Re: Iowa Dinosaurs ?!?

[chris brochu <cbrochu@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>]

> Hey,
> I hope everyone had a very nice holiday!  One of the five books I 
> received yesterday (yes, five!) was a volume on Iowa's geology (yes, 
> Iowa!).  Iowa has some decent Mesozoic sediments, with a few nice 
> marine reptile fossils.  However, before glancing through this book 
> I was unaware that Iowa may also boast a dinosaur fossil!
>
> This fossil is quite incomplete, at least judging by the mere two 
> sentences it receives in the 400+ page book.  According to the 
> author, the lone evidence for dinosaurs in Iowa consists of a single 
> bone fragment from Guthrie County, which as been assigned to the 
> Dinosauria based on its size and microstructure. 
>
> Does anyone know more about this discovery?  Has there been any 
> recent studies of it?

The bone fragments mentioned in that book are exactly that - 
fragments from much larger bones, and they fit comfortably on the tip 
of one's finger.  They come from nonavian dinosaurs, but that's about 
all anyone can say.


--
------------------------
Christopher A. Brochu
Assistant Professor
Department of Geoscience
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242

christopher-brochu@uiowa.edu
319-353-1808 phone
319-335-1821 fax

www.geology.uiowa.edu/faculty/brochu