replied with a request for Condon to guide and expedition to the area in whichhe found the fossils. Condon obliged and over the ensuing years a series of fossil hunting expeditions ventured intothe John Day fossil beds.

An early painting of Laelaps/Dryptosaurus byCharles R. Knight.

Later, 1866 dinosaur remains were discovered in a marl pit nearBarnsboro owned by the Wet Jersey Marl Company. He called itLaelaps aquilunguis. Also that year, Cope gave Othniel Charles Marsha tour of the marl pit where Laelaps was found. While there, Marshsecretly made arrangements with some of the workers for them to sendany fossils they find to him at the Yale Peabody Museum instead of toCope at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. This mayhave been the "first shot" of the Bone Wars, a bitter long-running feudbetween the two scientists.

The next year a United States army surgeon named Dr. TheophilusTurner discovered a nearly complete plesiosaur skeleton in what is now Logan County while stationed at FortWallace. This was the first plesiosaur specimen of this caliber discovered in all of North America. Dr. Turner gavesome of the vertebrae to a member of the Union Pacific railroad survey named John LeConte. He in turn gave thebones to paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope, who identified them as the remains of a very large plesiosaur. Copewrote a letter to Dr. Turner requesting that he send him the rest of the skeleton. Turner obliged and in the middle ofMarch 1868 Cope received the remainder of the fossils. Within two weeks of receiving the specimen, Cope made apresentation at the March 24th meeting of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. He named the creature

History of paleontology in the United States 5

Elasmosaurus platyurus, although in his hasty work he mistakenly reconstructed it with its head at the end of the tailinstead of its neck.In 1869, excavation started at Gilboa Forest, an extraordinary collection of Devonian plants regarded as one of thefirst forests to ever exist. Excavation of the Gilboa petrified forest continued on into the early twentieth century, butby 1921 on-site field work had completed.

Othniel Charles Marsh.

The next year, O. C. Marsh led a paleontological expedition into the westernUnited States on behalf of Yale University. Late that November they visited thearea around Fort Wallace. Among the fossils discovered by Marsh's crew inwestern Kansas were the far ends of two pterosaur wing metacarpals. These werethe first scientifically documented fossils of the pterosaur that would later benamed Pteranodon. This formal naming occurred six years later, in 1876.In 1874 March's rival, Cope arrived at New Mexico accompanying the G. M.Wheeler Survey. While in the area he found the first known Eocene mammal fromthe southwestern United States, Coryphodon. In total he discovered about 90species. This was a major boon to his reputation as his research was foundational tounderstanding that interval of American geologic history.

Around the March of 1877 a man named Oramel Lucas discovered sauropod bonesin a valley called Garden Park located a few miles north of Canon City, Colorado. He wrote to both Cope and O. C.Marsh, the famous rival paleontologists of the bone wars to alert them about his discovery. Although Marsh neverresponded, Cope did, and Oramel Lucas and his brother Ira began digging up local fossils and sending them to Cope.By August of the same year, Cope had formally named the new species excavated by the Lucas brothersCamarasaurus supremus. Later, a crew working on behalf of O. C. Marsh under Mudge and Williston started aquarry nearby. They made several important finds like the new species Allosaurus fragilis and Diplodocus longus.Following the initial excavations in the quarry field work stopped until 1883. That year brothers Marshall and HenryFelch reopened excavations there, again on behalf of O. C. Marsh. They worked for five years collecting manydinosaurs already known from the formation, but also the new species Ceratosaurus nasicornis.

Beginning in 1877, the plentiful dinosaur remains preserved in Wyoming came to the attention of scientists. Threemen played a pivotal early role in bringing scientific attention to the area's dinosaurs. These were Colorado School ofMines professor Arthur Lakes, teacher O. Lucas, and Union Pacific Railroad foreman William H. Reed. In March1877, Reed noticed fossil limbs and vertebrae at Como Bluff. He spent several weeks collecting fossils with foremanWilliam E. Carlin. In July, O. C. Marsh was informed of Reed and Carlin's fossil discoveries. Marsh hired both ofthem to acquire more local fossils for him. They continued collecting into early 1878, uncovering severalCamarasaurus specimens, one being a new species, Camarasaurus grandis. Nearby they made another significantfind, Dryolestes priscus, the first Jurassic mammal known from North America. From 1877 to 1878 Princeton alsosent a massive expedition to Wyoming. Major participants included Henry Fairfield Osborn, W. E. Scott, andThomas Speer. Also around this time, Samuel W. Williston began periodic excavations.

