Paleontology in Oregon

Paleontology in Oregon refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Oregon. Oregon's geologic record extends back approximately 400 million years ago to the Devonian period, before which time the state's landmass was likely submerged under water. Sediment records show that Oregon remained mostly submerged until the Paleocene period. The state's earliest fossil record includes plants, corals, and conodonts. Oregon was covered by seaways and volcanic islands during the Mesozoic era. Fossils from this period include marine plants, invertebrates, ichthyosaurs, pterosaurs, and traces such as invertebrate burrows. During the Cenozoic, Oregon's climate gradually cooled and eventually yielded the environments now found in the state. The era's fossils include marine and terrestrial plants, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, turtles, birds, mammals, and traces such as eggs and animal tracks.

The location of the state of Oregon
A Metasequoia occidentalis fossil, from the same species as Oregon's official state fossil

Oregon has a long tradition of paleontological research. Local Native Americans devised myths to explain fossils. By the mid-19th century local fossils had come to the attention of formally trained scientists, and modern research has produced data on climate change and extinction.

The Oligocene dawn redwood Metasequoia occidentalis is the Oregon state fossil.

Prehisto Precambrian There are no known rocks in Oregon from Precambrian times. Geologists infer that the area now occupied by Oregon must have been submerged deep on the ocean floor during that period.[1]

Artist's rendition of the scale tree genus Lepidodendron

History

Indigenous interpretations

Ancient people living near Fossil, Oregon collected fossils as far back as 11,000 years ago and kept them at a dwelling that has since been uncovered by archeologists. Some of the fossils kept there were pierced to be made into jewelry. Five slabs of rock bearing leaf impressions were found neatly stacked in the corner of the site. These and other fossils discovered by Native Americans may have contributed to the development of local myths and lore. Historian Adrienne Mayor cites as an example the Klamath Tribes of the Modoc, who attributed local fossils to water monsters killed by the mythological figure Coyote.[48]

Thomas Condon (1822-1907), Oregon's first paleontologist

Scientific research

Professional work

Oregon's first paleontologist was Thomas Condon. Condon began collecting in 1861, when a company of soldiers that arrived in Fort Dalles, where Condon served as the Congregational church pastor. The soldiers brought fossil bones and teeth, including a well-preserved rhinoceros jaw, from the John Day fossil beds. When soldiers were dispatched the following year to Harney Valley, near the fossil beds, Condon went along with them and prospected for fossils. He went fossil collecting again in 1863 and discovered rich fossil deposits north of Picture Gorge in the John Day River valley.[38]

Condon realized that he had stumbled on a find of major scientific importance. Since he himself had no scientific qualifications or references to use in identifying fossils, Condon sent some fossils to Othniel Charles Marsh of Yale University. Marsh replied with a request for Condon to guide an expedition to the area in which he found the fossils. Condon obliged and over the ensuing years a series of fossil hunting expeditions ventured into the John Day fossil beds. A number of Condon's specimens ended up in prestigious museums like the American Museum of Natural History and Smithsonian Institution, with the bulk of his collection stored in the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History.[38]

Edward Drinker Cope, whose rivalry with Marsh spurred the "Bone Wars" of the late nineteenth century, also collected fossils in Oregon.[4] His findings from the state are described in his book Vertebrata of the Tertiary Formations of the West.[49]

In the present day, Oregon State University and the University of Oregon both maintain active research programs in paleontology. Oregon State University's Terry Lab, under the supervision of Rebecca Terry, produces research into paleoecology[50][51][52] and Quaternary climate change.[53][54][54] The University of Oregon's Vertebrate Paleontology Lab, under the supervision of Samantha Hopkins and Edward Davis, focuses on Oregon's extinct mammals.[55][56][57][58][59][60] The University of Oregon's paleontology faculty also includes Greg Retallack, who studies fossilized soils.[61][62] Many of the finds described above were collected, described, and analyzed by researchers in these programs and their predecessors.[4][38]

The Oregon state legislature declared the species Metasequoia occidentalis to be Oregon's official state fossil in a resolution passed in 2005.[63]

Amateur work

There are several organizations located in Oregon devoted to citizen science initiatives related to paleontology. Among these is the North American Research Group, which was responsible for discovery of the "Mitchell's Monster" plesiosaur and "Bernie" the Jurassic thalattosaurian.[64] Another amateur group is the Willamette Valley Pleistocene Project, which collects from sites in McMinnville, Tualatin, Woodburn, Newberg, and King's Valley.

