Palaeoecology and palaeoenvironments of Hell Creek
The palaeontology group at the University of Manchester has an active field programme in the Late Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation (USA). Fieldwork is currently being undertaken in North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. An important partner in the Hell Creek fieldwork is the Marmarth Research Foundation (North Dakota, USA). The Foundation has an active volunteer field programme that co-ordinates several excavation sites each summer. The University of Manchester is working in conjunction with the excavation teams, collecting sedimentological and palaeontological samples for the on-going palaeoenvironmental and palaeoecological studies.
The Hell Creek Formation has been studied for over 100 years, and has yielded exceptional fossil remains, particularly dinosaurs. However, important questions remain unanswered as to the sedimentary environments associated with the dinosaurs and how these environments may have influenced dinosaur evolution/extinction, and fossil preservation.
Research into the endocranial structure, morphology and geometry of a Macroplata longirostris using XRT is near completion. The project has applied high resolution x-ray computer tomography (CT) imaging to the braincase of a single Macroplata longirostris specimen held at the Manchester Museum (University of Manchester). This investigation will achieve a greater understanding of the endocranial geometry of this extinct marine reptile and review the phylogenetic and palaeobiological implications. The ManchesterMacroplata ‘near-brain’ project is collaborating with researchers and additional fossil material at the University of Cambridge (Dr Leslie Noe).
The wealth of vertebrate remains held in the collections of the Manchester Museum (University of Manchester) will be the subject or future XRT studies.