It is official, the Dinosaur Park Symposium (Sept 24-25, 2005) was a hit! Overall attendance was at our predicted peak (~180 attendees) with standing room only. Feedback in the form of emails from many tens of the participants has been glowing and particularly rewarding for those of us who worked to make the event a success!
The Friday night Ice Breaker was great fun, and provided opportunities for participants to mingle with some of the icons of Alberta paleo, including Wann Langston Jr., Dale Russell, Peter Dodson, Phil Currie, and David Spalding (the person who took a chance on an unseasoned Phil Currie, giving Phil his first professional job in palaeontology!).
Dale Russell, Gilles Danis, Wann Langston Jr. and Peter Dodson.
The two days of talks and poster presentations were packed full of new information. Our keynote speakers, David Spalding and Scott Sampson, gave excellent talks that set the stage for each day's content. High quality talks and superb graphics throughout the two-day program eased the pain of sitting in the auditorium seats. I was particularly pleased that so many graduate students participated, giving talks and presenting posters that were uniformly of professional quality, and providing new and exciting scientific insight.
Having a few of the recently collected specimens from Dinosaur Park on exhibit in the ATCO Tyrrell Learning Centre Distance Learning Studio had a significant and positive impact and generated lots of discussion. And having the classrooms filled with poster presentations showed how significant this new education space is to the Tyrrell Museum.
I was thrilled that we were able to use the symposium BBQ as a special way to thank Phil and Eva for all their contributions over these many years, and to see them off in style. For those of you who don't know, we presented Phil and Eva with a set of 6 glass beer mugs with the symposium logo and "Phil and Eva" etched on them.
Merilee Guenther discussing her poster with Richard Fox and Peter Dodson.
I was extremely gratified to see so many of the Tyrrell Museum staff participate and volunteer their time in support of the Symposium. I am hopeful that this kind of inclusive model can be used for future symposia and events.
So many of the Tyrrell Museum's partners were involved in making this a successful and memorable event. The Tyrrell Museum Cooperating Society provided critical financial and staff support. Staff from the cafeteria/catering service, the gift store, and the Drumheller Chamber of Commerce also ensured that the event ran smoothly and professionally.
As chairperson for the symposium I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who were involved directly and indirectly with organizing and running this symposium. The simple fact of the matter is that the only reason the event ran so smoothly is because everyone pitched in. I cannot thank you enough for that! In my opinion, it is through hosting this kind of scientific and public event that the Tyrrell's leadership role in vertebrate paleontology, the earth sciences, and public education will be maintained, both here in Canada and worldwide, and none of us can do it on our own.
To all of you who attended -- Thank You -- and stay tuned for information on our next symposium event focusing on ceratopsian dinosaurs and their world!
Dr. David A. Eberth
P.S. Please contact the gift store (403-823-8899) if any of you are looking for additional abstract volumes, symposium t-shirts, Dinosaur Park books, and Field Trip Guidebooks.