History of paleontology in the United States 6

Edward Drinker Cope.

Late in 1877, Marsh's scientific rival Edward Drinker Cope heard that fossils hadbeen discovered at Como Bluff. He quickly dispatched his own fossil hunters intothe area. Reed described his struggles to keep Cope's men away from his ownhunting grounds in regular correspondence with Marsh. William Carlin quitworking for Marsh and ended up joining Cope's efforts in the region. Since Carlinwas in charge of the railway's station house he used his influence to keep Reed out.Marsh hired additional help for Reed, but none of his workers stayed on the joblong term. Reed was essentially on his own by the spring of 1879, workinghectically at excavating several quarries at once to recover the fossils before Cope'smen. In the middle of May that same year Marsh directed Arthur Lakes to leave theMorrison, Colorado area and assist Reed at Como Bluff. The partnership would befruitful that year and several major discoveries happened. They found a ninth site

early in July that would be the most productive of any fossil site in the Morrison Formation.

In September, they made another major discovery. By the end of the month, they had discovered a new species ofsauropod, Brontosaurus excelsus, that would end up mounted in the Yale Peabody Museum. It should be noted thatthis species has since been reclassified as Apatosaurus excelsus. In September they discovered a thirteenth quarrythat produced more dinosaur skeletons than any of the others. Camptosaurus and Stegosaurus were the mostcommon. New dinosaurs discovered here included Camarasaurus lentus, Camptosaurus dispar, and Coelurusfragilis. By June of 1889, fieldwork at Como Bluff had concluded after twelve years. Marsh's fieldwork in the areauncovered the greatest abundance of Jurassic fossils known in the world at the time. By the 1918 conclusion ofSamuel W. Williston's work in Wyoming hundreds of tons of dinosaur bones had been recovered from Wyomingrocks.

Diceratherium cooki.

A major Cenozoic fossil find also happened in 1877. That year, a scout and ranchernamed Captain James H. Cook discovered a Miocene bonebed in Sioux County,Nebraska now known as the Agate Springs Quarries. These rich deposits are sodense with bones that single forty foot slab of sandstone preserved more than 4300bones from at least 1700 individual animals. The total number of fossils preservedhere may number in the millions. The tiny rhinoceras Diceratherium cookicomposed about one quarter of the remains in the Agate Springs beds. This was thefirst paleontological discovery to attract public attention to the fossils of Nebraska.

In late 1887 Othniel Charles Marsh sent John Bell Hatcher to look for dinosaur remains in the Arundel Clay. Whileon this expedition, Hatcher discovered a fossiliferous iron mine on a farm near Muikirk, Maryland. Hatcher'sexcavation continued uncovering dinosaur fossils into the next year. Hatcher recovered hundreds of bones and teeth,which helped the region between Maryland and Washington D.C. become known as Dinosaur Alley.

History of paleontology in the United States 7

20th century

Barosaurus and Allosaurus mounted at theAmerican Museum of Natural History.

Between 1906 and 1916 hundreds of thousands of Pleistocene fossilswere uncovered in central Los Angeles. Just a few years after the LaBrea tar pits were discovered, in 1908, paleontologist Earl Douglass wasexcavating fossils in Utah on behalf of the Carnegie Museum of NaturalHistory. The director of the museum visited Douglass's camp that yearand suggested that Douglass search for Jurassic dinosaur fossils in theUinta Mountains north of his camp. Douglass agreed and they set off tothe Uinta Mountains the next day. They discovered so many fossils thatDouglas built a home near the Green River and his family moved infrom Pittsburgh. He spent the rest of his career in the area excavatingfossils. Among the local finds were Allosaurus, Apatosaurus,Barosaurus, Camarasaurus, Camptosaurus, Diplodocus, Dryosaurus,Stegosaurus. In 1915 US president Woodrow Wilson declared thequarry and surrounding land Dinosaur National Monument in order toprotect it from settlement. Between 1909 and 1923 millions of tons ofrocks and fossils had been excavated from the Dinosaur NationalMonument area.

In 1909 in paleontology Massachusetts paleontologist Mignon Talbotbecame the first woman elected to the Paleontological Society. In anunrelated east coast discovery of 1912, workers digging in a cave for a railroad construction project nearCumberland, Maryland in Allegany County uncovered many fossils in the course of their labor. However, eventuallythe scientific significance of the fossils was realized and paleontologist J. W. Gidley conducted fieldwork at the cavebetween 1912 and 1915. By 1938 report more than 50 different kinds of animals had been identified among thefossils.

Theropod and sauropod tracks under water inthe Paluxy River.

