The 52 papers in this vary in content from summaries or state-of-knowledge treatments, to detailed contributions that describe new species. Although the distinction is subtle, the title (Vertebrate Paleontology in Utah) indicates the science of paleontology in the state of Utah, rather than the even more ambitious intent if it were given the title “Vertebrate Paleontology of Utah” which would promise an encyclopedic treatment of the subject. The science of vertebrate paleontology in Utah is robust and intense. It has grown prodigiously in the past decade, and promises to continue to grow indefinitely. This research benefits everyone in the state, through Utah’s muse ums and educational institutions, which are the direct beneficiaries.

This 20 page report describes the stratigraphy of the Cedar Mountain and Dakota formations in and around Dinosaur National Monument in northeast Utah and includes new palynology and radiometric age data. The contract between these formations is unconformable in which the Dakota formation has incised into the underlying Cedar Mountain formation. Locally, the Dakota includes a basal marine mudstone and shale unit that contains late Albian dinoflagellate cysts, which represents peak sea level during the Kiowa-Skull Creek depositional cycle and indicates the first marine incursion of the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway into Utah.

The famous bone beds of the Morrison Formation, formed one hundred and fifty million years ago and running from Wyoming down through the red rock region of the American Southwest, have yielded one of the most complete pictures of any ancient vertebrate ecosystem in the world. Jurassic West, Second Edition tells the story of the life of this ancient world as scientists have so far been able to reconstruct it. Aimed at the general reader, Jurassic West, Second Edition recounts the discovery of many important Late Jurassic dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus, Allosaurus, and Stegosaurus. But dinosaurs compose barely a third of the more than 90 types of vertebrates known from the formation, which include crocodiles and turtles, frogs and salamanders, dinosaurs and mammals, clams and snails, and ginkgoes, ferns, and conifers. Featuring nearly all new illustrations, the second edition of this classic work includes new taxa named since 2007, updates to the naming and classifications of some old taxa, and expanded sections on numerous aspects of Morrison Formation paleontology and geology.