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TRACKING DINOSAURS -- Brent Breithaupt,
University of Wyoming Geological Museum director, uses a life-sized
reconstruction of a meat-eating dinosaur to demonstrate how the two-legged
creature walked across a Wyoming tidal flat 165 millions years ago. Breithaupt
and other researchers and students are studying thousands of tracks at the Red
Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite in northern Wyoming. |
DINOSAUR RECONSTRUCTIONS HELP RESEARCHERS STUDY ANCIENT TRACKS
Aug. 31, 2004 -- After 165 million years, dinosaurs again roamed the Big Horn
Basin this summer with a little help from the University of Wyoming Geological
Museum.
Life-sized reconstructions of both an adult and juvenile meat-eating dinosaur
assisted researchers and students to better understand what made the thousands
of tracks being investigated at the Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite. The tracks
were discovered in 1997 and since then thousands more have been found at nearby
sites. The sites are among the world's most significant track finds, says Brent
Breithaupt, UW Geological Museum director.
"Fossil remains of dinosaurs are rare from the Middle Jurassic of western North
America because a large, shallow inland sea covered the area," Breithaupt says.
"However, preserved footprints tell us many things that fossilized bones and
teeth may not, especially in regard to activities and behavioral patterns."
The tracks show there was a large inland sea, known as the Sundance Sea, and
that dinosaurs roamed the area along the tidal flats. Based on the tracks,
scientists say these dinosaurs ranged in size from about 18 inches to human-size
in height.
"These dinosaurs were meat-eaters moving together like families with big ones
and little ones. We rarely see this kind of behavior preserved," Breithaupt
says.
Similar in design to the "raptors" in the movie Jurassic Park, the
reconstructions helped researchers to visualize how the real dinosaurs traveled.
Breithaupt and students retraced the tracks now embedded in rock.
"Being able to visualize them through the reconstructions helps in our studies
of the dinosaurs that roamed here," Breithaupt says.
"This is like a crime scene investigation. We are building a case for who they
were and how they lived, based on the clues from the tracks and what we know of
the climate, environment and geology 165 million years ago."
Most likely, the dinosaurs were predators and scavengers, feeding off shrimp,
worms, crabs and the carcasses of fish and other animals washed ashore or living
on the flats, Breithaupt says. The climate was tropical -- the mountains of
Wyoming weren't uplifted for roughly another 95 million years.
Breithaupt has involved students in the research effort, using the Geological
Museum's resources to provide a real-world experience in addition to their
regular classroom course work. Thomas Adams of Shelby, Iowa, a UW student who
graduated in the spring, created the reconstructions after extensive research on
dinosaur evolution.
The reconstructions were valuable teaching tools for students visiting the site.
As part of a summer geological field study, UW geology instructor Erin Aubrey
Campbell-Stone brought students to the tracksite to experience paleontological
research.
Several students said their visit to Red Gulch and "walk" with dinosaurs was a
highlight of the course.
"The Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite was great because it was something I have
never seen," a student wrote to Campbell-Stone. "The instruction of the project
was fantastic. Plus it was great to see a fellow students' work."
Displays about the dinosaur track research in Wyoming can be viewed at the UW
Geological Museum. For more information about the museum, visit www.uwyo.edu/geomuseum
or call (307) 766-2646.
