Patrick Druckenmiller Explained

Patrick Druckenmiller
Birth Place:Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S.
Spouse:Lisa Druckenmiller
Fields:Paleontology
Workplaces:University of Alaska Museum of the North, Paleo Arctic Research Consortium

Patrick Scott Druckenmiller is a Mesozoic paleontologist, taxonomist, associate professor of geology, Earth Sciences curator, and museum director[1] [2] of the University of Alaska Museum of the North, where he oversees the largest single collection of Alaskan invertebrate and vertebrate fossils.[3] He has published work on plesiosaurs,[4] [5] [6] ichthyosaurs,[7] [8] [9] mastodons,[10] and dinosaurs[11] [12] [13] in the United States, Svalbard, and Canada. He has co-authored papers on discussions of mass extinctions[14] and biogeography. Much of his work has focused on Arctic species. He is a member of the Spitsbergen Jurassic Research group, which focuses on marine reptiles.[15]

Education

Druckenmiller has served as a curator and as a faculty member in the University of Alaska, Fairbanks since 2007. Druckenmiller worked at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana, before coming to Alaska. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Calgary in Alberta and a master's degree from Montana State University in Bozeman, where he worked under paleontologist Jack Horner.[16]

Arctic research

Much of Druckenmiller's work focuses on cold-hardy, high-latitude prehistoric animals.[17] In 2015, he and his student named a new species of a duck-billed, plant-eating dinosaur, Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis,[18] that apparently lived in the snowy Arctic year-round.[19] His Arctic research received media attention from National Geographic that wrote about Ugrunaaluk: "The image of tyrannosaurs, horned dinosaurs, and hadrosaurs walking through the cool forests of ancient Alaska has run so counter to the classic Mesozoic imagery that it’s not surprising that this environment has been the subject of several recent documentaries and even a feature film."[18]

Druckenmiller has worked extensively on ichnofossils,[20] including fossil track sites in Denali National Park and Svalbard.[21] Druckenmiller started a five-year project in Denali in partnership with the Park Service to investigate the surrounding polar dinosaurs. As part of this project, they found the first fossilized bone in the park.[22]

Druckenmiller has also extensively studied high latitude marine reptiles, describing several new species. These include the thalattosaur Gunakadeit joseeae from the Hound Island Volcanics of Alaska,[23] the plesiosaur Edgarosaurus muddi from the Thermopolis Shale of Montana[24] the plesiosaurs Nichollssaura borealis[25] and Wapuskanectes betsynichollsae[26] and the ichthyosaur Athabascasaurus bitumineus from the Clearwater Formation of Alberta,[27] and the plesiosaurs Ophthalmothule cryostea,[28] Djupedalia engeri,[29] Spitrasaurus larseni, and Spitrasaurus wensaasi,[30] the pliosaur Pliosaurus funkei,[31] and the ichthyosaurs Cryopterygius kristiansenae,[32] Keilhauia nui,[33] and Palvennia hoybergeti from the Agardhfjellet Formation.

Druckenmiller has also contributed to the study of Pleistocene megafauna, having coauthored papers on the lifetime movement patterns of woolly mammoths[34] and of steppe bison,[35] the dietary ecology of wild horses and steppe bison on the mammoth steppe of Alaska,[36] and the changes in geographic distribution of American mastodons in response to climatic oscillations during the Pleistocene.[37]

Druckenmiller's expertise in organizing safe and successful expeditions into the Arctic was the subject of a Nature article, where Druckenmiller credits his expedition success to the good food. "Good food — high quality and in copious amounts — is essential...After 30 field seasons, Druckenmiller needs only a dry tent to be happy. But he keeps a sharp eye out for anyone who might be overwhelmed by miserable conditions."[38]

