AN UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE IN THE CURATION OF LATE TRIASSIC CHINLE FORMATION MOLLUSKS FROM THE PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK

Rich Malizia was financially supported on a contract from the Petrified Forest National Park (PFNP) to assist Steve Good with the curation and returning to the National Park Service (NPS) of Good’s Ph.D. dissertation collections. These collections consisted of approximately 80 field collections of over 10,000 Late Triassic freshwater bivalves and gastropods from throughout the PFNP. This work involved producing NPS specimen labels for each species of every collection. The labels were placed in each appropriate box of specimens and the counts were verified against the data tables in Good’s dissertation (1993) and publication (1998). Finally, each box was carefully prepared for mailing to return the curated collections to the PFNP for archival in their research collections. Malizia began this project by reading publications on Chinle Formation mollusks by Good, and papers on the stratigraphy of the Chinle Formation. Next, Good and Malizia examined specimens and casts of type specimens of each species reported from the Chinle Formation. Then we reviewed the geography the PFNP to familiarize Malizia with the regions of the park, and stratigraphy of the exposed strata in the park. Now Malizia could prepare specimen labels with understanding the information he inserted into each of the fields on the labels. Prepared labels were placed in each box and Malizia verified the specimen counts. Good verified the identification of specimens according to each label. Then Malizia wrapped each box and label in plastic. The collections were boxed and packing lists were prepared to identify which collections were placed in each individually numbered box. This experience was very beneficial to Malizia as a student in the “Introduction to Paleontology” course. He had a greater appreciation of the significance of taxonomic, geographic, and stratigraphic information required for curation of paleontological collections, and necessity of this data to formulate accurate and meaningful paleontological interpretations.