The CFDC is currently taking an active role in the contribution of research towards the Western Interior Seaway. The CFDC Curator will be working alongside numerous volunteers, students and colleagues on many research projects.

These projects are outlined below with updates posted as soon as possible.  Weekly updates of museum activities and field work can be viewed on the CFDC blog, The Daily Fossil found at www.dailyfossil.blogspot.com .

 

PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF STOMACH CONTENTS FROM:  P-04-01-15

In 2004, a new Polycotylid Plesiosaur was excavated. Interbedded with the remains was gastric residue (stomach contents) from the specimen. This summer will be the final season recovering this specimen from the field. Once completed, the plesiosaur will be extracted from its field jackets, prepped and described.

At present, the stomach contents have been removed and are being studied with assistance from the University of Winnipeg, a CFDC volunteer part of the CFDC and a CFDC summer student. A small sample of the stomach contents is manually broken down and placed in a hydrogen peroxide solution to dissolve the matrix. The solution is screen washed thus extracting fossilized remains from osteichthyes.

 

The remains thus far include teeth, spines and vertebrae, ranging in size from     

1.0 – 5.0mm in length. After the stomach contents have been sorted, it is anticipated to identify the remains to genus level.

A poster entitled “A Preliminary Analysis of Stomach Contents from a New Polycotylid Plesiosaur” will be presented at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (October 2006).

 

STRATIGRAPHY OF THE PIERRE SHALE FORMATION

The University of Winnipeg and the CFDC are jointly working with an undergraduate student, completing her thesis on the stratigraphy of the Pierre Shale Formation. Over the summer the student will be visiting exposures along the Manitoba Escarpment between the towns of Miami and the Pembina Valley Provincial Park.

The student’s research will include all members within the formation, measurements of strata and samples to analyse within the University of Winnipeg’s Laboratory.

The project has just commenced and updates will be added within a timely fashion.