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Marcus Ross

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Papers by Marcus Ross

Evaluating potential post-Flood boundaries with biostratigraphy—the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary

A Taxonomy of Teleology: Phillip Johnson, the Intelligent Design Community, and Young-Earth Creationism

PROBLEMS WITH CHARACTERIZING THE PROTOSTOME-DEUTEROSTOME ANCESTOR Society for Developmental Biology 2004 Annual Meeting Poster Number 254

Since Darwin’s time, the origins and relationships of the bilaterian animals have remained unsolv... more Since Darwin’s time, the origins and relationships of the bilaterian animals have remained unsolved problems in historical biology (Conway Morris 2000). One of the central difficulties is characterizing the common ancestor of the protostomes and deuterostomes. We argue that an unresolved conceptual puzzle has plagued the many attempts to describe this Urbilaterian, or, in Erwin and Davidson’s (2002) terminology, the protostome-deuterostome ancestor (PDA). Any organism sophisticated enough to be a realistic candidate for the PDA, with such characters as an anterior-posterior axis, gut, and sensory organs, must itself have been constructed by a developmental process, or by what we term an ontogenetic network (Ross and Nelson 2002). But the more biologically plausible the PDA becomes, as a functioning organism within a population of other such organisms, the more it will tend to “pull” (in its characters) towards one or another of the known bilaterian groups. As this happens, and the o...

The First Record of Dinosaur Tracks in the State of Washington, Usa

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 2019

Dinosaur remains from the western shoreline of Laramidia (near the modernday Pacific Coast of Nor... more Dinosaur remains from the western shoreline of Laramidia (near the modernday Pacific Coast of North America) are rare and often isolated and/or fragmentary. The majority of the finds come from the southerly regions of Baja, Mexico and nearby southern California, with only a handful of dinosaur-bearing localities from central California to coastal Alaska. To date, the State of Washington has only produced one dinosaur fossil: a partial proximal left femur from a theropod recovered from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Cedar District formation of the Nainamo Group at Sucia Island State Park. Here we report the discovery of the first dinosaur track site from the State of Washington. The locality is along the eastern flank of the Cascade Mountains near the city of Ellensburg, and it consists of a series of buff sandstones and dark gray-to-black shaley mudstones exposed along a road cut. The dinosaur tracks are preserved as sand infills (natural hypichnial casts) atop the shaley mudstones in which the prints were made. Three dinosaur groups are represented by two complete and three partial tracks: one partial theropod pes, two partial and one complete ornithopod pes, and one complete ankylosaur pes with detailed skin impressions.

Fossil Baramins on Noah's Ark: The "Amphibians

Answers Research Journal, 2014

Here I provide a compendium of extinct "amphibian" groups, representatives of which may have been... more Here I provide a compendium of extinct "amphibian" groups, representatives of which may have been carried aboard Noah's Ark. Following previous work by the Ark Encounter team, I selected the taxonomic rank of family as a first-order proxy for the biblical "kind." The resulting tabulation places 54 extinct "amphibian" families/kinds on board the Ark. While this number hinges upon taxonomies built upon fossil data (and its inherent shortcomings compared to extant forms), it serves as a reasonable approximation of the number of fossil "amphibians" taken aboard the Ark. When added to previously determined kinds of extant anurans, caudates, and gymnophionans, a total of 248 "amphibian" kinds may have been brought on board the Ark.

