Ep #83 Diggin' the Beasts of the Badlands

Ep 83 Paleo Nerds with Mattison Shreero

LINKS

Mattison Shreero
Mattison Shreero is a paleontologist whose research focuses on fossil mammals of the Badlands. Her professional profile outlines her academic journey, field experience, and growing contributions to vertebrate paleontology.

Mattison’s Instagram
Follow Mattison’s Instagram @geosplore to see her adventures in the field, fossil prep, and the geological wonders she studies and shares with the public.

Mattison’s published paper on the Tiny Deer - The Santuccimeryx
This peer reviewed paper describes a brand new fossil deer from Badlands National Park, Santuccimeryx. It bridges a key evolutionary gap between the Oligocene and Miocene, showing how small mammals adapted over time.

Geological Society of America
The Geological Society of America is a global community for geoscientists. Its resources, journals, and meetings support discoveries like Mattison’s tiny deer and provide a professional network for researchers.

Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon
Once the most abundant bird in North America, the passenger pigeon went extinct in the early 20th century. This Smithsonian spotlight explores its rapid decline and lessons for modern conservation.

The Anthropocene
The Anthropocene is a proposed epoch defined by human impact on Earth’s systems. From climate change to mass extinction, this concept frames our time as a geological force.

The ICS - International Commission on Stratigraphy
The International Commission on Stratigraphy oversees the official geologic time scale. Its work includes debates on whether the Anthropocene should be formally recognized as a new epoch.

Internships - Scientist in the Parks program
The Scientists in Parks program provides internships and fellowships for early career scientists. It offers opportunities to do real science in America’s national parks.

GeoCorps America
GeoCorps places geoscientists into short term positions with the National Park Service and other federal agencies. It supports fieldwork, fossil prep, and geologic mapping projects.

Wall Drug South Dakota
Wall Drug is a legendary roadside stop near the Badlands. With quirky attractions, free ice water, and dinosaur statues, it’s both kitschy Americana and a cultural icon for fossil country.

National Grasslands
The National Grasslands are vast preserved prairies across the U.S. Northern Plains. This visitor center site highlights their plants, animals, and the fossil rich landscapes hidden within.

Geology of the Badlands White River Formation
This NPS brochure explains the geology of the Badlands, especially the White River Formation. The eroded cliffs preserve rich fossil beds spanning Oligocene mammal evolution.

The floor of the Western Interior Seaway - the Pierre Shale
The Pierre Shale records the ancient Western Interior Seaway that once split North America. Its fossils include marine reptiles, ammonites, and squids from the late Cretaceous.

Belemnites - the now extinct straight squid-like shell fossils
Belemnites were squidlike cephalopods with bullet shaped internal shells. These extinct animals are common fossils in rocks deposited by ancient seas.

The Pierre Shale where exquisite ammonites are found
The Pierre Shale is also famous for its beautifully preserved ammonites. Their spiral shells make them among the most iconic marine fossils of the Cretaceous.

The Laramide Orogeny: The Rocky Mountains rise up
The Laramide Orogeny was a mountain building event that raised the Rocky Mountains about 70 million years ago. Its tectonic forces shaped much of western North America’s geology.

The slingshot-nosed Brontothere/Titanothere
Brontotheres, also called titanotheres, were massive Eocene mammals with forked, slingshot shaped noses. They were relatives of horses and rhinoceroses.

Difference Between Perissodactyla and Artiodactyla
This resource explains the difference between two groups of hoofed mammals. Odd toed perissodactyls include horses and rhinos, while even toed artiodactyls include deer and bison.

The Brule Formation
The Brule Formation is a geologic unit in the Badlands famous for its fossil mammals. Erosion reveals colorful badland landscapes and spectacular fossil quarries.

Kul Wicasa Oyate, the Lower Brule Native American tribe
The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe resides along the Missouri River in South Dakota. Their culture and history are deeply connected to the land and its resources.

NALMA - The North American Land Mammal Age
North American Land Mammal Ages (NALMAs) are a biostratigraphic tool using fossil mammals to date rocks. They help paleontologists organize the continent’s fossil record.

The Big Pig Dig
The Big Pig Dig was a long running paleontological excavation in Badlands National Park. It uncovered thousands of fossils, including rhinos, camels, and oreodonts.

Hell Pig - The Entelodont
Entelodonts, nicknamed “hell pigs,” were massive omnivorous mammals with bone crushing jaws. These Oligocene beasts looked like nightmare pigs crossed with giant hyenas.

Teeny Tiny Deer - the Leptomeryx
Leptomeryx was a tiny deerlike artiodactyl of the Oligocene. Its fossils are common in the White River Badlands and illustrate small mammal diversity.

Prairie dogs with the plague!
Prairie dogs in the Badlands occasionally carry sylvatic plague. This NPS update explains its impacts on prairie dog colonies and the grassland ecosystem.

Dinosaur National Monument
Dinosaur National Monument on the Colorado Utah border preserves a massive quarry of Jurassic dinosaurs. Visitors can see fossils still embedded in the rock wall.

The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology
Located in Alberta, Canada, the Royal Tyrrell Museum is one of the premier dinosaur museums in the world. Its exhibits and research focus on the fossil rich badlands of the region.

Music
Fossil Freeway by The Ratfish Wranglers
Taxi by the Amish Robots
Hell Pig Ballad by the Ratfish Wranglers
Hell Pig Metal by the Ratfish Wranglers
Sound Waves by the Ratfish Wranglers
The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship Excerpt from Scheherazade, Valery Gergiev - Kirov Orchestra