Patrick Druckenmiller

Last updated
Patrick Druckenmiller
Excavated pleiosaur.jpg
Druckenmiller on a dig in 2011 (second right)
Born
Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S.
SpouseLisa Druckenmiller
Scientific career
Fields Paleontology
Institutions 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. [15] He is a member of the Spitsbergen Jurassic Research group, which focuses on marine reptiles. [16]

Contents

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. [17]

Arctic research

Much of Druckenmiller's work focuses on cold-hardy, high-latitude prehistoric animals. [18] In 2015, he and his student named a new species of a duck-billed, plant-eating dinosaur, Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis , [19] that apparently lived in the snowy Arctic year-round. [20] 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." [19]

Druckenmiller has worked extensively on ichnofossils, [21] including fossil track sites in Denali National Park and Svalbard. [22] 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. [23]

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, [24] the plesiosaur Edgarosaurus muddi from the Thermopolis Shale of Montana [25] the plesiosaurs Nichollssaura borealis [26] and Wapuskanectes betsynichollsae [27] and the ichthyosaur Athabascasaurus bitumineus from the Clearwater Formation of Alberta, [28] and the plesiosaurs Ophthalmothule cryostea , [29] Djupedalia engeri, [30] Spitrasaurus larseni , and Spitrasaurus wensaasi, [31] the pliosaur Pliosaurus funkei, [32] and the ichthyosaurs Cryopterygius kristiansenae , [33] Keilhauia nui , [34] and Palvennia hoybergeti from the Agardhfjellet Formation. [33]

Druckenmiller has also contributed to the study of Pleistocene megafauna, having coauthored papers on the lifetime movement patterns of woolly mammoths [35] and of steppe bison, [36] the dietary ecology of wild horses and steppe bison on the mammoth steppe of Alaska, [37] and the changes in geographic distribution of American mastodons in response to climatic oscillations during the Pleistocene. [38]

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." [39]

Below is a list of taxa that Druckenmiller has contributed to naming:

YearTaxonAuthors
2023 Sikuomys mikros gen. et sp. nov.Eberle, Clemens, Erickson, & Druckenmiller [40]
2020 Ophthalmothule cryostea gen. et sp. nov.Roberts, Druckenmiller, Cordonnier, Delsett, & Hurum [29]
2020 Gunakadeit joseeae gen. et sp. nov.Druckenmiller, Kelley, Metz, & Baichtal [24]
2019 Unnuakomys hutchisoni gen. et sp. nov.Eberle, Clemens, McCarthy, Fiorillo, Erickson, & Druckenmiller [41]
2017 Keilhauia nui gen. et sp. nov.Delsett, Roberts, Druckenmiller, & Hurum [34]
2014 Janusaurus lundi gen. et sp. nov.Roberts, Druckenmiller, Saetre, & Hurum [42]
2012 Palvennia hoybergeti gen. et sp. nov.Druckenmiller, Hurum, Knutsen, & Nakrem [33]
2012 Spitrasaurus larseni sp. nov.Knutsen, Druckenmiller, & Hurum [31]
2012 Spitrasaurus wensaasi gen. et sp. nov.Knutsen, Druckenmiller, & Hurum [31]
2012 Djupedalia engeri gen. et sp. nov.Knutsen, Druckenmiller, & Hurum [30]
2012 Pliosaurus funkei sp. nov.Knutsen, Druckenmiller, & Hurum [32]
2010 Athabascasaurus bitumineus gen. et sp. nov.Druckenmiller & Maxwell [28]
2009 Nichollssaura borealis gen. et comb. nov.Druckenmiller & Russell [26]
2006 Wapuskanectes betsynichollsae gen. et sp. nov.Druckenmiller & Russell [27]
2002 Edgarosaurus muddi gen. et sp. nov.Druckenmiller [25]

Predator X

In 2009, Druckenmiller was part of the History Channel documentary Predator X, [43] to discuss his find in Svalbard of a pliosaur suggested to have a bite four times stronger than Tyrannosaurus rex . [44] Druckenmiller and his colleagues were later interviewed by National Geographic, [44] The Link, Live Science, [45] 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. [46]