Notable people

Notable locations
Clarno Formation rocks in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

Fossil localities

Protected areas

Natural history museums

See also

Footnotes
  1. Fremd, Ted; Retallack, Gregory; Springer, Dale; Scotchmoor, Judy (2005). "The Paleontology Portal: Oregon, U.S." paleoportal.org. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  2. Bishop, Ellen Morris (2006). In search of ancient Oregon : a geological and natural history. Timber. ISBN 9780881927894. OCLC 756844383.
  3. Orr, Elizabeth L.; Orr, William N. (2012). Oregon geology. Oregon State University Press. ISBN 9780870716812. OCLC 817068265.
  4. Orr, Elizabeth L.; Orr, William N. (2009). Oregon Fossils. Oregon State University Press. ISBN 9780870715730. OCLC 730284504.
  5. Mamay, Sergius H.; Read, Charles Brian (1956). Additions to the Flora of the Spotted Ridge Formation in Central Oregon. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  6. "Acteonina Permiana, A New Species From The Permian Coyote Butte Formation, Central Oregon (Mollusca : Gastropoda : Actaeonidae)". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 111. 1998. ISSN 0006-324X.
  7. Hanger, Rex A.; Hahn, R.; Strong, E.E. (2000). "Lower Permian Trilobites from Oregon, USA". Geologica et Palaeontologica. 34: 125–135.
  8. Flügel, Erik; Senowbari-Daryan, Baba; Stanley, George D. (1989). "Late Triassic Dasycladacean Alga from Northeastern Oregon: Significance of First Reported Occurrence in Western North America". Journal of Paleontology. 63 (3): 374–381. doi:10.1017/s0022336000019545. JSTOR 1305509.
  9. Stanley, George D.; Whalen, Michael T. (1989). "Triassic Corals and Spongiomorphs from Hells Canyon, Wallowa Terrane, Oregon". Journal of Paleontology. 63 (6): 800–819. doi:10.1017/s0022336000036490. JSTOR 1305645.
  10. Orr, William N. (1987). "A Norian (Late Triassic) ichthyosaur from the Martin Bridge Limestone, Wallowa Mountains, Oregon". U.S. Geological Survey Professional Papers. 1435: 41–47.
  11. Bland, Andrew; Rose, Robert; Currier, Aaron D. (2005). "Jurassic crocodile discovered in Crook County, Oregon" (PDF). Oregon Geology. 68: 24–26.
  12. Feldmann, Rodney M. (May 1, 1974). "Hoploparia riddlensis, a new species of lobster (Decapoda; nephropidae) from the Days Creek Formation (Hauterivian, Lower Cretaceous) of Oregon". Journal of Paleontology. 48 (3): 586–593. ISSN 0022-3360.
  13. "Oregon Paleo Lands Center (OPLI)". Oregon Paleo Lands Center (OPLI). Retrieved June 7, 2017.
  14. Retallack, Gregory J.; Theodor, Jessica M.; Davis, Edward B.; Hopkins, Samantha S.; Barrett, Paul Z. (2018). "First Oregon dinosaur (Ornithopoda) from Early Cretaceous (Albian) of Oregon, U.S.A.". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology: 1–5. doi:10.1080/02724634.2018.1486847.
  15. Taylor, David G.; Lucas, Spencer G. (2018). "A Late Cretaceous (Campanian) hadrosaur sacrum from the Cape Sebastian Sandstone, Curry County, Oregon". New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. 79: 695–702.
  16. Gordon, I. (1985). "The Paleocene Denning Spring flora of north-central Oregon". Oregon Geology. 47: 115–118.
  17. Miles, Gregory A. (1981-01-01). Planktonic foraminifers of the lower Tertiary Roseburg, Lookingglass, and Flournoy Formations (Umpqua Group), southwest Oregon. Geological Society of America Special Papers. 184. pp. 85–104. doi:10.1130/SPE184-p85. ISBN 978-0-8137-2184-2. ISSN 0072-1077.
  18. Bukry, David; Jr, Parke D. Snavely (1988). "Coccolith Zonation for Paleogene Strata in the Oregon Coast Range": 251–264. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  19. Steere, M.L. (1958). "Fossil localities of the Eugene area, Oregon" (PDF). The Ore Bin. 20: 51–62.
  20. Welton, Bruce J. (2013). A New Archaic Basking Shark (Lamniformes: Cetorhinidae) from the Late Eocene of Western Oregon, U.S.A., and Description of the Dentition, Gill Rakers and Vertebrae of the Recent Basking Shark Cetorhinus maximus (Gunnerus): Bulletin 58. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.
