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If you saw my Carroll Prize winning talk at CSVP, you know that some big changes are coming for Dinosaur Provincial Park with some of my other results! Stay tuned for that and don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have questions about this paper or my upcoming research!

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This is great as the Plateau Tuff happens to be stratigraphically where a major faunal turnover seems to occur in the Dinosaur Park Formation. My upcoming work focuses on resolving timeliness of this turnover using more accurate stratigraphic methods, including Plateau Tuff based age constraints!

Figure from Mallon 2019, please see that paper for full description. A bar graph like figure where each bar is topped by a dinosaur skull demonstrating each species it represents the stratigraphic range of. Notably, Centrosaurus does not overlap with Styracosaurus stratigraphically, not does Corythosaurus with Prosaurolophus. This species turnover is around 30 m above the base of the Dinosaur Park Formation, which coincidentally is where the Plateau Tuff bentonite appears to be stratigraphically in most but not all places in the Park.

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Most exciting, we were able to identify many samples as being from the Plateau Tuff, a bentonite in the middle of the Dinosaur Park Formation. This allowed us to correlate it over most of the Dinosaur Provincial Park area! Now we have a reliable chronostratigraphic marker in the park!

Nine stratigraphic sections from Dinosaur Provincial Park. Most rock shown is either yellow for sandstone or grey for mudstone. A green line is shown connecting the Plateau Tuff, which was correlated over a distance of 12 km after identifying it through geochemical methods. See Thompson et al. 2026 for the full figure description.

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We found there were unique geochemical signatures in biotite and feldspar crystals in the bentonites, allowing us to make a unique fingerprint for each. This then allowed us to correlate several of them over distance and thus allow any fossil found near them to be better constrained in terms of age.

Scatter plot of many different shaped and coloured dots showing differences in Magnesium, Iron, Aluminum, and Titanium content in biotites from bentonite beds in Dinosaur Provincial Park. Main takeaways are that the Plateau Tuff bentonite biotites are very high in iron, bearpaw bentonties very low in iron, and the Steveville Lower Bentonite has a unqiue Titanium enrichment. Unfortunately, alt text will not allow for a full description, so please read the figure caption from Thompson et al. 2026.

Ternary diagram of feldspar geochemical data from Dinosaur Park benotnites. Please see Thompson et al. 2026 for full description. Main takeaway is that the Plateau Tuff has well constrained Oligoclase dominated plagioclase assemblages while most other bentonites as dominated by andesine plagioclase.

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The first step to fixing this was to try and correlate dated bentonite ash layers in the Park. However, U-Pb dates are expensive. So my co-authors and I used different geochemical methods to "fingerprint" bentonite ash layers that had already been dated at a fraction of the cost!

On the left, a simplified stratigraphic section showing the Dinosaur Park Formation and how it is older than the Bearpaw Formation and younger than the Oldman Formation. On the right, a zoomed in look at the Dinosaur Park Formation showing placement of dated bentonites and the transition from sandy to muddy sections up stream. Please read Thompson et al. 2026 for more detailed figure description.

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Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

This paper is the first chapter of my PhD and an important step to accurate stratigraphic placement of fossils in Dinosaur Provincial Park. The Dinosaur Park Formation itself, while well studied, has relatively poorly resolved stratigraphic constraints due to its complex fluvial strata.

Map of where Dinosaur Provincial Park is in Alberta, Canada. It is approximately 200 km east of Calgary (left side of map as a black square) and appears on the map as a yellow polygon based on the Park's boundaries.

Mira standing in front of cross bedded sandstone outcrop in Dinosaur Provincial Park. Photo highlights the complex nature of river deposits, with the pale grey sandstone cliff behind her possessing beds that dip in multiple directions and possess many different sedimentary structures.

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Ben Egan, Thomas M. Cullen, Maria I. Velez, Seyed Hesam-Aldin Samaei, Jinkai Xue & Ryan C. McKellar (2026) A Campanian ecosystem reconstruction through the geochemistry of enamel and amber Cretaceous Research 106427 doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.cr... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

doi.org

Redirecting

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Mira Thompson @wensthomp.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Incredibly proud to share that I won the Carroll Prize for best presentation at CSVP 2026! Thank you to everyone who helped along the way! Looking forward to publishing this amazing research. For anyone not there, turns out Centrosaurus and Styracosaurus were buddies and many other new finds!

Mira standing to the left of CSVP president Dr. Danielle Fraser from the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa.

Mira on stage presenting her CSVP talk. Behind her is a projector screen and the slide is showing information about how well resolved stratigraphy is needed to resolve evolutionary theories

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J Pardo @jdpardo.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Looking for an international earth sci or palaeo conference outside the US in 2028? Consider IGC 2028 in Calgary. We're soliciting proposals for vertebrate palaeontology sessions....get in touch with us if you have some great ideas!

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Asher HELLbein @asherelbein.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

This is wild: the authors find evidence for giant, macro-predatory octopuses in Late Cretaceous oceans that might max out at *62 feet long,* comfortably large enough to attack, kill and eat mosasaurs

science.org

Earliest octopuses were giant top predators in Cretaceous oceans

Top predators drive changes in ecosystem structure. For the last ~370 million years, large-sized vertebrates have dominated the apex of the marine food chain, while invertebrates have served as smalle...

