Ryan T. Tucker, Ph.D.
Lecturer in Sedimentology & Palaeontology
Department of Earth Sciences
Faculty of Science
Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Degrees Held:
Ph.D Geology ('14) James Cook University, AUS;
M.Sc. Vertebrate Palaeontology ('10) South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, USA;
B.S. Geology ('08) South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, USA.
Topics of Interests: sedimentology, stratigraphy, geochronology, taphonomy, palaeontology
email: [email protected]
Cnr Ryneveld and Merriman Streets,
Stellenbosch, Western Cape,
South AfricaPrivate Bag X1,
Matieland, 7602, South Africa
Lecturer in Sedimentology & Palaeontology
Department of Earth Sciences
Faculty of Science
Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Degrees Held:
Ph.D Geology ('14) James Cook University, AUS;
M.Sc. Vertebrate Palaeontology ('10) South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, USA;
B.S. Geology ('08) South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, USA.
Topics of Interests: sedimentology, stratigraphy, geochronology, taphonomy, palaeontology
email: [email protected]
Cnr Ryneveld and Merriman Streets,
Stellenbosch, Western Cape,
South AfricaPrivate Bag X1,
Matieland, 7602, South Africa
Research Focus
My research expertise draws upon a background in sedimentary environments, chemical tracers of sedimentary provenance (e.g., detrital zircon geochronology; Lu-Hf isotopes), and palaeontology, to address questions about the fossil record and the evolution of sedimentary basins. I am particularly interested in addressing questions concerning: 1) development of new strategies for improving the depositional age of clastic stratigraphic successions through the application of detrital mineral geochronology, 2) timing and pattern of basin development in Gondwana during the Late Paleozoic to Mesozoic, 3) vertebrate taphonomy, and 4) vertebrate palaeontology.
Publications
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles:
Rademan, Z., Tucker, R.T., Klausen, M.B., (Submitted). Preservation and palaeoenvironmetal context for floral fossil assemblages within a continental flood basalt-rhydodacite sequence along the Letaba River traverse; Kruger National Park. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology
Salisbury, S.W., Romilio, A., Herne, M.C., Tucker, R.T., Nair, J.P., (In Final Review). A highly diverse dinosaur ichnofauna from the Early Cretaceous (Valanginian–Barremian) Broome Sandstone of the Walmadany area (James Price Point), Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Special Memoir
Hanta, R., Jintasakul, P., Azuma, Y., Sekiya, T., Tucker, R.T., Jenjitpaiboon, K., Phanngam, T. (In Review) New basal sauropod, Chaiyaphumsaurus phrayalaei, from the Late Triassic Lower Nam Phong Formation, Chaiyaphum Province, northeastern Thailand. Paleontological Research
Tucker, R.T., Roberts, E.M., Darlington, V., Salisbury, S.W. (In Review) Depositional environments, stratigraphy and correlation of the Winton Formation: implications for Australia’s most important Mid-Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystem. Journal of Sedimentary Research
Tucker, R.T., Roberts, E.M., Henderson, R.A., Kemp, A.I., (In Press) U-Pb and Lu-Hf detrital zircon provenance analysis of the Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation, Eromanga Basin, Queensland: implications for the tectonic evolution of eastern Australia. GSA Bulletin
Tucker, R.T., 2015. Re-evaluation of vertebrate trace fossils via U-Pb LA-ICPMS zircon geochronology and facies analysis in Queensland, Australia and Lesotho, Africa. First International Congress on Continental Ichnology (ICCI).
Tucker, R. T., Roberts, E. M., Hu, Y., Kemp, A. I., & Salisbury, S. W., 2013. Detrital zircon age constraints for the Winton Formation, Queensland: Contextualizing Australia's Late Cretaceous dinosaur faunas. Gondwana Research 24(2), 767-779
Romilio, A., Tucker, R.T., and Salisbury, S.W., 2013. Morphological reinterpretation of Skartopus Lark Quarry tracks, mid-Cretaceous (late Albian-Cenomanian) Winton Formation, central-western Queensland, Australia: Not theropodian tracks but the ichnotaxon Wintonopus. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33(1), 102-120
Tucker, R.T., 2011. Taphonomy of Sheridan College Quarry 1, Buffalo, Wyoming: implications for reconstructing historic dinosaur localities including Utterback’s 1902-1910 Morrison dinosaur expeditions: Geobios, 44, 527-541
Papers in Preparation:
Testin J.J, D’Amore D.C., and Tucker R.T., (In Preparation) Analysis of tooth morphology in extant carnivorous reptiles for use in understanding feeding niche and prey preference in the fossil taxa Brachychampsa. Palaeobiology.