  21. University of California Publications: Bulletin of the Department of Geological Sciences. University of California Press. 1932.
  22. Symposium, Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution (2002). Proceedings of the 5th Symposium of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution: Beijing, 1-4 June 2000. 科学出版社. ISBN 9787030105516.
  23. "John Day Fossil Beds". oregonencyclopedia.org. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  24. "KBD: Kew Bibliographic Databases: Detailed results". kbd.kew.org. Retrieved 2017-06-10.
  25. Woodburne, M. O.; Robinson, P. T. (1977). "A New Late Hemingfordian Mammal Fauna from the John Day Formation, Oregon, and Its Stratigraphic Implications". Journal of Paleontology. 51 (4): 750–757. JSTOR 1303741.
  26. Prothero, Donald R.; Emry, Robert J. (2005-09-29). The Terrestrial Eocene-Oligocene Transition in North America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521021098.
  27. Retallack, Gregory J (2004-05-20). "Late Oligocene bunch grassland and early Miocene sod grassland paleosols from central Oregon, USA". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. Evolution of grass-dominated ecosystems during the late Cenozoic Session at the North American Paleontological Convention, 2001. 207 (3): 203–237. Bibcode:2004PPP...207..203R. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2003.09.027.
  28. Retallack, Gregory J.; Orr, William N.; Prothero, Donald R.; Duncan, Robert A.; Kester, Paul R.; Ambers, Clifford P. (2004). "Eocene-Oligocene extinction and paleoclimatic change near Eugene, Oregon". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 116 (7): 817. Bibcode:2004GSAB..116..817R. doi:10.1130/b25281.1.
  29. 1964-, Hartwig, Walter Carl (2002). The primate fossil record. The Primate Fossil Record. Cambridge University Press. p. 544. Bibcode:2002prfr.book.....H. ISBN 9780521663151. OCLC 47254191.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  30. Deméré, Thomas A.; Berta, Annalisa (2001-07-20). "A reevaluation of Proneotherium repenningi from the Miocene Astoria Formation of Oregon and its position as a basal odobenid (Pinnipedia: Mammalia)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 21 (2): 279–310. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2001)021[0279:AROPRF]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0272-4634.
  31. Tseng, Z. Jack; Grohé, Camille; Flynn, John J. (2016-03-16). "A unique feeding strategy of the extinct marine mammal Kolponomos: convergence on sabretooths and sea otters". Proc. R. Soc. B. 283 (1826): 20160044. doi:10.1098/rspb.2016.0044. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 4810869. PMID 26936242.
  32. Hannibal, Harold (1922). "Notes on Tertiary Sirenians of the Genus Desmostylus". Journal of Mammalogy. 3 (4): 238–240. doi:10.2307/1373255. JSTOR 1373255.
  33. Beatty, Brian Lee; Cockburn, Thomas C. (2015-09-03). "New insights on the most primitive desmostylian from a partial skeleton of Behemotops (Desmostylia, Mammalia) from Vancouver Island, British Columbia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 35 (5): e979939. doi:10.1080/02724634.2015.979939. ISSN 0272-4634.
  34. Claeson, Kerin M.; Davis, E. B.; Sidlauskas, B. L.; Prescott, Z. M. (2016). "The Sabertooth Salmon, Oncorhynchus rastrosus, gets a facelift". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  35. "Glacier National Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  36. Elftman, Herbert Oliver (1931). "Pleistocene mammals of Fossil Lake, Oregon" (PDF). American Museum Novitates. 481: 1–21.
  37. Packard, E.L.; Allison, I.S.; Cressman, L.S. "Mammalian Tracks in the Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene Beds of Lake County Oregon" (PDF). Oregon Geology. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  38. Murray, Marian (1967). Hunting for Fossils. A Guide to Finding and Collecting Fossils in All 50 States. Macmillan.