References

  1. ↑ "Dr. Pat Druckenmiller | Museum". www.uaf.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  2. ↑ says, Hannah Foss (2018-07-19). "New director selected for UA Museum of the North". UAF news and information. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  3. ↑ "Patrick Druckenmiller". epicc.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 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. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...731838B. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0031838 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   3306369 . PMID   22438869.
  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. Bibcode:2008PalAA.283....1D. doi:10.1127/pala/283/2008/1. ISSN   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. Bibcode:2009JPal...83..981D. doi:10.1666/09-014.1. ISSN   0022-3360. S2CID   130695434.
  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. Bibcode:2010CaJES..47.1037D. doi:10.1139/e10-028. ISSN   0008-4077.
  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" (PDF). PLOS ONE. 9 (8): e103152. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...9j3152R. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0103152 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   4118863 . PMID   25084533.
  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. Bibcode:2011PalZ...85..457M. doi:10.1007/s12542-011-0106-0. ISSN   0031-0220. S2CID   129633686.
  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. Bibcode:2014PNAS..11118460Z. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1416072111 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   4284604 . PMID   25453065.
  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. Bibcode:2011HBio...23..327E. doi:10.1080/08912963.2010.546856. ISSN   0891-2963. S2CID   129724501.
  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. Bibcode:2011CaJES..48.1342B. doi:10.1139/e11-017. ISSN   0008-4077.
  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. doi: 10.4202/app.00152.2015 . ISSN   0567-7920.
  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. doi:10.1111/brv.12038. ISSN   1464-7931. PMID   23581455. S2CID   19710180.
  15. ↑ Patrick., Druckenmiller (2008), Polar dinosaurs : living the high life in the age of dinosaurs, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, ISBN   9780915360314, OCLC   229900468
  16. ↑ "Best Job Ever: Hunting for the Bones of a Loch Ness-Like Monster – National Geographic Blog". blog.nationalgeographic.org. 2016-07-28. Archived from the original on December 17, 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  17. ↑ "New Director Selected for UA Museum of the North". www.akbizmag.com. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  18. ↑ "Grant funds study of the Arctic's Cretaceous creatures". UAF news and information. 2017-09-27. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  19. 1 2 "The Arctic's "Edmontosaurus" Gets a New Name". Science & Innovation. 2015-09-23. Archived from the original on December 17, 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  20. ↑ 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. doi: 10.1002/ar.22428 . ISSN   1932-8486. PMID   22344791.
  21. ↑ News-Miner, Theresa Bakker, For the (19 February 2017). "New digs, new discoveries and new dinosaurs in Alaska". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Retrieved 2018-12-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. ↑ "Dinosaur Footprints on the Roof… Of the World! – National Geographic Blog". blog.nationalgeographic.org. 2014-08-06. Archived from the original on December 21, 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  23. ↑ "Where the Wild Things Were". National Parks Conservation Association. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  24. 1 2 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". Scientific Reports . 10 (1): 1746. Bibcode:2020NatSR..10.1746D. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-57939-2. ISSN   2045-2322. PMC   7000825 . PMID   32019943.
  25. 1 2 Druckenmiller, Patrick Scott (14 March 2002). "Osteology of a new plesiosaur from the lower Cretaceous (Albian) Thermopolis Shale of Montana". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 22 (1): 29–42. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0029:OOANPF]2.0.CO;2. ISSN   0272-4634 . Retrieved 13 September 2024– via Taylor and Francis Online.
  26. 1 2 Druckenmiller, Patrick Scott; Russell, Anthony P. (12 March 2009). "The new plesiosaurian genus Nichollssaura from Alberta, Canada: replacement name for the preoccupied genus Nichollsia" . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 29 (1): 276. Bibcode:2009JVPal..29..276D. doi:10.1080/02724634.2009.10010379. ISSN   0272-4634 . Retrieved 13 September 2024– via Taylor and Francis Online.