| September 24 |
| 8:30 | Bruce Naylor | WELCOME
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| 8:35 | Philip Currie | SYMPOSIUM INTRODUCTION
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| 8:40 | David A.E. Spalding | KEYNOTE: The most important [fossil] field in Canada: Dinosaur Provincial Park through 116 years |
| 9:20 | Darren H. Tanke | Buried history: identification of early quarries, paleontological camp sites, and work sites in Dinosaur Provincial Park and the Drumheller Valley, Alberta |
| 9:40 | Michael MacDonald and Philip J. Currie | Using GPS in the Park |
| 10:00 | Ian A. Campbell | The Dinosaur Park badlands - past, present and future |
| 10:20 | David A. Eberth | Problems in the Park: a review of geology with special emphasis on some unresolved issues |
| 10:40 | BREAK | BREAK |
| 11:00 | Rob Hugill | Striking a balance - paleo-resource management at Dinosaur Provincial Park |
| 11:20 | John Acorn | Dinosaur Provincial Park: a brief natural history |
| 11:40 | Hilary Tarrant | The Park in photographs |
| 12:00-1:00 | LUNCH & POSTER VIEWING | LUNCH & POSTER VIEWING |
| 1:00-1:40 | LUNCH & POSTER VIEWING | LUNCH & POSTER VIEWING |
| 1:40 | Dennis R. Braman | Highlights of fossil plant research in Dinosaur Provincial Park during the past two decades |
| 2:00 | Eva B. Koppelhus | What kind of trees were in Dinosaur Provincial Park during Campanian times? |
| 2:20 | Ruth A. Stockey, Gar W. Rothwell, and Kirk R. Johnson | Fossil plants from the ornithomimid quarry: "Pistia" corrugata |
| 2:40 | Andrew G. Neuman | A nearly complete specimen of the Cretaceous ray Myledaphus from Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada |
| 3:00 | Donald B. Brinkman | The turtles of Dinosaur Provincial Park and their paleoecological significance |
| 3:20 | BREAK | BREAK |
| 3:40 | Robert R. Reisz | The oldest known dinosaur embryos and their evolutionary significance |
| 4:00 | Karen Chin | The paleobiological implications of herbivorous dinosaur coprolites from the Upper Cretaceous Two Medicine Formation of Montana |
| 4:20 | Mike Getty and Scott D. Sampson | The Kaiparowits Formation of Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument - The Dinosaur Park of Utah. |
| 4:40 | Julia T. Sankey | Late Cretaceous vertebrate paleoecology of Big Bend National Park, Texas |
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| September 25 |
| 8:40 | Scott D. Sampson | KEYNOTE: Dinosaur Provincial Park: an extraordinary window into Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems |
| 9:20 | Philip J. Currie | Theropod dinosaurs of Dinosaur Provincial Park |
| 9:40 | Hans C. E. Larsson and Erin E. Maxwell | Evolution of theropod endocrania and brains |
| 10:00 | Donald M. Henderson | Biomechanical limits to maximum body size of theropod dinosaurs |
| 10:20 | BREAK | BREAK |
| 10:40 | Matthew K. Vickaryous | New information on the cranial anatomy of the nodosaurid ankylosaurs Panoplosaurus and Edmontonia from Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta |
| 11:00 | Robert M. Sullivan | Pachycephalosaurs from Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta: Taxonomy, biostratigraphy and paleobiogeographic implications |
| 11:20 | David C. Evans and Michael J. Ryan | Hadrosaurid dinosaurs from the Judith River Group, Alberta: diversity and biostratigraphy |
| 11:40 | Michael J. Ryan and David C. Evans | Late Cretaceous ceratopsids from the Judith River Group, Alberta, and the recognition of dinosaurian faunal zones within Dinosaur Provincial Park |
| 12:00-1:00 | LUNCH, POSTER VIEWING | LUNCH, POSTER VIEWING |
| 1:00 | Martin Kundrát, Arthur R. I. Cruickshank, T. W. Manning, and J. Nudds | The ascent of dinosaur embryology: learning from exceptional specimens |
| 1:20 | Michael W. Caldwell | Middle ear anatomy and underwater hearing in mosasaurs, giant marine lizards of the Upper Cretaceous |
| 1:40 | Nicholas Longrich | Semiaquatic marsupials from Dinosaur Provincial Park |
| 2:00 | William H. Straight, Jonathan D. Karr, and David A. Eberth | The Dinosaur's Tale: the paleoenvironmental trilogy written in bone by growth, biostratinomy, and diagenesis |
| 2:20 | David A. Eberth | Vertebrate fossil preservation and taphonomic modes at Dinosaur Provincial Park: a coastal-flood-influenced taphonomic signal |
| 2:40 | BREAK | BREAK |
| 3:00 | Dale A. Russell | The fitness of the Dinosaur Park ecosystem based upon fossil vertebrates |