Walters, S., Tucker, R.T., Kisters, A., (In Preparation). Reanalysis of Neoproterozoic depositional environments of the Tygerberg Formation, Malmesbury Group of South Africa (Western Cape): Implications for paleo-environmental reconstruction and stratigraphic context. Journal of South African Geology
Peer Reviewed Conference Abstracts:
Hanta, R., Fuengkajorn, K., Tucker, R.T., Jintasakul, P., Junrattanamanee, T., 2016 Revision of the Nam Phong Formation (Khorat Group), Chaiyaphum, northeastern Thailand. 50th CCOP conference-Bangkok-1 November 2016.
Walters, S., Tucker, R.T., 2016. Reanalysis of cryptic sedimentological relationships involving the Southern Karoo Ripon Formation and the south-western Karoo Vischkuil/Laingsburg Formations: Implications for basin and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. 35th International Geological Congress, 27th August-4th September, Cape Town, South Africa.
Tucker, R.T., 2015. Re-evaluation of vertebrate trace fossils via U-Pb LA-ICPMS zircon geochronology and facies analysis in Queensland, Australia and Lesotho, Africa. Conference: First International Congress on Continental Ichnology (ICCI 2015) El Jadida, Morocco.
Salisbury, S.W., Romilio, A., Herne, M., Tucker, R.T., Nair, J., 2014. The Early Cretaceous Dinosaurian ichnofauna of the Broome Sandstone from the Walmadany area (James Price Point) of the Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia. 74th Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Berlin Germany, Programs and Abstracts, 219.
Van Gend, J., Tucker, R.T., Bordy, E.M., 2014. Reevaluation of vertebrate tracks in the Elliot and Clarens Formations (Karoo Supergroup), Lesotho - implications for the macrovertebrate biostratigraphic framework and the faunal turn-over in the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic. Proceedings of the 8th Biennial Conference of the Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa, 49.
Tucker, R.T., 2014. Re-evaluation of the mid-Cretaceous Winton Formation, northeastern Australia via U-Pb LA-ICPMS detrital zircon geochronology; implications for regional tectonics, sedimentary provenance and vertebrate palaeontology. Proceedings of the 8th Biennial Conference of the Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa, 48.
Tucker, R.T., Roberts, E.M. and Salisbury, S.W., 2013. U-Pb LA-ICPMS detrital zircon geochronology of the upper Ccretaceous Winton Formation, Queensland Australia: implications for regional tectonics, sedimentary provenance and vertebrate paleontology. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 45(7), 808.
Tucker, R.T., Roberts, E.M. Salisbury, S.W. 2013, (Invited Speaker). Advances in dating the Late Cretaceous vertebrate record of northeastern Australia using U-Pb LA-ICMPS detrital zircon geochronology. 73rd Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) in Los Angeles, California, USA 2013.
Tucker, R.T., Roberts, E.M. and Salisbury, S.W. 2011. New information on the stratigraphy, depositional environment and taphonomy of the mid-Cretaceous Winton Formation, central-western Queensland, Australia; p. 84 in Trinajstic, K., Bunce, M., Warburton, N., Hadley, C., Baynes, A. and Siversson, M. (eds.), 13th Conference on Australasian Vertebrate Evolution, Palaeontology and Systematics (CAVEPS), 27–30 April 2011, Perth. Geological Survey of Western Australia, 2011/9.
Testin, J.J., Tucker, R.T., Miyashita, T., Holtz Jr. T.R., 2011. Dental morphology of allosaurus fragilis (dinosauria: theropoda) from the upper jurassic morrison formation of western north america: is dentition more indicative of taxonomy or feeding niche?. 71st Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, v. 31 (Supplement to number 2).