  27. 1 2 Druckenmiller, Patrick Scott; Russell, Anthony P. (June 2006). "A new elasmosaurid plesiosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Lower Cretaceous Clearwater Formation, northeastern Alberta, Canada" (PDF). Paludicola. 5 (4): 184–199. Retrieved 13 September 2024– via Rochester Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology.
  28. 1 2 Druckenmiller, Patrick S.; Maxwell, Erin E. (20 August 2010). Sues, Hans (ed.). "A new Lower Cretaceous (lower Albian) ichthyosaur genus from the Clearwater Formation, Alberta, Canada" . Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences . 47 (8): 1037–1053. Bibcode:2010CaJES..47.1037D. doi:10.1139/E10-028. ISSN   0008-4077 . Retrieved 13 September 2024– via Canadian Science Publishing.
  29. 1 2 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". PeerJ . 8: e8652. doi: 10.7717/peerj.8652 . ISSN   2167-8359. PMC   7120097 . PMID   32266112.
  30. 1 2 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". Norwegian Journal of Geology . Retrieved 13 September 2024– via ResearchGate.
  31. 1 2 3 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". Norwegian Journal of Geology . 92 (2–3): 187–212. Retrieved 13 September 2024– via ResearchGate.
  32. 1 2 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. 92: 235–258. ISSN   1502-5322 . Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  33. 1 2 3 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". Norwegian Journal of Geology . 92 (2): 311–339. Retrieved 13 September 2024– via ResearchGate.
  34. 1 2 Delsett, Lene Liebe; Roberts, Aubrey J.; Druckenmiller, Patrick S.; Hurum, Jørn H. (25 January 2017). Wong, William Oki (ed.). "A New Ophthalmosaurid (Ichthyosauria) from Svalbard, Norway, and Evolution of the Ichthyopterygian Pelvic Girdle". PLOS ONE . 12 (1): e0169971. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1269971D. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169971 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   5266267 . PMID   28121995.
  35. ↑ 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" . Science . 373 (6556): 806–808. Bibcode:2021Sci...373..806W. doi:10.1126/science.abg1134. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   34385399 . Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  36. ↑ 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". Quaternary Science Reviews . 249: 106578. Bibcode:2020QSRv..24906578F. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106578. hdl: 10037/20794 . ISSN   0277-3791 . Retrieved 13 September 2024– via Elsevier Science Direct.
  37. ↑ 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". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 572: 110394. Bibcode:2021PPP...57210394K. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110394 . Retrieved 13 September 2024– via Elsevier Science Direct.
  38. ↑ 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". Nature Communications . 11 (1): 4048. Bibcode:2020NatCo..11.4048K. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17893-z. ISSN   2041-1723. PMC   7463256 . PMID   32873779.
  39. ↑ Powell, Kendall (2017-03-16). "Outside the lab: Field your A Team". Nature. 543 (7645): 453–455. doi: 10.1038/nj7645-453a . ISSN   0028-0836.
  40. ↑ Eberle, Jaelyn J.; Clemens, William A.; Erickson, Gregory M.; Druckenmiller, Patrick Scott (5 August 2023). "A new tiny eutherian from the Late Cretaceous of Alaska" . Journal of Systematic Palaeontology . 21 (1). doi:10.1080/14772019.2023.2232359. ISSN   1477-2019 . Retrieved 7 January 2025– via Taylor and Francis Online.
  41. ↑ Eberle, Jaelyn J.; Clemens, William A.; McCarthy, Paul J.; Fiorillo, Anthony R.; Erickson, Gregory M.; Druckenmiller, Patrick S. (2 November 2019). "Northernmost record of the Metatheria: a new Late Cretaceous pediomyid from the North Slope of Alaska" . Journal of Systematic Palaeontology . 17 (21): 1805–1824. doi:10.1080/14772019.2018.1560369. ISSN   1477-2019 . Retrieved 2 January 2025– via Taylor and Francis Online.
  42. ↑ Roberts, Aubrey Jane; Druckenmiller, Patrick Scott; Sætre, Glenn-Peter; Hurum, Jørn Harald (1 August 2014). Farke, Andrew A. (ed.). "A New Upper Jurassic Ophthalmosaurid Ichthyosaur from the Slottsmøya Member, Agardhfjellet Formation of Central Spitsbergen". PLoS ONE . 9 (8): e103152. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...9j3152R. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0103152 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   4118863 . PMID   25084533.
  43. ↑ Predator X , retrieved 2018-12-10
  44. 1 2 "Paleontologists Reveal the Identity of 'Predator X'". Science & Innovation. 2012-10-15. Archived from the original on December 17, 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  45. ↑ Bryner, Jeanna; February 27, Live Science Managing Editor |; ET, 2008 07:00pm (28 February 2008). "Monster Was T. Rex of the Sea". Livescience.com. Retrieved 2018-12-10.{{cite news}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  46. ↑ Xtinction: Predator X , retrieved 2018-12-10
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