Predator X

In 2009, Druckenmiller was part of the History Channel documentary Predator X, to discuss his find in Svalbard of a pliosaur suggested to have a bite four times stronger than Tyrannosaurus rex.[39] Druckenmiller and his colleagues were later interviewed by National Geographic, The Link, Live Science,[40] and FoxNews. In the Norwegian Journal of Geology, Druckenmiller and colleagues named the creature Pliosaurus funkei. A fictional movie titled "Extinction: Predator X" was apparently inspired by the documentary and dig.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Dr. Pat Druckenmiller Museum. www.uaf.edu. 2018-12-10.
  2. Web site: New director selected for UA Museum of the North. says. Hannah Foss. 2018-07-19. UAF news and information. 2018-12-10.
  3. Web site: Patrick Druckenmiller. epicc.berkeley.edu. 2018-12-10.
  4. Benson. Roger B. J.. Evans. Mark. Druckenmiller. Patrick S.. 2012-03-16. High Diversity, Low Disparity and Small Body Size in Plesiosaurs (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) from the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary. PLOS ONE. 7. 3. e31838. 10.1371/journal.pone.0031838. 22438869. 3306369. 1932-6203. 2012PLoSO...731838B. free .
  5. Druckenmiller. Patrick S.. Russell. Anthony P.. 2008-03-07. Skeletal anatomy of an exceptionally complete specimen of a new genus of plesiosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Early Albian) of northeastern Alberta, Canada. Palaeontographica Abteilung A. 283. 1–3. 1–33. 10.1127/pala/283/2008/1. 2008PalAA.283....1D . 0375-0442.
  6. Druckenmiller. Patrick S.. Russell. Anthony P.. November 2009. Earliest North American occurrence of Polycotylidae (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria) from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Clearwater Formation, Alberta, Canada. Journal of Paleontology. 83. 6. 981–989. 10.1666/09-014.1. 2009JPal...83..981D . 130695434. 0022-3360.
  7. Druckenmiller. Patrick S.. Maxwell. Erin E.. August 2010. A new Lower Cretaceous (lower Albian) ichthyosaur genus from the Clearwater Formation, Alberta, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 47. 8. 1037–1053. 10.1139/e10-028. 0008-4077. 2010CaJES..47.1037D.
  8. Roberts. Aubrey Jane. Druckenmiller. Patrick Scott. Sætre. Glenn-Peter. Hurum. Jørn Harald. 2014-08-01. A New Upper Jurassic Ophthalmosaurid Ichthyosaur from the Slottsmøya Member, Agardhfjellet Formation of Central Spitsbergen. PLOS ONE. 9. 8. e103152. 10.1371/journal.pone.0103152. 25084533. 4118863. 1932-6203. 2014PLoSO...9j3152R. free .
  9. Maxwell. Erin E.. Druckenmiller. Patrick S.. 2011-05-03. A small ichthyosaur from the Clearwater Formation (Alberta, Canada) and a discussion of the taxonomic utility of the pectoral girdle. Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 85. 4. 457–463. 10.1007/s12542-011-0106-0. 2011PalZ...85..457M . 129633686. 0031-0220.
  10. Zazula. Grant D.. MacPhee. Ross D. E.. Metcalfe. Jessica Z.. Reyes. Alberto V.. Brock. Fiona. Druckenmiller. Patrick S.. Groves. Pamela. Harington. C. Richard. Hodgins. Gregory W. L.. 2014-12-01. American mastodon extirpation in the Arctic and Subarctic predates human colonization and terminal Pleistocene climate change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111. 52. 18460–18465. 10.1073/pnas.1416072111. 25453065. 4284604. 0027-8424. 2014PNAS..11118460Z. free .
  11. Erickson. Gregory M.. Druckenmiller. Patrick S.. December 2011. Longevity and growth rate estimates for a polar dinosaur: aPachyrhinosaurus(Dinosauria: Neoceratopsia) specimen from the North Slope of Alaska showing a complete developmental record. Historical Biology. 23. 4. 327–334. 10.1080/08912963.2010.546856. 2011HBio...23..327E . 129724501. 0891-2963.
  12. Brown. Caleb Marshall. Druckenmiller. Patrick. September 2011. Basal ornithopod (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) teeth from the Prince Creek Formation (early Maastrichtian) of Alaska. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 48. 9. 1342–1354. 10.1139/e11-017. 0008-4077. 2011CaJES..48.1342B.
  13. Mori. Hirotsugu. Druckenmiller. Patrick. Erickson. Gregory. 2016. A new Arctic hadrosaurid (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae) from the Prince Creek Formation (lower Maastrichtian) of northern Alaska. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 61. 10.4202/app.00152.2015. 0567-7920. free.
