US-Romania Planning Visit: Faunal assemblage and paleoenvironment of the Late Cretaceous Hateg Basin

The Journey Museum, Rapid City SD

Investigators

Abstract

In this planning visit, the PI Dr. Grellet-Tinner, along with Dr. Alessandra Higa from Oglala Lakota College (OLC) and an OLC student, will visit Dr. Vlad Codrea at the Babes-Bolyai University, Department of Geology-Paleontology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. They will begin a research collaboration to investigate, through the study of dinosaur eggs, the paleoenvironment and the Cretaceous fauna of the Hateg Basin during the terminal Cretaceous. The proposed research will encompass finding more refined sedimentological records and accessing dinosaur egg clutches whose nature and taxonomic identity are still debated to augment preliminary oological character-based data. The scientific impact of this investigation will benefit the field of vertebrate paleontology in general, refine our understanding of the terminal Cretaceous fauna in the particular Hateg Basin, and bring more data to dinosaur paleobiology. This research effort will also enhance scientific collaboration between Romanian and U.S. scientists. Furthermore, this collaborative paleontology research will involve a student and a faculty member from Oglala Lakota College located on Pine Ridge Reservation. Paleontology is currently the focus of much attention at OLC and tribal levels, and OLC is a tribal institution with considerable success in training Native American students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. This award is sponsored jointly by the Office of International Science and Engineering and the Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology progam.