Richness Trends of Mosasaurs (Diapside, Squamata) During the Late Cretaceous

Late Cretaceous marine sedimentary deposits from North America, The Netherlands, and Belgium are ... more Late Cretaceous marine sedimentary deposits from North America, The Netherlands, and Belgium are correlated on the basis of ammonites, calcareous nannofossils, sequence stratigraphy, and absolute age methods. These correlations provide the rationale for the construction of fifteen stratigraphically correlated assemblages (SCAs), informal sub-stage level subdivisions designed to provide a broad framework for compiling and organizing marine vertebrate fossils from far-ranging localities with high levels of biostratigraphic resolution. A database of 1,805 globally distributed mosasaur specimens, each assigned to one of the fifteen SCAs and consisting of a minimum number of 354 individuals, is quantitatively analyzed to illuminate trends within the group. Four trends are recognized. First, mosasaur generic richness cannot be shown to change during the Maastrichtian stage, at the close of which all mosasaurs are extirpated. This trend is incompatible with long-term extinction scenarios, but is compatible with geologically instantaneous extinction hypotheses, such as a bolide impact at the end of the Cretaceous. The extinction of mosasaurs may be explained by a collapse of the primary production-dependant marine food web, in which mosasaurs were apical predators. Second, mosasaur richness decreases along poleward-trending latitudinal gradients, confirming earlier hypotheses. Third, mosasaurs experienced a significant expansion during the Coniacian through Santonian, followed by stable high richness levels from the early Campanian through latest Maastrichtian. This indicates that mosasaurs did not experience long-term richness declines in the latest Cretaceous. Fourth, despite stable generic richness levels, mosasaurs continually exploited new predatory modes recognized via accumulation of novel tooth forms. At the time of their extinction at the end of the Cretaceous, mosasaur were at the zenith of their morphological and ecological diversity, the extent of which was unparalleled by any other group of marine re p tiles. who provided and sustained me since my youth, and continues to do so. All glory to Him. On this side of Heaven, my wife and best friend, Corinna, displayed unyielding support and enthusiasm for my work. My parents, sister, and Corinna's family offered love and support at all times. For those who prayed and fasted, you have my eternal gratitude. I am grateful to the many individuals who discussed with me details of the stratigraphy outlined in this paper, and who aided my research at their respective institutions: Gale Bishop (SDSM&T), Harry Blewitt (University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa), John Bolt (FMH), Michael Brett-Surmann (UNSM), Daniel Brinkman (YPM), Toni Culver (UCM), Jun Ebersol (McWane Center), Mike Everhart (Sternberg Museum), James Gardner (TMP), Ned Gilmore (ANSP),

Trans-Atlantic Correlations of Upper Cretaceous Marine Sediments: The Mid-Atlantic (Usa) and Maastricht (Netherlands) Regions

Upper Cretaceous marine deposits from the Mid-Atlantic region of North America (Delaware, Marylan... more Upper Cretaceous marine deposits from the Mid-Atlantic region of North America (Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey) and the Maastricht area (southern Netherlands, and nearby Belgium and Gennany) are correlated across the Atlantic using a variety of macro invertebrates, nannofossils, and sequence stratigraphy. Four late Cretaceous Mid-Atlantic sequences, the Marshalltown, Englishtown, Merchantville, and Navesink, span the upper Santonian to lowennost Danian, and have direct correlatives in the Maastricht area. Correlations between the Mid-Atlantic and the Maastricht regions (respectively) are as follows: the upper Santonian to lower Campanian Merchantville and Matawan formations with the Achen and lower Vaals fonnations; the middle Campanian upper Englishtown F onnation with the upper Vaals F onnation; the uppermost middle Campanian to upper Campanian Marshalltown, Wenonah, and Mount Laurel fomlations with the lower Gulpen Fonnation; the Navesink and lower Severn fonnations with the ...

The Heavens and The Earth: Excursions in Earth and Space Science

The Heavens and the Earth is a groundbreaking new textbook designed for the undergraduate, non-sc... more The Heavens and the Earth is a groundbreaking new textbook designed for the undergraduate, non-science major. Thoroughly Biblical in approach and content, it is the only college-level textbook in Earth and space sciences that advocates Biblical, young-Earth creationism while also fairly and respectfully presenting naturalistic views of history.https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/faculty_books/1183/thumbnail.jp

The Flood/post-Flood Boundary (comment and reply)

Marcus R . Ross 2005 Who Believes What ? Clearing up Confusion over

The question of what differentiates young-Earth creationism (YEC) from Intelligent Design (ID) ha... more The question of what differentiates young-Earth creationism (YEC) from Intelligent Design (ID) has resulted in inaccurate and confusing terminology, and hinders both understanding and dialogue. Though both YEC and ID groups have drawn distinctions between themselves, previous attempts to classify design-based positions on origins have been unable to adequately resolve their relationships. The Nested Hierarchy of Design, a multiple-character classification system, categorizes teleological positions according to the strength of claims regarding the reality, detectability, source, method, and timing of design, and results in an accurate and robust classification of numerous positions. This method avoids the philosophical and theological pitfalls of previous methods and enables construction of accurate definitions for a suite of teleological positions. The incorporation of the Nested Hierarchy of Design in classroom discussion could 1) better represent the suite of opinions among studen...