In 1938, Barnum Brown of the American Museum of Natural Historysent Roland T. Bird to Texas in search of dinosaur trackways reportedlyuncovered by local moonshiners. At the town of Glen Rose localresidents guided him to carnivorous dinosaur tracks preserved along thePaluxy River. While he was cleaning mud from these footprints, henoticed another kind of footprint, apparently left by a long-neckedsauropod dinosaur. In 1940, Bird resumed his Texas fieldwork with thehelp of paleontologists from the Survey and labor employed by theWorks Progress Administration.Later, in 1940, the South Dakota School of Mines and Technologycollaborated with National Geographic on an expedition into the

badlands of South Dakota. They uncovered tons of fossils from at least 175 different species of Oligocene life. Thefossils were taken to the South Dakota School of Mines in Rapid City. Among the mammal discoveries were theremains of rhinoceroses, tapirs, three-toed horses, pig-like animals, and rodents. In 1947 another major dinosaurdiscovery took place. An American Museum field party led by Edwin Harris Colbert discovered a bonebed includingthe skeletons of more than 1,000 Coelophysis at Ghost Ranch. Later, in 1953 University of New Mexico graduatestudent William Chenoweth discovered three important sites where dinosaurs were preserved in Morrison Formationrocks. He found a fragmentary Allosaurus, sauropods, and Stegosaurus.

The famous Montanan Tertiary deposits of the Ruby Valley basin were also first studied in 1947. The early research was performed by Dr. Herman F. Becker on behalf of the New York Botanical Garden. These deposits from the

History of paleontology in the United States 8

southwestern part of the state are one of the best sources of plant and insect fossils in North America. In 1959Becker's Ruby Valley excavations uncovered about 5,000 specimens of more than two hundred species of plants,insects, and fishes. Invertebrate finds included ants, bees, beetles, earwigs, caddis flies, crane flies, damsel flies,lantern flies, may flies, grasshoppers, leaf hoppers, mosquitoes, snails, and wasps. Vertebrate remains includedfeathers, and, once in a while, a bird.During the late 1950s Francis Tully found a fossil he could not identify at the strip mines near Braidwood, Illinois.He took the specimen to Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History. Researchers at the museum couldn't identify iteither, and the specimen became known as Mr. Tully's monster. In 1966, Eugene Richardson, the Curator of FossilInvertebrates of the Field Museum formally named the Tully monster Tullimonstrum gregarium in honor of Tully.

The bird-like dinosaur Deinonychusinstigated the Dinosaur Renaissance.

In 1964, John Ostrom led an expedition that included his student Robert T.Bakker into the south-central part of Montana. The rocks they prospectedwere of the Cloverly Formation, dating back to the Early Cretaceous. Amongtheir finds were the first documented remains of a small carnivorous dinosaurthat would be named Deinonychus antirrhopus. This discovery helped ignitethe Dinosaur Renaissance. It exhibited important anatomical similarities tobirds that helped scientists shed antiquated ideas interpreting dinosaurs as"overgrown lizards".

In Spring, 1965 a major discovery of Devonian fossils occurred in Cuyahoga County. A collaboration between thestate Highway Department, Ohio Bureau of Public Roads and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History led by theSmithsonian's David Dunkle uncovered as many as 50,000 fish fossils from a construction site. By the ensuingNovember 120 or more different species had been found there, with half previously unknown to science. That sameyear, in an unrelated development, the Florissant fossil beds of Colorado were proposed as a potential federalpreserve.

The hadrosaur Maisaura may have caredfor its young.

In 1978 paleontologist Bill Clemens alerted fellow paleontologists JackHorner and Bob Makela to the presence of unidentified dinosaur fossils inBynum, Montana. Horner visited the town and recognized the remains asbelonging to a duck-billed dinosaur. While in town the owner of a local rockshop, Marion Brandvold, showed him some tiny bones. Horner identifiedthem as baby duck-bill bones. Horner also knew that this was an importantfind and convinced Brandvold to donate her fossils to a museum. She obligedand gave them to Princeton University. Horner's team prospected in the areawhere Brandvold found the baby hadrosaur fossils. Their effort paid off withthe discovery of the first scientifically documented dinosaur eggs of the

Western Hemisphere and a new kind of duck-bill, Maiasaura peeblesorum.

