Type of Submission
Poster
Keywords
Morrison Formation, Salt Wash Member, Brushy Basin Member, Skull Creek, Jurassic, sauropod, dinosaur, diplodocid, Diplodocus, Barosaurus
Proposal
The purpose of this research was to prepare and describe a sauropod femur that is approximately 1.5 meters in length. The sample studied was collected from the Morrison Formation in northwest Colorado from the Skull Creek area. The fossil was poorly preserved in a loosely consolidated sandy conglomerate matrix. It was prepared by removing the debris, and restoration was begun by gluing the broken fragments together. The research also focused on understanding the depositional environment of the fossil, as well as investigating the viability of fossil remains for academic study in similar states of preservation. The study could also have potential implications for the dinosaur fossils of the Morrison Formation and how this site compares to other localities. Additionally, a concise lithological study was done to investigate depositional processes and the ramifications for the stratigraphic site. This project concluded that the most likely candidate for the identification of the femur is of the genus Diplodocus.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Preparation and Description of a Sauropod Femur from the Morrison Formation at Skull Creek, CO
The purpose of this research was to prepare and describe a sauropod femur that is approximately 1.5 meters in length. The sample studied was collected from the Morrison Formation in northwest Colorado from the Skull Creek area. The fossil was poorly preserved in a loosely consolidated sandy conglomerate matrix. It was prepared by removing the debris, and restoration was begun by gluing the broken fragments together. The research also focused on understanding the depositional environment of the fossil, as well as investigating the viability of fossil remains for academic study in similar states of preservation. The study could also have potential implications for the dinosaur fossils of the Morrison Formation and how this site compares to other localities. Additionally, a concise lithological study was done to investigate depositional processes and the ramifications for the stratigraphic site. This project concluded that the most likely candidate for the identification of the femur is of the genus Diplodocus.