  39. "Tualatin's Mastodon". The City of Tualatin Oregon Official Website. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  40. "The McMinnville Mammoth Site | Institute for Archaeological Studies". prehistoricterritory.org. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  41. "Ice Age Fossils of Woodburn, Oregon" (PDF).
  42. "Mammoth Tracks Prove Beasts Once Roamed Oregon". www.opb.org. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  43. Retallack, Gregory J.; Martin, James E.; Brozs, Adrian P.; Breithaupt, Brent H.; Matthews, Neffra A.; Walton, Dean P. (2018). "Late Pleistocene trackway from Fossil Lake, Oregon". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 496: 192–204. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.01.037.
  44. Adams, John (1990-08-01). "Paleoseismicity of the Cascadia Subduction Zone: Evidence from turbidites off the Oregon-Washington Margin". Tectonics. 9 (4): 569–583. Bibcode:1990Tecto...9..569A. doi:10.1029/tc009i004p00569. ISSN 1944-9194.
  45. Kelsey, Harvey M.; Nelson, Alan R.; Hemphill-Haley, Eileen; Witter, Robert C. (2005). "Tsunami history of an Oregon coastal lake reveals a 4600 yr record of great earthquakes on the Cascadia subduction zone". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 117 (7): 1009. Bibcode:2005GSAB..117.1009K. doi:10.1130/b25452.1.
  46. "Cave containing earliest human DNA dubbed historic". Retrieved 2017-06-12.
  47. Emery-Wetherell, Meaghan; McHorse, Brianna; Davis, Edward (2017-06-01). "Megafaunal Extinction". Data from: Spatially explicit analysis sheds new light on the Pleistocene megafaunal extinction in North America. Dryad Digital Repository. doi:10.5061/dryad.5s3b1.
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  50. Badgley, Catherine; Smiley, Tara M.; Terry, Rebecca; Davis, Edward B.; DeSantis, Larisa R. G.; Fox, David L.; Hopkins, Samantha S. B.; Jezkova, Tereza; Matocq, Marjorie D. (March 1, 2017). "Biodiversity and Topographic Complexity: Modern and Geohistorical Perspectives". Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 32 (3): 211–226. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2016.12.010. PMC 5895180. PMID 28196688.
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  53. Terry, Rebecca C.; Rowe, Rebecca J. (August 4, 2015). "Energy flow and functional compensation in Great Basin small mammals under natural and anthropogenic environmental change". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 112 (31): 9656–9661. Bibcode:2015PNAS..112.9656T. doi:10.1073/pnas.1424315112. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 4534246. PMID 26170294.
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  55. Levering, David; Hopkins, Samantha; Davis, Edward (January 15, 2017). "Increasing locomotor efficiency among North American ungulates across the Oligocene-Miocene boundary". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 466: 279–286. Bibcode:2017PPP...466..279L. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.11.036.
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References
  • Bishop, Ellen Morris. 2003. In Search of Ancient Oregon: A Geological and Natural History. Timber Press. 288 pp.
  • Fremd, Ted, Greg Retallack, Dale Springer, Judy Scotchmoor. July 1, 2005. "Oregon, US." The Paleontology Portal. Accessed September 21, 2012.
  • Mayor, Adrienne. Fossil Legends of the First Americans. Princeton University Press. 2005. ISBN 0-691-11345-9.
  • Murray, Marian (1974). Hunting for Fossils: A Guide to Finding and Collecting Fossils in All 50 States. Collier Books. p. 348. ISBN 9780020935506.
  • Orr, Elizabeth L. and Orr, William N. 2009. Oregon Fossils (Second Edition). Oregon State University Press. 300 pp.
  • Orr, Elizabeth L. and Orr, William N. 2012. Oregon Geology (Sixth Edition). Oregon State University Press. 304 pp.
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