The next year, 1979, two hikers discovered a series of gigantic articulated vertebrae fossils near San Ysidro. Theyreported the remains to David Gilette of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History. Gillette led an expedition intothe region and used cutting edge technology to locate the remains while they were still entombed in sandstone. Theteam excavated a massive quarry and gradually recovered a significant portion of the rear half of a diplodocidsauropod dinosaur. In 1991 this dinosaur was formally described as the new genus Seismosaurus and estimated to bethe longest dinosaur known to science at 52 meters long (171 feet).

History of paleontology in the United States 9

21st centuryMore recently, in the 2000s, Seismosaurus was found to be the same as Diplodocus, a previously known dinosaur ofsimilar age from the western United States. Dinosaur fossils continue to be found in new locations within the UnitedStates. It was not until 2004 that any dinosaur fossils were reported from Louisiana. Currently, within the UnitedStates, dinosaur fossils are known from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut,Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri,Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma,Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Wyoming,but not in Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, RhodeIsland, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, or Wisconsin. Some states, like Washington, contain rocks of theappropriate type and age to preserve dinosaur fossils, so the list of states with known dinosaur fossils is likely toincrease in the future.

Footnotes

Sources•• Braden, Angela K. The Arkansas Dinosaur "Arkansaurus fridayi". Arkansas Geologic Survey. 2007.• "A Brief Summary of the Geologic History of Ohio". GeoFacts. Number 23. Ohio Department of Natural

Resources, Division of Geological Survey. July 2001.• Brown, R.C. (2008). Florida's Fossils: Guide to Location, Identification, and Enjoyment (third ed.). Pineapple

Press. ISBN 1-56164-409-9.• Discovering Dinosaurs (http:/ / www. buffalonews. com/ life/ next/ article241552. ece). Minipage. Buffalo News.

November 4, 2010. Accessed August 28th, 2010.• Carr, T.D., Williamson, T.E., & Schwimmer, D.R. 2005. A new genus and species of tyrannosauroid from the

Late Cretaceous (middle Campanian) Demopolis Formation of Alabama. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology25(1): 119–143.

• Dinosaur Fossils are not found in Indiana (http:/ / www. indiana. edu/ ~librcsd/ etext/ hoosier/ PA-11. html) OurHoosier State Beneath Us: Paleontology. Indiana Geological Survey, Department of Natural Resources. AccessedAugust 2nd, 2012.

• Everhart, Michael J. Oceans Of Kansas: A Natural History Of The Western Interior Sea (Life of the Past).Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005. 322 pp.

• Foster, J. (2007). Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and Their World. Indiana UniversityPress. 389pp. ISBN 978-0-253-34870-8.

• Gangloff, Roland, Sarah Rieboldt, Judy Scotchmoor, Dale Springer. July 21, 2006. " Alaska, US (http:/ / www.paleoportal. org/ index. php?globalnav=time_space& sectionnav=state& name=Alaska)." The Paleontology Portal(http:/ / www. paleoportal. org/ ). Accessed September 21st, 2012.

• Greb, Stephen. Fossils. Fact Sheet No. 4. Kentucky Geological Survey. September, 1999.• Hayes, Paul G. Increase Allen Lapham: Wisconsin's First Geologist. Geoscience Wisconsin. Volume 18. 2001.•• Hedeen, S., 2008, Big Bone Lick: the Cradle of American Paleontology: Lexington, Kentucky, The University

Press of Kentucky, 182 p.•• Hilton, Richard P. 2003. Dinosaurs and Other Mesozoic Reptiles of California. Berkeley: University of California

Press. 318 pp.• Horner, John R. Dinosaurs Under the Big Sky. Mountain Press Publishing Company. 2001. ISBN 0-87842-445-8.• Jacobs, L. L., III. 1995. Lone Star Dinosaurs. Texas A&M University Press.• Jones, Meg. Rare Sample From Dinosaur Age Found in Wisconsin (http:/ / www. jsonline. com/ news/ wisconsin/

44755302. html). Milwaukee, Wisconsin Journal Sentinel Online. 2009. Accessed August 14th, 2012.

History of paleontology in the United States 10

• Lockley, Martin and Hunt, Adrian. Dinosaur Tracks of Western North America. Columbia University Press. 1999.• Lucas S, Herne M, Heckert A, Hunt A, and Sullivan R. Reappraisal of Seismosaurus, A Late Jurassic Sauropod

Dinosaur from New Mexico. (http:/ / gsa. confex. com/ gsa/ 2004AM/ finalprogram/ abstract_77727. htm) TheGeological Society of America, 2004 Denver Annual Meeting (November 7–10, 2004). Retrieved on 2007-05-24.