  14. Benson . Roger B. J. . Druckenmiller . Patrick S. . 13 April 2013 . Faunal turnover of marine tetrapods during the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition . Biological Reviews . 89 . 1 . 1–23 . 10.1111/brv.12038 . 1464-7931 . 23581455 . 19710180.
  15. Web site: Best Job Ever: Hunting for the Bones of a Loch Ness-Like Monster – National Geographic Blog. https://web.archive.org/web/20181217202219/https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2016/07/28/best-job-ever-hunting-for-the-bones-of-a-loch-ness-like-monster/. dead. December 17, 2018. blog.nationalgeographic.org. 2018-12-10. 2016-07-28.
  16. Web site: New Director Selected for UA Museum of the North. www.akbizmag.com. 2018-12-10.
  17. Web site: Grant funds study of the Arctic's Cretaceous creatures. 2017-09-27. UAF news and information. 2018-12-11.
  18. Web site: The Arctic's "Edmontosaurus" Gets a New Name. https://web.archive.org/web/20181217202441/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2015/09/23/the-arctics-edmontosaurus-gets-a-new-name/. dead. December 17, 2018. 2015-09-23. Science & Innovation. 2018-12-10.
  19. Chinsamy. Anusuya. Thomas. Daniel B.. Tumarkin-Deratzian. Allison R.. Fiorillo. Anthony R.. 2012-02-17. Hadrosaurs Were Perennial Polar Residents. The Anatomical Record: Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology. 295. 4. 610–614. 10.1002/ar.22428. 22344791. 1932-8486. free.
  20. Web site: New digs, new discoveries and new dinosaurs in Alaska. News-Miner. Theresa Bakker, For the. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. 19 February 2017 . en. 2018-12-10.
  21. Web site: Dinosaur Footprints on the Roof… Of the World! – National Geographic Blog. https://web.archive.org/web/20181221182955/https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2014/08/06/dinosaur-footprints-on-the-roof-of-the-world/. dead. December 21, 2018. blog.nationalgeographic.org. 2018-12-10. 2014-08-06.
  22. Web site: Where the Wild Things Were. National Parks Conservation Association. en. 2018-12-10.
  23. Druckenmiller . Patrick S. . Kelley . Neil P. . Metz . Eric T. . Baichtal . James . 4 February 2020 . An articulated Late Triassic (Norian) thalattosauroid from Alaska and ecomorphology and extinction of Thalattosauria . . en . 10 . 1 . 1746 . 10.1038/s41598-020-57939-2 . 2045-2322 . 7000825 . 32019943 . 2020NatSR..10.1746D .
  24. Druckenmiller . Patrick Scott . 14 March 2002 . Osteology of a new plesiosaur from the lower Cretaceous (Albian) Thermopolis Shale of Montana . . en . 22 . 1 . 29–42 . 10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0029:OOANPF]2.0.CO;2 . 0272-4634 . 13 September 2024 . Taylor and Francis Online.
  25. Druckenmiller . Patrick Scott . Russell . Anthony P. . 12 March 2009 . The new plesiosaurian genus Nichollssaura from Alberta, Canada: replacement name for the preoccupied genus Nichollsia . . en . 29 . 1 . 276 . 10.1080/02724634.2009.10010379 . 2009JVPal..29..276D . 0272-4634 . 13 September 2024 . Taylor and Francis Online.
  26. Druckenmiller . Patrick Scott . Russell . Anthony P. . June 2006 . A new elasmosaurid plesiosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Lower Cretaceous Clearwater Formation, northeastern Alberta, Canada . Paludicola . 5 . 4 . 184–199 . 13 September 2024 . Rochester Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology.
  27. Druckenmiller . Patrick S. . Maxwell . Erin E. . 20 August 2010 . Sues . Hans . A new Lower Cretaceous (lower Albian) ichthyosaur genus from the Clearwater Formation, Alberta, Canada . . en . 47 . 8 . 1037–1053 . 10.1139/E10-028 . 2010CaJES..47.1037D . 0008-4077 . 13 September 2024 . Canadian Science Publishing.
  28. Roberts . Aubrey Jane . Druckenmiller . Patrick Scott . Cordonnier . Benoit . Delsett . Lene L. . Hurum . Jørn H. . 31 March 2020 . A new plesiosaurian from the Jurassic–Cretaceous transitional interval of the Slottsmøya Member (Volgian), with insights into the cranial anatomy of cryptoclidids using computed tomography . . en . 8 . e8652 . 10.7717/peerj.8652 . free . 32266112 . 7120097 . 2167-8359 .