Testin, Jason J., & Tucker, R,T., 2010. Survey of theropod (Dinosauria, Saurishia) dentition: morphology and function: 95th Annual Meeting of the South Dakota Academy of Sciences: Program and Abstracts, (abstract).
Tucker, R., 2009. Geology and paleontology of the Upper Jurassic Morrison and Lower Cretaceous Cloverly Formations along the eastern flank of The Bighorn Mountains, northeastern Wyoming: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, v. 29 (Supplement to number 3) 195A.
My research expertise draws upon a background in sedimentary environments, chemical tracers of sedimentary provenance (e.g., detrital zircon geochronology; Lu-Hf isotopes), and palaeontology, to address questions about the fossil record and the evolution of sedimentary basins. I am particularly interested in addressing questions concerning: 1) development of new strategies for improving the depositional age of clastic stratigraphic successions through the application of detrital mineral geochronology, 2) timing and pattern of basin development in Gondwana during the Late Paleozoic to Mesozoic, 3) vertebrate taphonomy, and 4) vertebrate palaeontology.
Publications
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles:
Rademan, Z., Tucker, R.T., Klausen, M.B., (Submitted). Preservation and palaeoenvironmetal context for floral fossil assemblages within a continental flood basalt-rhydodacite sequence along the Letaba River traverse; Kruger National Park. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology
Salisbury, S.W., Romilio, A., Herne, M.C., Tucker, R.T., Nair, J.P., (In Final Review). A highly diverse dinosaur ichnofauna from the Early Cretaceous (Valanginian–Barremian) Broome Sandstone of the Walmadany area (James Price Point), Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Special Memoir
Hanta, R., Jintasakul, P., Azuma, Y., Sekiya, T., Tucker, R.T., Jenjitpaiboon, K., Phanngam, T. (In Review) New basal sauropod, Chaiyaphumsaurus phrayalaei, from the Late Triassic Lower Nam Phong Formation, Chaiyaphum Province, northeastern Thailand. Paleontological Research
Tucker, R.T., Roberts, E.M., Darlington, V., Salisbury, S.W. (In Review) Depositional environments, stratigraphy and correlation of the Winton Formation: implications for Australia’s most important Mid-Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystem. Journal of Sedimentary Research
Tucker, R.T., Roberts, E.M., Henderson, R.A., Kemp, A.I., (In Press) U-Pb and Lu-Hf detrital zircon provenance analysis of the Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation, Eromanga Basin, Queensland: implications for the tectonic evolution of eastern Australia. GSA Bulletin
Tucker, R.T., 2015. Re-evaluation of vertebrate trace fossils via U-Pb LA-ICPMS zircon geochronology and facies analysis in Queensland, Australia and Lesotho, Africa. First International Congress on Continental Ichnology (ICCI).
Tucker, R. T., Roberts, E. M., Hu, Y., Kemp, A. I., & Salisbury, S. W., 2013. Detrital zircon age constraints for the Winton Formation, Queensland: Contextualizing Australia's Late Cretaceous dinosaur faunas. Gondwana Research 24(2), 767-779
Romilio, A., Tucker, R.T., and Salisbury, S.W., 2013. Morphological reinterpretation of Skartopus Lark Quarry tracks, mid-Cretaceous (late Albian-Cenomanian) Winton Formation, central-western Queensland, Australia: Not theropodian tracks but the ichnotaxon Wintonopus. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33(1), 102-120
Tucker, R.T., 2011. Taphonomy of Sheridan College Quarry 1, Buffalo, Wyoming: implications for reconstructing historic dinosaur localities including Utterback’s 1902-1910 Morrison dinosaur expeditions: Geobios, 44, 527-541
Papers in Preparation:
Testin J.J, D’Amore D.C., and Tucker R.T., (In Preparation) Analysis of tooth morphology in extant carnivorous reptiles for use in understanding feeding niche and prey preference in the fossil taxa Brachychampsa. Palaeobiology.
