Bighorn Basin Paleontology: How the Largest of the Largest Dinosaurs Came to Be

The long-necked dinosaurs known as sauropods are by far the biggest land animals ever to walk the earth, rivaled in size only by the largest whales today. What led to the exceptional size of the sauropods? Where, when, and how did their titanic sizes evolve, and how did sauropods grow? And why haven’t other groups of reptiles, mammals, or birds evolved such immense sizes? These questions will be answered with the ever-growing fossil record and the field of paleo-histology, which is the science of studying bones and other tissues under the microscope.
Dr. Michael D’Emic is a paleontologist and Associate Professor at Adelphi University in New York. He earned his doctorate at the University of Michigan studying the evolution of long-necked dinosaurs. His research takes him around the world to visit museums and excavate fossils. He has been excavating fossils in the Bighorn Basin with students and colleagues since 2007.
Mike has published numerous articles on dinosaur evolution, including a recent cover article for Scientific American. When not working, Mike enjoys hiking in New York’s Catskill Mountains with his wife and daughter.