  29. Knutsen . Espen M. . Druckenmiller . Patrick Scott . Hurum . Jørn H. . January 2012 . A new plesiosauroid (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Agardhfjellet Formation (Middle Volgian) of central Spitsbergen, Norway . . 13 September 2024 . ResearchGate.
  30. Knutsen . Espen M. . Druckenmiller . Patrick Scott . Hurum . Jørn H. . January 2012 . Two new species of long-necked plesiosaurians (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Upper Jurassic (Middle Volgian) Agardhfjellet Formation of central Spitsbergen . . 92 . 2–3 . 187–212 . 13 September 2024 . Research Gate.
  31. Knutsen . Espen M. . Druckenmiller . Patrick Scott . Hurum . Jørn H. . January 2012 . A new species of Pliosaurus (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria) from the Middle Volgian of central Spitsbergen, Norway . Norwegian Journal of Geology . en . 92 . 235–258 . 1502-5322 . 13 September 2024.
  32. Druckenmiller . Patrick Scott . Hurum . Jørn H. . Knutsen . Espen M. . Nakrem . Hans Arne . January 2012 . Two new ophthalmosaurids (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria) from the Agardhfjellet Formation (Upper Jurassic: Volgian/Tithonian), Svalbard, Norway . . 92 . 2 . 311–339 . 13 September 2024 . ResearchGate.
  33. Delsett . Lene Liebe . Roberts . Aubrey J. . Druckenmiller . Patrick S. . Hurum . Jørn H. . 25 January 2017 . Wong . William Oki . A New Ophthalmosaurid (Ichthyosauria) from Svalbard, Norway, and Evolution of the Ichthyopterygian Pelvic Girdle . . en . 12 . 1 . e0169971 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0169971 . free . 1932-6203 . 5266267 . 28121995 . 2017PLoSO..1269971D .
  34. Wooller . Matthew J. . Bataille . Clement . Druckenmiller . Patrick Scott . Erickson . Gregory M. . Groves . Pamela . Haubenstock . Norma . Howe . Timothy . Irrgeher . Johanna . Mann . Daniel . Moon . Katherine . Potter . Ben A. . Prohaska . Thomas . Rasic . Jeffrey . Reuther . Joshua . Shapiro . Beth . 13 August 2021 . Lifetime mobility of an Arctic woolly mammoth . . en . 373 . 6556 . 806–808 . 10.1126/science.abg1134 . 34385399 . 2021Sci...373..806W . 0036-8075 . 13 September 2024.
  35. Funck . Juliette . Heintzman . Peter D. . Murray . Gemma G. R. . Shapiro . Beth . McKinney . Holly . Huchet . Jean-Bernard . Bigelow . Nancy . Druckenmiller . Patrick Scott . Wooller . Matthew J. . 1 December 2020 . A detailed life history of a pleistocene steppe bison (Bison priscus) skeleton unearthed in Arctic Alaska . . 249 . 106578 . 10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106578 . 2020QSRv..24906578F . 0277-3791 . 13 September 2024 . Elsevier Science Direct. 10037/20794 . free .
  36. Kelly . Abigail . Miller . Joshua H. . Wooller . Matthew J. . Seaton . C. Tom . Druckenmiller . Patrick Scott . DeSantis . Larisa . 15 June 2021 . Dietary paleoecology of bison and horses on the mammoth steppe of eastern Beringia based on dental microwear and mesowear analyses . . en . 572 . 110394 . 10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110394 . 2021PPP...57210394K . 13 September 2024 . Elsevier Science Direct.
  37. Karpinski . Emil . Hackenberger . Dirk . Zazula . Grant . Widga . Chris . Duggan . Ana T. . Golding . G. Brian . Kuch . Melanie . Klunk . Jennifer . Jass . Christopher N. . Groves . Pam . Druckenmiller . Patrick Scott . Schubert . Blaine W. . Arroyo-Cabrales . Joaquin . Simpson . William F. . Hoganson . John W. . Fisher . Daniel C. . Ho . Simon Y. W. . MacPhee . Ross D. E. . Poinar . Hendrik N. . 1 September 2020 . American mastodon mitochondrial genomes suggest multiple dispersal events in response to Pleistocene climate oscillations . . en . 11 . 1 . 4048 . 10.1038/s41467-020-17893-z . 32873779 . 7463256 . 2020NatCo..11.4048K . 2041-1723 .
  38. Powell. Kendall. 2017-03-16. Outside the lab: Field your A Team. Nature. en. 543. 7645. 453–455. 10.1038/nj7645-453a. 0028-0836. free.
  39. Web site: Paleontologists Reveal the Identity of 'Predator X'. https://web.archive.org/web/20181217154639/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2012/10/15/paleontologists-reveal-identity-of-predator-x/. dead. December 17, 2018. 2012-10-15. Science & Innovation. 2018-12-10.
  40. News: Monster Was T. Rex of the Sea. Bryner. Jeanna. February 27. Live Science Managing Editor . Livescience.com. 2018-12-10. ET. 2008 07:00pm. 28 February 2008 .

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