Jean-Pierre Cavigelli, of Casper College in Casper, WY, presented “Fossil Birds of Wyoming”.

Wyoming’s fossil bird record spans much of the Late Cretaceous through the Cenozoic, though its completeness varies widely through time. The state’s oldest known bird fossils come from the late Cretaceous Mesa Verde Formation and Pierre Shale, dating to about 79 million years ago, but this early record is sparse and fragmentary. Paleocene bird fossils are known primarily from a single site, and research on this interval remains in its early stages. In contrast, Wyoming’s Eocene bird record is among the best in the world, thanks largely to the exceptionally preserved specimens from the Green River Formation. These Eocene birds are closely related to modern tropical and subtropical groups and show strong similarities to contemporaneous birds from Europe. After the Eocene, however, the avian fossil record in Wyoming becomes poorly known again, highlighting the substantial amount of work still to be done by paleo‑ornithologists to fully understand the state’s deep history of birds.

Let’s go birdwatching in ancient Wyoming!

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A few questions to test your knowledge…

1. Name two of the world’s best Eocene fossil bird sites.

2. How old are the oldest fossil birds found in Wyoming?  (Age or mya is a valid answer). 

3. Was Gastornis (=Diatryma) a carnivore or a veggiesaurus?  

4. What modern birds are Sandcolies related to?  

5. The Omomys quarry  includes several species of birds plus an implied owl.  What is the evidence for an owl? 

6. What is the name of this bone?

7. What the heck is a lithornithid?  

8.  Why is that one bird bone so blue? 

9. How many genera of birds are found in the Green River Formation of Wyoming? 

10.  Which one is your favorite?