Hello. On August 21-23, 2024, I hosted a three-part Zoom lecture series on what North America looked like during the time that the dinosaur Utahraptor was alive during the early Cretaceous Period 135 million years ago. Utahraptor’s fossils are currently known from the upper part of the Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation, whose rocks are found within eastern Utah and a small portion of western Colorado. A lot of research has been done since the early 1990s about what eastern Utah looked like during the time that Utahraptor was alive, but what about the rest of North America? What did the landscape of eastern Utah physically look like 135 MYA? What animals did Utahraptor share its environment with? Is it possible that fossils of Utahraptor could be found elsewhere in North America within rocks from other geological formations which date to approximately the same time?

These were some of the questions which this three-part series looked into. Part 1 focused on geology, Part 2 focused on geography, and Part 3 concerned the plants and animals which were found alongside Utahraptor during the time that it roamed the American West.

I recorded each of the three lectures and I have posted them here just in case people missed the announcement and couldn’t attend. I hope you enjoy them and find them informative. Furthermore, I hope that the information in these lectures spurs paleontologists or aspiring paleontologists to go out into the field and do more excavations.

Part 1 – Geology (August 21, 2024)

Part 2 – Geography (August 22, 2024)

Part 3 – Biology (August 23, 2024)

I truly enjoy doing these lectures, writing my articles, and drawing my art, but it’s increasingly clear that I can’t keep this up without your gracious financial assistance. Kindly check out my pages on Redbubble and Fine Art America if you want to purchase merch of my artwork. Consider buying my ancient Roman history books Four Days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg and The Great Illyrian Revolt if you or someone that you know loves that topic. Also, please consider becoming a patron on my Patreon page so that I can afford to purchase the art supplies and research materials that I need to keep posting art and articles onto this website.

Take care, and, as always, keep your pencils sharp.

Categories: Paleontology, Uncategorized

Tags: Cedar Mountain Formation, Cretaceous Period, Early Cretaceous, Mesozoic, Middle Cretaceous, North America, paleontology, Prehistoric, Utah, Utahraptor