| 3:20 | Kirk Johnson | Late Cretaceous plant communities of the North American Great Plains |
| 3:40 | Donald B. Brinkman | Vertebrate microfossil localities in Dinosaur Provinicial Park and the paleoeoclogy of the Judith River Group |
| 4:00 | Eric Snively and Donald M. Henderson | Ecomorphology of Dinosaur Park tyrannosaurids |
| 4:20 | Terry A. Gates and David C. Evans | Biogeography of Campanian hadrosaurid dinosaurs from western North America |
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| POSTERS (Saturday-Sunday) |
| #1 | Nicolas E. Campione: | Features and homologies of the ceratopsid syncervical: a comparative analysis with basal tetrapods |
| #2 | Robin Cuthbertson: | Reconstructing Brachylophosaurus canadensis (Hadrosaurinae): morphological revision and insight into hadrosaur chewing |
| #3 | David A. Eberth and Alan Deino: | New 40Ar/39Ar ages from three bentonites in the Bearpaw, Horseshoe Canyon, and Scollard formations (Upper Cretaceous-Paleocene) of southern Alberta, Canada |
| #4 | Emily K. Frampton and Len V. Hills: | Paleoecology and faunal abundance of a mixed fossil assemblage in the Foremost Formation with comparison to the fauna of the Judith River Group, Alberta, Canada |
| #5 | James D. Gardner: | Middle Campanian (Judithian) lissamphibians from Alberta, Canada, and their significance for interpreting the latest Cretaceous evolution of lissamphibian assemblages in the North American Western Interior |
| #6 | Merrilee Guenther: | The hadrosaurs of Alberta: revisiting and revising postcranial anatomy |
| #7 | Takehito Ikejiri: | Sexual dimorphic variation in Camarasaurus (Sauropoda) from the Jurassic Morrison Formation |
| #8 | Aase Roland Jacobsen and Philip J. Currie: | Significant bite traces found on dinosaur bones from Dinosaur Park Formation (Late Cretaceous), Alberta, Canada |
| #9 | Heather A. Jamniczky, Donald B. Brinkman, and Anthony P. Russell: | Character analysis and the turtle carotid circulation |
| #10 | Jordan C. Mallon: | A reevaluation of sexual dimorphism in the postcranium of the chasmosaurine ceratopsid Chasmosaurus belli (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) |
| #11 | Erin E. Maxwell and Hans C. E. Larsson: | Endocast of Ornithomimus |
| #12 | Kottapalli Sithrama Murty: | Dinosaur parks of India |
| #13 | Michael G. Newbrey and Mark V.H. Wilson: | Recognition of annular growth on centra of Teleostei with application to Hiodontidae of the Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation |
| #14 | Ken Noriega and Stuart S. Sumida: | Developing a digital atlas from well-preserved materials: centrosaurine ceratopsian foot morphology based on nearly complete and articulated materials |
| #15 | L. (Koldo) M. Núñez-Betelu, L.V. Hills, and Philip J. Currie: | The first hadrosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
| #16 | Patricia E. Ralrick and Donald B. Brinkman: | Sharks in the badlands: a chondrichthyan assemblage from the Lethbridge Coal Zone, Dinosaur Park Formation, Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada |
| #17 | Patricia E. Ralrick and Len V. Hills: | The bonebed at Little Fish Lake, Alberta, Canada: initial findings |
| #18 | Patricia E. Ralrick and Darren H. Tanke: | Into the depths of despair: Holocene sinkhole fauna of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada |
| #19 | Tanya Samman: | "Death pose" theropod specimens from Dinosaur Provincial Park and their utility in assessing theropod craniocervical functional morphology |
| #20 | Julia T. Sankey, Donald B. Brinkman, Richard C. Fox, and David A. Eberth: | Distribution patterns of mammals in the Dinosaur Park Formation and their paleobiological significance |
| #21 | Kathryn J. Stanton and Sandra J. Carlson: | Ancient bones, modern reptiles: extant archosaurs as an isotopic model for the Albertosaurus bonebed taxa, Alberta |
| #22 | Darren H. Tanke and Robin M. Rondeau: | Dinosaurs in the deep: return to the wreck of the WWI German surface raider Möwe |
| #23 | Marilyn D. Wegweiser: | Paleowildfire characteristics and behavior: diagenetic changes occurring in vascular bone during cremation by wildfire reveal ancient fire behavior |
| #24 | Darla K. Zelenitsky: | Comparison of oological remains from Campanian localities in southern Alberta |
| #25 | Hilary Tarrant: | Dinosaur Provincial Park in photographs |
| #26 | Alberta Palaeontological Society | About the Alberta Palaeontological Society
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