Evaluating post-Flood boundaries using biostratigraphy--the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary

Baraminological Analysis of Jurassic and Cretaceous Avialae

The baraminic status of Jurassic and Cretaceous Avialae was evaluated using statistical baraminol... more The baraminic status of Jurassic and Cretaceous Avialae was evaluated using statistical baraminology. Baraminic distance correlation (BDC) and three dimensional multidimensional scaling (MDS) was applied to six previously published character matrices. The results reveal discontinuities between most Avialae and the Deinonychosauria (Troodontidae + Dromaeosauridae) and little evidence of continuity between modern birds and dinosaurs, suggesting that recent claims that statistical baraminology supports the evolution of birds from dinosaurs are misplaced. Nevertheless, we did find positive BDC and MDS clustering of some Avialae and deinonychosaurs in four of our analyses, suggesting that at least some Jurassic and Cretaceous Avialae may be clustered with dinosaurs. This observation raises the interesting philosophical question: what is a bird?

Who Believes What? Clearing up Confusion over Intelligent Design and Young-Earth Creationism

Journal of Geoscience Education, 2005

The question of what differentiates young-Earth creationism (YEC) from Intelligent Design (ID) ha... more The question of what differentiates young-Earth creationism (YEC) from Intelligent Design (ID) has resulted in inaccurate and confusing terminology, and hinders both understanding and dialogue. Though both YEC and ID groups have drawn distinctions between themselves, previous attempts to classify design-based positions on origins have been unable to adequately resolve their relationships. The Nested Hierarchy of Design, a multiple-character classification system, categorizes teleological positions according to the strength of claims regarding the reality, detectability, source, method, and timing of design, and results in an accurate and robust classification of numerous positions. This method avoids the philosophical and theological pitfalls of previous methods and enables construction of accurate definitions for a suite of teleological positions. The incorporation of the Nested Hierarchy of Design in classroom discussion could 1) better represent the suite of opinions among students, 2) clarify the many teleological positions, and 3) help to reduce tensions between educators, students, and the public.

Garden of the Gods at Colorado Springs: Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentation and tectonics

Through the Generations: Geologic and Anthropogenic Field Excursions in the Rocky Mountains from Modern to Ancient, 2010

Exposed along the southeast fl ank of the Colorado Front Range are rocks that beautifully illustr... more Exposed along the southeast fl ank of the Colorado Front Range are rocks that beautifully illustrate the interplay of sedimentation and tectonics. Two major rangebounding faults, the Ute Pass fault and the Rampart Range fault, converge on the Garden of the Gods region west of Colorado Springs. Cambrian through Cretaceous strata upturned by these faults reveal in their grain compositions, textures, and bedforms radically different styles of sedimentation. The Cambrian/Ordovician marine transgressive deposits appear to have come to rest on a passive and tectonically inactive craton. In contrast, coarse-grained Pennsylvanian/Permian marine deposits of the Fountain Formation and Lyons Sandstone reveal deposition by suspension and tractive currents in a very dynamic tectonic setting. These styles are contrasted with the alternating eustatics of the Western Interior Seaway which led to the local Cretaceous section. Finally, the powerful imprint of the Laramide orogeny is evident in the sandstone dikes of Sawatch Sandstone which are found within the hanging wall of the Ute Pass fault.

Charting the Late Cretaceous seas: mosasaur richness and morphological diversification

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2009

Abundant, readily identifiable, and biostratigraphically resolved specimens make mosasaurs ideal ... more Abundant, readily identifiable, and biostratigraphically resolved specimens make mosasaurs ideal candidates to test fluxes in generic richness and morphological trends among marine vertebrates during the late Cretaceous. More than 1800 globally distributed mosasaur specimens are allocated to fifteen substage-level stratigraphically correlated assemblages. These data are quantitatively analyzed to illuminate trends within the group. Following their first appearance in the Cenomanian, mosasaurs experienced a significant radiation in the Coniacian and Santonian. Richness levels continued increasing into the Maastrichtian while mosasaurs incrementally exploited new predatory niches recognized via accumulation of novel dental morphologies. Their extinction at the end of the Cretaceous occurred at the zenith of mosasaur morphological and ecological diversity.

