FIRST Dinosaur Fossil Found In Oregon

[Thecosmilia Trichitoma]

https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/6692314-151/scientists-find-first-oregon-dinosaur-fossil

[The Amateur Paleontologist]

Thanks for sharing!! That's some rather cool news

-Christian

[caldigger]

I have a fossil donated to that museum. I might have to journey up there some day.

Just wondering if the toe bone couldn't have been dropped by a Pterosaur or some similar critter while in flight.

[piranha]

There is also an alleged dinosaur sacrum from the Late Cretaceous Cape Sebastian Sandstone, but Retallack et al. 2018 states:

"...our examination of this unprepared specimen cannot yet determine whether it was a dinosaur, marine turtle, or plesiosaur."

 

figures from:

 

Retallack, G.J., Theodor, J.M., Davis, E.B., Hopkins, S.B., & Barrett, P.Z. 2018

First dinosaur (Ornithopoda) from Early Cretaceous (Albian) of Oregon, USA.

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Short Communications, pp. 1-5

 

 

[DeepTimeIsotopes]

That's interesting. I didn't know they hadn't found any dinosaurs there until now. Thanks for the article.

[piranha]

And now I have just discovered this brand new paper uploaded to ResearchGate November 2018.

The alleged sacrum has been prepped and identified.  Looks like we have a mishap in publishing!

 

Taylor, D.G., & Lucas, S.G. 2018

A Late Cretaceous (Campanian) hadrosaur sacrum from the Cape Sebastian Sandstone, Curry County, Oregon. pp. 695-702

In: Lucas, S.G. & Sullivan, R.M., eds., Fossil Record 6. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin: 79  PDF LINK

[piranha]

Technically speaking Retallack et al. published first, but the sacrum was the first dinosaur discovery from Oregon, as recorded in "Dinosauria 2nd ed." Weishampel et al. 2004. 

 

An unfortunate lack of communication and mix-up!

 

 

 

[piranha]

Now Oregon can lay claim to its own "Dueling Dinosaurs"

[Oregon1955]

Not exactly Cope and Marsh but it might be more than

On 11/18/2018 at 1:54 PM, piranha said:

An unfortunate lack of communication and mix-up!

 

 

 

The first known discovery of a dinosaur fossil in Oregon happened in 1969 by a team of paleontologists from Berkeley. It was then collected in 1994 by Dr. Taylor. At some point prior to the specimen's complete preparation Dr. Rettalack, an expert in paleosols, inspected the specimen and could not identify the 8 exposed sacral vertebrae as belonging to a Dinosaurid. Apparently the paleontologists from Berkeley,  and Dr. Taylor's team were way out ahead of their skis. But no, Doctor of Paleontology, Dr. William Orr, professor emeritus at the University of Oregon, and Dr. Rettalack's one time boss, in an article from Oregontraveldaily.com in 2014 stated about Dr. Taylor's collection of the specimen...

 

"The tantalizing tidbit is how some dino bones were found, however. Orr said some were discovered on the south coast around Cape Sebastian by Dave Taylor after a long journey from elsewhere.

 

“The sacrum (pelvic vertebral assembly) of a duck bill (Hadrosaur) was recorded and recovered decades ago by a team from U. Cal. Berkeley,” Orr said. ”Curiously, that creature did not live or die in Oregon. Rocks at that cape dating back over 100 million years are part of a complex geologic package that were shifted northward from a site in the California Great Valley. Furthermore, all the Klamath area coastal rocks from Cape Blanco south have been transported here by a matrix of faults not unlike the present day San Andreas structure."

 

Why Dr. Rettalack chose to publish now under the misleading title of 

"First dinosaur (Ornithopoda) from early Cretaceous (Albian) of Oregon, U.S.A." is puzzling. One might conclude it was very much in the vein of Cope and Marsh. Publicity. Publicity for his new museum project at the expense of Dr. Taylor's different new museum project.

 

 

[piranha]

5 hours ago, Oregon1955 said:

Why Dr. Rettalack chose to publish now under the misleading title of 

"First dinosaur (Ornithopoda) from early Cretaceous (Albian) of Oregon, U.S.A." is puzzling. One might conclude it was very much in the vein of Cope and Marsh. Publicity. Publicity for his new museum project at the expense of Dr. Taylor's different new museum project.

 

 

Your spurious allegation is unfounded and untrue. 

 

Retallack et al. published before Taylor & Lucas without any advance knowledge of their paper.  For the record, Retallack et al. made a poster presentation prior to publishing at SVP 2018 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Additionally, Retallack et al. submitted their paper to JVP in April 2018 (Taylor & Lucas published in November).  There are certainly competing interests as evidenced in the previous posts above, it actually happens quite frequently in scientific publishing.  If you have an axe to grind with Greg Retallack, I suggest you bring it directly to his attention.  Your attempt to characterize it in any other light without having all the facts in hand is unnecessary and unwarranted on this Forum.

[Oregon1955]

Fair enough. And you know it was an unfortunate miscommunication and mix up how?

[piranha]

19 minutes ago, Oregon1955 said:

Fair enough. And you know it was an unfortunate miscommunication and mix up how?

 

 

Obviously a miscommunication, or lack thereof because separate groups of paleontologists were working on similar projects.  More obviously the mix-up is: there can be only one "First" dinosaur from Oregon.  Previously there were no published dinosaurs from Oregon and quite suddenly there are two.  Undoubtedly, a future publication will sort out the timing of which one was found first and which one was published first.  All in all this is a wonderful outcome for Oregon Paleontology.

[Oregon1955]

You are so right. Anytime there are Oregon paleontologists in the news its good for those of us who love Oregon and paleontology.

I was just riffing on your allusion to Cope and Marsh. Like you, I like to read the literature, even "The Fossil Record" put out by the Northwest Museum of Natural History Association. It has been updating the preparation and pending publication of the specimen for years. I have no idea what Dr. Rettalack and his team knew or didn't know but i don't think it was obvious they knew nothing. But I could be wrong in my musing that the some of the more base motives of Cope and Marsh could be in play here. Regardless, I apologize for giving offense. 

 

[piranha]

1 hour ago, Oregon1955 said:

You are so right. Anytime there are Oregon paleontologists in the news its good for those of us who love Oregon and paleontology.

I was just riffing on your allusion to Cope and Marsh. Like you, I like to read the literature, even "The Fossil Record" put out by the Northwest Museum of Natural History Association. It has been updating the preparation and pending publication of the specimen for years. I have no idea what Dr. Rettalack and his team knew or didn't know but i don't think it was obvious they knew nothing. But I could be wrong in my musing that the some of the more base motives of Cope and Marsh could be in play here. Regardless, I apologize for giving offense.

 

 

If you are sincerely sorry for giving offense, perhaps you should stop giving offense.  Unfortunately your musing and speculation continues to be misguided. 

And because in reality, you don't have any idea about what Retallack et al. knew or didn't  know, it is unwise to continue this subtle character assassination. 

[Oregon1955]

Piranha,

I admit my ignorance about what Dr. Rettalack et al knew in advance about Dr. Taylor's work. You said earlier that they had no advance knowledge of the paper. I assume you know that to be true.

I'll retire from the field and let the dinosaurs duel.

Best wishes to you and yours this seaon.

Oregon1955