• Mayor, Adrienne. Fossil Legends of the First Americans. Princeton University Press. 2005. ISBN 0-691-11345-9.• Madin, Ian P. " Oregon: A Geologic History (http:/ / www. oregongeology. org/ sub/ publications/ ims/ ims-028/

unit03. htm)." Interpretive Map Series 28. Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries.• Mihelich, Peggy. It's Real Life CSI for Dinosaur Detectives (http:/ / articles. cnn. com/ 2006-08-25/ tech/ dino.

detectives_1_dinosaur-bones-nels-peterson-john-jack-horner?_s=PM:TECH). CNN Tech. August 25th, 2006.Accessed July 31st, 2012.

• Mikulic, Donald G. The Reefs that Made Milwaukee Famous. Geoscience Wisconsin. Volume 18. 2001.• Mikulic, D.G. and Kluessendorf, J. Illinois’ State Fossil— Tullimonstrum gregarium (http:/ / www. isgs. illinois.

edu/ maps-data-pub/ publications/ geobits/ pdf-files/ geobit5. pdf). Geobit 5. Illinois State Geological Survey.2004. 2 pp. Accessed August 3rd, 2012.

•• Murray, Marian. 1974. Hunting for Fossils: A Guide to Finding and Collecting Fossils in All 50 States. CollierBooks. 348 pp.

• Schiebout, J. A., Ting, S., Williams, M., Boardman, G., Gose, W., Wilhite, D. R., White, P. D., and Kilbourne, B.2004. Paleofaunal & Environmental Research on Miocene Fossil Sites TVOR SE and TVOR S on Fort Polk,Louisiana, with Continued Survey, Collection, Processing, and Documentation of other Miocene localities.Louisiana. Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District, Contract no. DACA63-00-D-006, Delivery Order no. 0015.Louisiana State University, 45 pp.

• Vaiden, Robert C. Build Illinois: The Last 500 Million Years (http:/ / www. isgs. illinois. edu/ maps-data-pub/publications/ geonotes/ pdf-files/ geonote4. pdf). Geonote 4. Illinois State Geological Survey. 2004. 12 pp.Accessed August 3rd, 2012.

• Weishampel, D.B. & L. Young. 1996. Dinosaurs of the East Coast. The Johns Hopkins University Press.•• Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University

of California Press. 861 pp. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.• Witzke, Brian J. The Age of Dinosaurs in Iowa. Iowa Geology. Number 26. 2001. Pages 2-7.

Article Sources and Contributors 11

Article Sources and ContributorsHistory of paleontology in the United States  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=613667090  Contributors: Abyssal, Bazonka, Khazar2, LilHelpa, LittleWink,Materialscientist, Pawyilee, R'n'B, Squids and Chips, Tinton5, WOSlinker, Yoninah, 1 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributorsimage:Map of USA.svg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Map_of_USA.svg  License: unknown  Contributors: -Image:Thunderbird on Totem Pole.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Thunderbird_on_Totem_Pole.jpg  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors:Dr HaggisFile:Cuvier elephant jaw.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Cuvier_elephant_jaw.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Georges Cuvier (1769–1832)File:Grallator.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Grallator.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: SmokeybjbImage:Basilosaurus.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Basilosaurus.jpg  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: Pavel Riha = user Pavel.Riha.CB (e-mail)File:Hadrosaurus mount.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Hadrosaurus_mount.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Lucas, Frederic AugustusFile:Laelops-Charles Knight-1896.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Laelops-Charles_Knight-1896.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Charles Robert Knight(1874-1953)File:Othniel Charles Marsh - Brady-Handy.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Othniel_Charles_Marsh_-_Brady-Handy.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors:w:en:Mathew Brady (1822-1896) or w:en:Levin Corbin Handy (1855–1932)File:Cope Edward Drinker 1840-1897.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Cope_Edward_Drinker_1840-1897.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors:UNIQ-ref-1-310548975101b2b1-QINUFile:Diceratherium cooki.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Diceratherium_cooki.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Robert Bruce HorsfallFile:Allosaurus and Barosaurus.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Allosaurus_and_Barosaurus.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 Contributors: Ryan SommaImage:Paluxy River.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Paluxy_River.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0  Contributors: Robert Nunnally from Allen, TX,USAFile:Deinonychus BW-2.png  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Deinonychus_BW-2.png  License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported  Contributors:Deinonychus_BW.jpg: Nobu Tamura email:nobu.tamura@yahoo.com www.palaeocritti.com derivative work: Dinoguy2 (talk)File:Maiasaurusnest.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Maiasaurusnest.jpg  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: Albertonykus, Dudo, Kevmin,Koobak

LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/