Walters, S., Tucker, R.T., Kisters, A., (In Preparation). Reanalysis of Neoproterozoic depositional environments of the Tygerberg Formation, Malmesbury Group of South Africa (Western Cape): Implications for paleo-environmental reconstruction and stratigraphic context. Journal of South African Geology
Peer Reviewed Conference Abstracts:
Hanta, R., Fuengkajorn, K., Tucker, R.T., Jintasakul, P., Junrattanamanee, T., 2016 Revision of the Nam Phong Formation (Khorat Group), Chaiyaphum, northeastern Thailand. 50th CCOP conference-Bangkok-1 November 2016.
Walters, S., Tucker, R.T., 2016. Reanalysis of cryptic sedimentological relationships involving the Southern Karoo Ripon Formation and the south-western Karoo Vischkuil/Laingsburg Formations: Implications for basin and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. 35th International Geological Congress, 27th August-4th September, Cape Town, South Africa.
Tucker, R.T., 2015. Re-evaluation of vertebrate trace fossils via U-Pb LA-ICPMS zircon geochronology and facies analysis in Queensland, Australia and Lesotho, Africa. Conference: First International Congress on Continental Ichnology (ICCI 2015) El Jadida, Morocco.
Salisbury, S.W., Romilio, A., Herne, M., Tucker, R.T., Nair, J., 2014. The Early Cretaceous Dinosaurian ichnofauna of the Broome Sandstone from the Walmadany area (James Price Point) of the Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia. 74th Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Berlin Germany, Programs and Abstracts, 219.
Van Gend, J., Tucker, R.T., Bordy, E.M., 2014. Reevaluation of vertebrate tracks in the Elliot and Clarens Formations (Karoo Supergroup), Lesotho - implications for the macrovertebrate biostratigraphic framework and the faunal turn-over in the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic. Proceedings of the 8th Biennial Conference of the Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa, 49.
Tucker, R.T., 2014. Re-evaluation of the mid-Cretaceous Winton Formation, northeastern Australia via U-Pb LA-ICPMS detrital zircon geochronology; implications for regional tectonics, sedimentary provenance and vertebrate palaeontology. Proceedings of the 8th Biennial Conference of the Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa, 48.
Tucker, R.T., Roberts, E.M. and Salisbury, S.W., 2013. U-Pb LA-ICPMS detrital zircon geochronology of the upper Ccretaceous Winton Formation, Queensland Australia: implications for regional tectonics, sedimentary provenance and vertebrate paleontology. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 45(7), 808.
Tucker, R.T., Roberts, E.M. Salisbury, S.W. 2013, (Invited Speaker). Advances in dating the Late Cretaceous vertebrate record of northeastern Australia using U-Pb LA-ICMPS detrital zircon geochronology. 73rd Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) in Los Angeles, California, USA 2013.
Tucker, R.T., Roberts, E.M. and Salisbury, S.W. 2011. New information on the stratigraphy, depositional environment and taphonomy of the mid-Cretaceous Winton Formation, central-western Queensland, Australia; p. 84 in Trinajstic, K., Bunce, M., Warburton, N., Hadley, C., Baynes, A. and Siversson, M. (eds.), 13th Conference on Australasian Vertebrate Evolution, Palaeontology and Systematics (CAVEPS), 27–30 April 2011, Perth. Geological Survey of Western Australia, 2011/9.
Testin, J.J., Tucker, R.T., Miyashita, T., Holtz Jr. T.R., 2011. Dental morphology of allosaurus fragilis (dinosauria: theropoda) from the upper jurassic morrison formation of western north america: is dentition more indicative of taxonomy or feeding niche?. 71st Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, v. 31 (Supplement to number 2).
Testin, Jason J., & Tucker, R,T., 2010. Survey of theropod (Dinosauria, Saurishia) dentition: morphology and function: 95th Annual Meeting of the South Dakota Academy of Sciences: Program and Abstracts, (abstract).
Tucker, R., 2009. Geology and paleontology of the Upper Jurassic Morrison and Lower Cretaceous Cloverly Formations along the eastern flank of The Bighorn Mountains, northeastern Wyoming: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, v. 29 (Supplement to number 3) 195A.