Stratigraphy and Analytic Paleontology of the Lower Pierre Shale at Brown Ranch, Southwestern South Dakota

… of the South Dakota Academy of …, 2004

Paleontologists, both staff and student, from the Museum of Geology at the South Dakota School of... more Paleontologists, both staff and student, from the Museum of Geology at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology have been actively prospecting for fossils in the Campanian-age exposures of the Lower Pierre Shale on the Kenneth Brown Ranch since 1994. A measured section of the Pierre Shale at Brown Ranch is presented, and consists of 27.36 m of strata, including outcrops of the Gammon Ferruginous, Sharon Springs, and Mitten Black Shale Members. Field prospecting was combined with an assessment of the Museum of Geology collections at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology to produce a database of 53 vertebrate located within an interval of 0 to 18 m above the base of the section. Fossil distributions within this interval were grouped and tested in 0.5-and 1 m thick stratigraphic intervals and compared against random (Poisson) distributions. At a resolution of 1 m, fossils display random distribution, whereas at a resolution of 0.5 m fossils display an aggregated distribution. Particularly fossiliferous horizons at a resolution of 0.5 m are identified at the quadrats 5.0 and 14.5 m (and perhaps at 12.0 m) above the measured base. These results enable predictions to be made concerning the locations of potentially fossiliferous areas at Brown Ranch.

Problems with Characterizing the Protostome-Deuterostome Ancestor

Since Darwin's time, the origins and relationships of the bilaterian animals have remained unsolv... more Since Darwin's time, the origins and relationships of the bilaterian animals have remained unsolved problems in historical biology . One of the central difficulties is characterizing the common ancestor of the protostomes and deuterostomes. We argue that an unresolved conceptual puzzle has plagued the many attempts to describe this Urbilaterian, or, in Erwin and terminology, the protostome-deuterostome ancestor (PDA). Any organism sophisticated enough to be a realistic candidate for the PDA, with such characters as an anterior-posterior axis, gut, and sensory organs, must itself have been constructed by a developmental process, or by what we term an ontogenetic network . But the more biologically plausible the PDA becomes, as a functioning organism within a population of other such organisms, the more it will tend to "pull" (in its characters) towards one or another of the known bilaterian groups. As this happens, and the organism loses its descriptive generality, it will cease to be a good candidate Urbilaterian.

Richness trends of mosasaurs (Diapsida, Squamata) during the late Cretaceous

Faculty Dissertations, 2006

Late Cretaceous marine sedimentary deposits from North America, The Netherlands, and Belgium are ... more

Trans-Atlantic Correlation of Upper Cretaceous Marine Sediments

Northeastern Geology and …, 2006

Upper Cretaceous marine deposits from the Mid-Atlantic region of North America (Delaware, Marylan... more Upper Cretaceous marine deposits from the Mid-Atlantic region of North America (Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey) and the Maastricht area (southern Netherlands, and nearby Belgium and Gennany) are correlated across the Atlantic using a variety of macro invertebrates, nannofossils, and sequence stratigraphy. Four late Cretaceous Mid-Atlantic sequences, the Marshalltown, Englishtown, Merchantville, and Navesink, span the upper Santonian to lowennost Danian, and have direct correlatives in the Maastricht area. Correlations between the Mid-Atlantic and the Maastricht regions (respectively) are as follows: the upper Santonian to lower Campanian Merchantville and Matawan formations with the Achen and lower Vaals fonnations; the middle Campanian upper Englishtown F onnation with the upper Vaals F onnation; the uppermost middle Campanian to upper Campanian Marshalltown, Wenonah, and Mount Laurel fomlations with the lower Gulpen Fonnation; the Navesink and lower Severn fonnations with the middle Gulpen Fonnation; and the New Egypt and upper Severn fonnations with the upper Gulpen and Maastricht fonnations. Additionally, deposits of the Maastricht area also provide support for several proposed subdivisions in the Marshalltown and Navesink sequences. The correlations proposed here can serve to refine the biostratigraphy oflarge marine vertebrates known from both sides of the Atlantic.

The Cambrian explosion: biology's big bang

Darwinism, Design, and …, 2003