Dinosaur Provincial Park A Spectacular Ancient Ecosystem Revealed With CDROM

Dinosaur Provincial Park, located in Alberta, Canada, is one of the grand natural locales in the world. It has also produced an abundance of dinosaur fossils, including specimens from every known group of dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period.

This book, published in celebration of the site's 50th anniversary, is the first scientific overview of the park, its flora and fauna, its major fossil discoveries, and its ecology. Philip J. Currie and Eva B. Koppelhus, along with a team of 32 other scientists, present a comprehensive synthesis of information. Chapters include studies of the park's geology, paleoecology, bonebeds, and taphonomic modes. Other chapters summarize the palynomorphs, mollusks, fishes, lissamphibians, crocodylians, and pterosaurs, among other extinct denizens of the park. And, of course, there are studies of the major dinosaur and mammal discoveries at the site.

A special color insert features life reconstructions of the Park's animals by some of the world's finest paleo-artists. The book also includes a CD-ROM with additional data and photographs.

This comprehensive history of a remarkable window into the history of the earth will be required reading for everyone interested in the life of the past.

"This book is a collection of wonderful data presented to readers in a systematic way. Although Dinosaur Provincial Park is well beyond AP or IB science courses, it will be of great interest to students of paleontology, graduate students, or those who want to do extended explorations of this Canadian site." --NSTA Recommends Indiana University Press

"Currie and Koppelhus (vertebrate paleontologist and palynologist, respectively, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Alberta) have edited a spectacular volume about what they aptly refer to as a spectacular ancient ecosystem.... The editors and contributors have done justice to the richness of this significant Late Cretaceous fossil locality, which has not only been recognized through its designation as a World Heritage Site, but also as one of the most vivid windows onto a past ecosystem anywhere, anytime.... Essential." --Choice

"... If you are looking for a creditable snapshot of Canadian life in the Late Cretaceous, it is hard to beat this volume." --Quarterly Review of Biology

"... this is an excellent title. It illustrates wonderfully how fusing together the geography, geology, biology, stratigraphy, taphonomy, ecology, and paleontology of a single area can generate an understanding of that area that is richer than the sum of the individual strands. Its price makes it easily accessible to the student, teacher, or researcher of ancient ecosystems. Dinosaur Provincial Park: A Spectacular Ancient Ecosystem Revealed would be a great addition to the book collection of any paleontologist." --Palaios Indiana University Press Indiana University Press

The first scientific overview of the park, its flora and fauna, its major fossil discoveries, and its ecology, this book is published in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada.

Philip J. Currie is Curator of Dinosaurs at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology. He is co-editor (with Eva B. Koppelhus) of Feathered Dragons: Studies on the Transition from Dinosaurs to Birds (IUP, 2004). He lives in Drumheller, Alberta.

Eva B. Koppelhus is an adjunct research scientist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology. She lives in Drumheller, Alberta.

CD-ROM Contents

Contributors

Foreword Dale A. Russell

Preface Bruce G. Naylor

Acknowledgments

I. Background

1. History of Research Philip J. Currie

2. Identifying Lost Quarries Darren H. Tanke

3. The Geology David A. Eberth

4. Paleomagnetostratigraphy Jack F. Lerbekmo

5. Vertebrate Microfossil Sites and Their Contribution to Studies of Paleoecology Donald B. Brinkman, Anthony P. Russell, and Jiang-Hua Peng

II. Flora and Fauna from the Park

6. Campanian Palynomorphs Dennis R. Braman and Eva B. Koppelhus

7. Paleobotany Eva B. Koppelhus

8. Paleoecology of Mollusks from the Upper Cretaceous Belly River Group Paul A. Johnston and Austin J. W. Hendy

9. Fishes of the Fluvial Beds Andrew G. Neuman and Donald B. Brinkman

10. Lissamphibians James D. Gardner

11. Turtles: Diversity, Paleoecology, and Distribution Donald B. Brinkman

12. Choristoderes from the Park and Its Vicinity Keqin Gao and Donald B. Brinkman

13. The Squamates: Origins, Phylogeny, and Paleoecology Michael W. Caldwell

14. Plesiosaurian Remains from Non-marine to Paralic Sediments Tamaki Sato, David A. Eberth, Elizabeth L. Nicholls, and Makoto Manabe

15. Crocodylians Xiao-Chun Wu

16. Pterosaurs Stephen J. Godfrey and Philip J. Currie

17. Ornithischian Dinosaurs Michael J. Ryan and David C. Evans

18. The Type Specimen of Tetragonosaurus erectofrons (Ornithischia: Hadrosauridae) and the Identification of Juvenile Lambeosaurines David C. Evans, Catherine A. Forster, and Robert R. Reisz

19. Theropods, Including Birds Philip J. Currie

20. Eggshells Darla K. Zelenitsky and Wendy J. Sloboda

21. Vertebrate Ichnology Richard T. McCrea, Philip J. Currie, and S. George Pemberton

22. Late Cretaceous Mammals Richard C. Fox

23. Patterns of Distribution of Mammals in the Dinosaur Park Formation and Their Paleobiological Significance Julia T. Sankey, Donald B. Brinkman, Richard C. Fox, and David A. Eberth

III. Interpretations

24. Vertebrate Taphonomy and Taphonomic Modes David A. Eberth and Philip J. Currie

25. Precise Mapping of Fossil Sites in the Park Using Survey Grade GPS Technology Michael MacDonald, Philip J. Currie, and William A. Spencer

26. A Vertebrate Assemblage from the Marine Shales of the Lethbridge Coal Zone Donald B. Brinkman, Dennis R. Braman, Andrew G. Neuman, Patricia E. Ralrick, and Tamaki Sato

27. Ceratopsian Bonebeds: Occurrence, Origins, and Significance David A. Eberth and Michael A. Getty

28. The Geographic and Stratigraphic Distribution of Articulated and Associated Dinosaur Remains Philip J. Currie and Dale A. Russell

Bibliography

Index

Color plates follow page 000.