Tag Archives: Wyoming

Coryphodon and the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum: Emily Randall’s Senior Independent Study thesis

Editor’s Note: Independent Study (IS) at The College of Wooster is a three-course series required of every student before graduation. Earth Sciences students typically begin in the second semester of their junior years with project identification, literature review, and a … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Belemnites (Jurassic of Wyoming)

This week’s fossils are among the most recognizable. They certainly are popular in my paleontology courses because no one has ever misidentified one. Belemnites (from the Greek belemnon, meaning javelin or dart) were squid-like cephalopods that lived in the Jurassic … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A pretty little fish from the Eocene of Wyoming

Most people have seen this fossil fish type. Geologists, in fact, have probably seen Knightia eocaena Jordan, 1907, thousands of times. It is present in nearly every gift shop that sells fossils, usually as small plaques or glued to refrigerator … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: a long and skinny bryozoan (Upper Cretaceous of Wyoming and South Dakota, USA)

Please say hello to Pierrella larsoni Wilson & Taylor 2012 — a new genus and species of ctenostome bryozoan from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) Pierre Shale of Wyoming and South Dakota. I imagine it as a graceful little thing spreading … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: An ichthyosaur vertebra (Middle-Late Jurassic of Wyoming)

It’s only half a bone, but the above is one of my favorite fossils. This is a vertebra of an ichthyosaur, identifiable by its figure-8 cross-section. It is from the Sundance Formation (Middle-Late Jurassic) of Natrona County, Wyoming … and … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: a baculitid ammonite (Cretaceous of Wyoming)

This is a specimen I often place on my Invertebrate Paleontology course lab tests. It is the “straight” ammonite Baculites, which is common enough, but the shell and internal walls (septa) have dissolved completely away, leaving this strangely articulated set … Continue reading

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Finishing our Tour of Yellowstone

After hiking through the Tetons, we continued our tour of Yellowstone by visiting a number of places in the eastern and northern portions of the park. We visited Signal Mountain Summit, which is a great overlook of the glacial outwash … Continue reading

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Hiking in the Tetons

Due to such great weather, the group decided to go for a 9.6 mile hike (4.8 miles up and up and up and then back down again). We hiked the Lupine Meadows Trail NNW of Moose, Wyoming — in Grand … Continue reading

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From Bozeman to Yellowstone to Jackson Hole

The Teaching in the Field Workshop left Bozeman for a whirlwind tour of Yellowstone and the Tetons. Our goal was to actually think about teaching in the field — while in the field!! Some of us concentrated on how we … Continue reading

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Geysers, Mountains, and Dinosaurs…OH MY! (Subtitle: This Summer is Stromato-Tight)

Guest Blogger: Elizabeth Deering This summer I have been given many amazing opportunities starting with my employment at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis, Wyoming. Since late May I have been working with 7 other summer staff members giving tours, … Continue reading

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