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During the summer of 2013, paleontologist Dave Lovelace accompanied a group of students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison on an excavation in Wyoming. There, they stumbled upon an ankle bone in a region where fossils are generally absent.
Following over ten years of research, the fossil—a fragment no larger than a section of a human pinky—has been recognized as a significant find that challenges the notion that dinosaurs first emerged in the southern hemisphere.
Lovelace and graduate researcher Aaron Kufner’s newly published study argues that dinosaurs occupied the northern hemisphere millions of years earlier than previously assumed, coinciding with their existence in the southern hemisphere.
“That’s essentially the core aspect of the narrative that this tiny bone conveys,” Lovelace remarked.
In a remarkable first, the newly identified dinosaur species carries a name derived from the language of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe. The location where the fossilized remains were uncovered lies within the tribal ancestral land. Tribal elders and students played a vital role in naming Ahvaytum bahndooiveche, translating to “ancient dinosaur.”
This approach deviates from the traditional method where paleontologists assign names to their findings. Lovelace noted that establishing relationships with tribal members requires time, a privilege he enjoys due to his role as a research scientist at the UW-Madison geology museum. His responsibilities differ from those of tenured professors, who often feel pressured to publish to validate their worth to funding agencies.
“Our scientific endeavors can be quite economical,” Lovelace explained. “Essentially, I require only a vehicle, tents, and food, and that’s sufficient. Then we head to the field, where it’s notably inexpensive to locate and excavate specimens.”
This is what Lovelace engaged in during his upbringing in Wyoming. He never went through a dinosaur fascination as a child, instead enjoying rock collecting and discovering random antelope bones scattered across the prairie. Initially pursuing nursing in college, Lovelace transitioned to forensic science. Eventually, he enrolled in a geology class.
“Within a week, it became my passion,” he recounted.
Now, Lovelace imparts his enthusiasm to undergraduates through the museum’s fossil lab and on summer excursions where they acquire hands-on field experience.
The ankle bone belonged to a smaller dinosaur
Ahvaytum measured approximately the size of a chicken with an elongated tail, he stated—not the gigantic creature that most envision when they think of dinosaurs. This is due to the team’s focus on the late Triassic period, also recognized as the dawn of dinosaurs, which spans back over 230 million years.
High-precision radioisotopic dating validated the age of the ankle bone. A scarcity of prior research from this era in the geographic region of Lovelace’s team elucidates the eleven years it took from the revelation to its publication. It necessitated the construction of a narrative surrounding the environment, flora, fauna, and age of the geological unit that Lovelace’s team investigates and how it correlates with other significant geological units worldwide.
“I had to assemble that entire narrative, and achieving that with merely a week and a half or two weeks of field season each year is quite a laborious process,” he noted.
Lovelace attributes his able supervisor for permitting him the freedom to investigate in a largely overlooked area. A student volunteer discovered the ankle bone near Dubois, Wyoming, approximately 50 miles southeast of Grand Teton National Park.
“It was a gamble,” he remarked. “We had no way of knowing if anything was present. No one else has truly examined these rocks. However, if you unearth something, it’s likely going to be unprecedented. Hence, it’s high risk, high reward. Regardless, the students were obtaining valuable experiences, which is the essence of our lab.”
Kelly Meyerhofer reports on higher education in Wisconsin. You can contact her at [email protected] or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer.
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