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Riley Black 🏳️‍⚧️ 🦖 @restingdinoface.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

This week's new article is out! Honestly, I can't gush about these fossils enough. Three protomammal embryos, all from a species that survived one of the worst mass extinctions of all time? It's amazing.

buttondown.com

The Most Precious Protomammal

A stunning find, three protomammal embryos reveal how our distant relatives reproduced and grew up.

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Mira Thompson @wensthomp.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

The abstract volume for CSVP 2026 is now available. Check it out to see the amazing research that will be presented! journals.library.ualberta.ca/vamp/index.p...

journals.library.ualberta.ca

View of Canadian Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology Annual Meeting Abstracts 2026

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Mira Thompson @wensthomp.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

For #FossilFriday, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who shared my letter. Ultimately I hoped to have many people read it and get people thinking and talking about these issues that effect many in our field. Had lots of constructive conversations and will continue to push for safety for all!

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Mira Thompson @wensthomp.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

No problem! And if you like I can also message you/others at SVP some other contacts I have now that can help trans and other queer folks feel safe in Ohio too.

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Krista Koeller @kristalerista.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

I’d love to have some sort of virtual option. Right now I’m mostly inspired by what sicb is doing: having a brown bag talk once a month. I’d love to keep the SVP community connected all year round and allow everyone to participate. I’d also love to hear other ideas.

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David Levering @biogeoverse.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Regarding potential virtual paleontology meetings. (I built and ran the 2023 SVP virtual meeting.)

If there’s a desire for an online-based robust virtual paleontology “meeting”, my honest best advice is the folks that really really want this to happen aggregate a leadership team and make it happen. This isn’t a dig (🥁) at all, but it’s not going to happen through SVP this year. I ran the 2023 virtual meeting and promise there just isn’t enough time on the calendar to go the SVP route.

If a team of 8-12 highly motivated, reliable individuals can be brought together on this and establish 10-point lists of benefits, challenges, and deliverable targets, I will enthusiastically help however I can in a consulting capacity. Please understand though that however much work you think this will be, double that and you might be close. Not trying to discourage anyone, but that’s the reality of these things. That said, accessibility is crucial and this overall concept is definitely worth pursuing.

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Anthony of the Badlands @mosasaurologist.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

It was pretty amazing hearing all the meaningless platitudes from the SVP president of only holding meetings where their membership can feel safe, then turn around and host it in fucking Ohio.

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TransOhio serves the Ohio transgender and ally communities by providing services, education, support, and advocacy, which promotes and improves the health, safety and life experience of the Ohio trans...

I am glad you're going to provide lots of info for travelers who are at risk. I will help out here by providing a link to Trans Ohio: www.transohio.org . They can help the SVP and anyone attending in person with the nuances of trans safety in Ohio. I have some other contacts too if interested!

transohio.org

TransOhio

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They have been clear for years about their intended actions. Therefore, organizations caring for the safety of their members effected by actions of the government should have planned for the worst as soon as he was elected.

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Im going to also push back on stating that the government is moving "too fast to respond well". This is simply not true. Yes, the Trump admin is constantly doing things quickly, but they are exactly what they said they would do years ago and along the schedule they outlined.

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Regardless, I won't stop advocating for an online option. A "feature complete" online option is not the only option. There are several options that satisfy both conditions of relatively less effort and low cost. I am in talks with folks to try and form a proposal outlining how that would work.

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Dr. Rich B @morphometrich.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Thanks for responding. It's unfortunate to hear that something virtual has been dismissed. It's especially frustrating as SVP executives in the last town hall suggested they would poll members for interest before making that decision, which did not happen.

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Hey @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social This letter here fully articulates the major problems with the annual meeting right now (there are others to be sure; but these are the big ones now). I would urge you all to consider this proposal. And think about the anecdotes presented; they were not cool…

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Drumheller at the Tyrell Museum May 1 to 4. Unfortunately registration is closed and it is at max capacity (a good problem to have!).

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Benji Paysnoe @benj-art-min.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Definitely not alone in that sentiment. The CSVP (Canadian Society of Vertebrate Paleontology) conference this year will have nearly double its normal attendance and that is mainly due to non Canadians attending. Presumably they're attending as it is an alternative to US based conferences.

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A succinct and important message to the 2026 SVP Meeting this year! The United States has created dangerous environments for the LGBTQIA+ community, foreign travel, and Science in general. Not everyone has a safety net - Let's work to ensure that everyone has a safe way to continue participating!

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Brigid Christison @brigidomorpha.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Absolutely. There's been a huge uptick in phone searches at the Canada/US border and I know of at least one person denied entry due to social media posts related to bad mouthing Trump.

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No one should have to compromise their safety for their career, and vice versa. @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social needs to add an online option.

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Mira is one of the founders of PalaeoPoems. We presented at @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social years ago in Toronto and it gave us a real platform to talk about the project. An online option will give that chance to even more early career researchers!

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