Overview
Syllabus
Intro
The Ups and Downs of the last 600 m.y.
Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction
K-Pg extraterrestrial impact
K-Pg Deccan volcanism Mahabaleshwar, India
K-Pg extinction hypotheses
Cretaceous terrestrial vertebrate localities
Paleocene terrestrial vertebrate localities
The Hell Creek Study System
Coastal lowland setting
K-Pg boundary layer (2 cm thick)
Temporal framework
Dinosaur icons
Prospect & surface collect
Place fossil locs in stratigraphic context
Record geology & collect fossiliferous sediment
Screen-wash fossiliferous sediment
New fossils show some ecological diversification
K-Pg: A watershed event for mammals taxonomic richness
K-Pg mammals of northeastern MT
Cranium-NDGS 431
Mammalian fossil sampling
The anatomy of the K-Pg mass extinction
Endangered species 3,600 Black rhinos
Ecological disturbance
or limping to the finish line ✓ Declining faunal evenness and relative abundances of metatherians implies ecological instability during the last 500 k.y of the Cretaceous
Who were the winners & losers?
Methodological Premise
Homology-free dental complexity
Modern Study Carnivorans & Rodents
Dental complexity across the K-Pg
Taught by
Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology