The Nicholas McDonald Collection
Prior to its acquisition by PRI, the Nick McDonald collection was the single
largest privately-held eastern North American, Triassic-Jurassic paleontological and
sedimentological collection in the world. The collection excels in particular in two areas:
fossil fish and sedimentological study slabs, but also has splendid collections of Early
Jurassic insects, crustaceans, mollusks, reptile (including dinosaur) footprints, and plants.
A huge, unique systematic collection of coprolites is also represented. Most of the
specimens come from the Connecticut Valley, although several other Triassic-Jurassic
basins are represented by significant material. Many of the paleontological and
sedimentological specimens have already been the subject of scientific publications. In its
totality, the McDonald collection is comparable to the famous Triassic-Jurassic
Hitchcock collection at the Pratt Museum of Amherst College (Amherst, MA), although
the latter specializes in reptile footprints, rather than fossil fish.
Fossil fish: The McDonald Early Jurassic fossil fish collection alone is larger (and
of higher quality) than that of any national or international museum, with the possible
exceptions of those of the American Museum of Natural History and the Yale Peabody
Museum, both accumulated over the last 200 years, to which it is comparable (but
probably exceeds). The quality of many of these fishes is superb. Unlike specimens in
many private collections, these have not been marred for future scientific study or display
by hasty preparation. What preparation has been done, has been carried out by some of
the most skilled museum preparators in the world, notably at the American Museum of
Natural History. These specimens will undoubtedly form the basis of future systematic
revisions, most notably of the large Jurassic coelacanth, Diplurus longicadatus, and the
handsome palaeonisciform fish Ptycholepis.
A unique aspect of the McDonald collection of fish is the superb assemblage of
specimens showing various taphonomic features. These include a full series of
preservational phenomena such as: mass kill horizons, current alignment, tetany,
bloating, gas expulsion, various stages of disarticulation, gastric ejections, in situ
intestinal contents, and coprolitic remains. No other collection of Early Jurassic fishes
approaches what is available within this collection.
Papers by McCune and others document that the Connecticut Valley Early
Jurassic lakes contained species flocks of semionotid fishes. Species flocks are large
numbers of very closely related species living in circumscribed area, modern examples of
which include the cichlid fishes of the great lakes of East Africa, the sculpins of Lake
Baikal, Siberia, finches of the Galapagos Islands, and drosophilid flies and honey
creepers (Aves) of the Hawaiian Archipelago. Species flocks are regarded as a very
important evolutionary phenomenon because they demonstrate the extremely high rate at
which speciation can occur as well its particular mechanism. The semionotid species
flocks described by McCune comprise the only well-documented fossil example,
preserved within a historical (paleontological) context. The McDonald collection contains
many of the fish that were part of McCune’s analysis.
Sedimentological slabs: The McDonald sedimentological study collection is
unique. All of the slabs are correlated to specific horizons at specific localities, most of
which are the sites that have produced the bulk of the fossil collection. Many slabs
display unique sedimentological and paleontological features that have yet to be
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described in the literature or are unique for the region. They will certainly form the basis
for several Ph.D. theses and many future publications.
Early Jurassic Invertebrates: The McDonald collection has the largest known
assemblage of North American Jurassic insects and crustaceans from numerous localities,
most not otherwise collected. Especially notable is material of the probable beetle larva
Mormolucoides, the beetle Holcoptera from several localities, and other insects,
especially from the now filled Kelsey-Ferguson Quarry (Suffield, CT). This collection
contains the only significant assemblage of eastern North American Early Jurassic
conchostracans (clam shrimp) from numerous localities, especially in the Connecticut
Valley and Virginia (Culpeper basin). It also has an important collection of mollusks,
including clams from several Connecticut Valley localities, and gastropods from
Virginia.
Early Jurassic Footprints: Within the McDonald collection are a significant
number of excellent reptile footprint slabs, notable especially for being from Connecticut
Valley localities that are very poorly represented or unrepresented in other collections.
These include some very handsome dinosaur footprint slabs that would make excellent
display pieces.
Early Jurassic Plants: Fossil plants are well represented in the McDonald
collection, again largely (but not exclusively) from the Connecticut Valley. Many of
these plants are of splendid display quality from localities no longer extant (e.g., KelseyFerguson Quarry, Suffield, CT). However, the collection has hundreds of smaller plant
specimens from nearly every Connecticut Valley fossil locality, which themselves
represent a unique scientifically valuable geochemical and stratigraphic assemblage.
Coprolites: One of the most unusual aspects of the collection is a massive,
systematically collected assemblage of coprolites, most probably produced by fish. There
is nothing like it anywhere.
The McDonald collection has been used in over 47 papers and abstracts, one M.A.
thesis, and 2 Ph.D. theses. A list of these works is attached. While this list is fairly
extensive and a testament to the scientific importance of the collection, it will no doubt
grow to be much larger as the collection’s existence and availability become more widely
known.
Paul E. Olsen
Storke Memorial Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
July 15, 2005
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Bibliography of works in which the collection was consulted and/or cited.
Dickneider, T.A., Murphy, S.M.E., Sallavanti, R.A., Stephens, K.J., 2003, Organic
Geochemistry of Lacustrine Shales of the Shuttle Meadow and Portland Formations
of the Hartford Basin (Newark Supergroup, Connecticut). In LeTourneau, P.M. and
Olsen, P.E. (eds.), The Great Rift Valleys of Pangea in Eastern North America, vol .2:
Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, and Paleontology, Columbia University Press (in press).
Good, S.C., Yenik, L.A., Olsen, P.E., McDonald, N.G., 1994, Non-marine molluscs from
the Scots Bay Formation, Newark Supergroup (Early Jurassic), Nova Scotia:
taxonomic assessment and paleoecologic significance. Geological Society of
America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 26, no. 3, p. 20.
Huber, P., McDonald, Olsen, P.E., 2003, Early Jurassic insects from the Newark
Supergroup, northeastern North United States, in LeTourneau, P.M., Olsen, P.E.
(eds.), The Great Rift Valleys of Pangea in Eastern North America, vol .2:
Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, and Paleontology, Columbia University Press (in press).
Kotra, R.K., 1988, Organic geochemical studies of the eastern U.S. early Mesozoic
Newark Basin - phase two; In Carter, L.M.H., (ed.), USGS Research on Energy
Resources-1988, Program and Abstracts: U.S. Geol. Surv. Circ., no. 1025, p. 26.
Kotra, R.K., Gottfried, R.M., Spiker, E.C., Hatcher, P.G., Froelich, A.J., 1986, Thermal
evolution of kerogen and phytoclasts in the eastern United States early Mesozoic
basins as a guide to maturation; In Carter, L.M.H., (ed.), USGS Research on Energy
Resources-1986, Program and Abstracts: U.S. Geol. Surv. Circ., no. 974, p. 33-34.
Kotra, R.K., Gottfried, R.M., Spiker, E.C., Romankiw, L.A., Hatcher, P.G., 1988,
Chemical composition and thermal maturity of kerogen and phytoclasts of the
Newark Supergroup in the Hartford Basin; In Froelich, A.J., Robinson, G.R., Jr.,
(eds.), Studies of the early Mesozoic basins of the eastem United States: U.S. Geol.
Surv. Bull., no. 1776, p. 68-74. Illus.
Kotra, R.K., Hatcher, P.G., Spiker, E.C., Romankiw, L.A., Gottfried, R.M., Pratt, L.M.,
Vuletich, A.K., 1985, Organic geochemical investigations of eastern U.S. early
Mesozoic basins [abstr.]: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Bull., v. 69, p. 1439.
Kotra, R.K., Walters, C.C., 1988, Organic geochemistry of Jurassic shales from the
Newark Supergroup: maturation by hydrothermal fluids [abstr.]: Third Chemical
Congress of North America, Toronto, Canada, Abstracts of Papers, GEOC 75.
McCune, A.R., 1982, Early Jurassic Semionotidae (Pisces) from the Newark Supergroup:
systematics and evolution of fossil species flock: Ph.D. Thesis, Dept. of Biol., Yale
Univ., New Haven, Conn., 371 p.
McCune, A.R., 1986, A revision of Semionotus (Pisces: Semionotidae) from the Triassic
and Jurassic of Europe: Palaeontology, v. 29, part 2, p. 213-233.
McCune, A.R., 1987a, Lakes as laboratories of evolution: endemic fishes and
environmental cyclicity: Palaios, v. 2, p. 446-454.
McCune, A.R., 1987b, Toward the phylogeny of a fossil species flock: semionotid fishes
from a lake deposit in the Early Jurassic Towaco Formation, Newark Basin: Peabody
Mus. Nat. Hist. Bull., no. 43, 108 p.
McCune, A.R., 1987c. Milankovitch cycles and endemism: evolution of Semionotus
(Pisces) in Mesozoic lakes [abstr.]: Jour. Vert. Paleontol., v. 7, no. 3, suppl., p. 20A21A.
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McCune, A.R., 1990, Evolutionary novelty and atavism in the Semionotus complex:
relaxed selection during colonization of an expanding lake: Evolution, v. 44, p. 71-85.
McCune, A.R., Thomson, K.S., Olsen, P.E., 1984, Semionotid fishes from the Mesozoic
great lakes of North America, In Echelle, A.A., Kornfield, I., (eds.), Evolution of fish
species flocks: Orono, Maine, Univ. of Maine at Orono Press, p. 27-44.
McDonald, N.G., LeTourneau, P.M., 1989b. Taphonomic phosphate loss in Early
Jurassic lacustrine fishes, East Berlin Formation, Hartford Basin, New England' USA
[abstr.]: Int. Geol. Congr., 28th Session, Washington, D.C., Abstracts, vol. 2, p. 398.
McDonald, N.G., 1970, Paleontology and paleoecology of a previously undescribed
locality of Triassic black shale near Durham, Connecticut: B.A. Thesis, Dept. of
Geol., Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Penna., 80 p.
McDonald, N.G., 1975, Fossil fishes from the Newark Group of the Connecticut Valley:
M.A. Thesis, Dept. of Geol., Wesleyan Univ., Middletown, Conn., 230 p. Illus.
McDonald, N.G., 1982, Paleontology of the Mesozoic rocks of the Connecticut Valley;
In Joesten, Raymond and Quarrier, S.S., (eds.), Guidebook for fieldtrips in
Connecticut and south-central Massachusetts; New England Intercoll. Geol. Conf.,
74th Annu. Mtg., Storrs, Conn.: Conn. Geol. Nat. Hist. Surv. Guideb., no. 5, trip M-2,
p. 143-172.
McDonald, N.G., 1983, History of paleoichthyology in the Newark Supergroup basins,
eastern North America [abstr.]: Geol. Soc. Am. Abstr., v. 15, no. 3, p. 121.
McDonald, N.G., 1985, New discoveries of Jurassic invertebrates in the Connecticut
Valley: implications for lacustrine paleoecology [abstr.]: Geol. Soc. Am. Abstr., v.
17, no. 1, p. 53-54.
McDonald, N.G., 1989, [Remarks on the geology and paleontology of the Hartford and
Deerfield Basins, Connecticut-Massachusetts]; In Olsen, P.E., Schlische, R.W., Gore,
P.J.W., (eds.), Tectonic, depositional, and paleoecological history of early Mesozoic
rift basins, eastern North America: 28th International Geological Congress,
Washington, D.C., Field Trip Guidebook T35 1, p. 110-115, 120-123.
McDonald, N.G., 1991, Paleontology of the early Mesozoic (Newark Supergroup) rocks
of the Connecticut Valley; In
McDonald, N.G., 1992, Paleontology of the early Mesozoic (Newark Supergroup) rocks
of the Connecticut Valley: Northeastern Geol., v. 14, p. 1 85- 199.
McDonald, N.G., 1995, Connecticut in the age of dinosaurs a fossil legacy. Rocks and
Minerals, v. 7O, p. 412-418.
McDonald, N.G., Huber, P., 1995, Results from a decade of paleontological research in
the Newark Supergroup rocks of the Connecticut Valley [abstr.]: Geol. Soc. Am.
Abstr., v. 27, no. 1, p. 67.
McDonald, N.G., LeTourneau, P.M. l 990. Revised paleogeographic model for Early
Jurassic deposits, Connecticut Valley: regional easterly paleoslopes and internal
drainage in an asymmetrical extensional basin. [abstr.]: Geol. Soc. Am. Abstr., v. 22,
no. 2, p. 54.
McDonald, N.G., LeTourneau, P.M., 1988, Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of a
fluvial-deltaic-lacustrine sequence, Lower Jurassic Portland Formation, Suffield,
Connecticut; In Froelich, A.J., Robinson, G.R., Jr., (eds.), Studies of the early
Mesozoic basins of the eastern United States: U.S. Geol. Surv. Bull., no. 1776, p 2430.
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McDonald, N.G., LeTourneau, P.M., 1989a, Deltaic and lake margin paleoenvironments,
Lower Jurassic PortlandFormation, north-central Connecticut: implications for rift
basin morphology [abstr.]: Geol. Soc. Am. Abstr., v. 21, no. 2, p. 31.
McDonald, N.G., Textoris, D.A., 1984, Petrology of ooid-bearing silcrete, Upper Triassic
Cherry Brook Basin, Connecticut. [abstr.]: Geol. Soc. Am. Abstr., v. 16, no. 1, p. 49.
Olsen, P.E., 1980, Comparison of the vertebrate assemblages from the Newark and
Hartford basins (Early Mesozoic, Newark Supergroup) of eastern North America: In
Jacobs, L. L. (ed.), Aspects of Vertebrate History. Flagstaff, Museum of Northern
Arizona Press, p. 35-53.
Olsen, P.E., 1984, Comparative Paleolimnology of the Newark Supergroup: A Study of
Ecosystem evolution: Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Biology Department, Yale
University, 724 p.
Olsen, P. E., 1985, Significance of the great lateral extent of thin units in the Newark
Supergroup (Early Mesozoic, Eastern North America) (Abst.): American Association
of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 69, no. 9, p. 1444.
Olsen, P.E., 1985, Distribution of organic-rich lacustrine rocks in the early Mesozoic
Newark Supergroup: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 946, p. 61-64.
Olsen, P.E., 1988, Continuity of strata in the Newark and Hartford Basins of the Newark
Supergroup: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, 1776, 6-18.
Olsen, P.E., 1988, Paleoecology and Paleoenvironments of the Continental Early
Mesozoic Newark Supergroup of Eastern North America: In ed. W. Manspeizer,
Triassic-Jurassic Rifting and the opening of the Atlantic Ocean, Elsevier, Amsterdam,
p. 185-230.
Olsen, P.E., Et-Touhami, M., Whiteside, J.H., 2003, The initial CAMP flood basalt event
and its relationship to overlying carbonate-rich sequences (North America and
Northwest Africa): two options related to the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. Geological
Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 35, no. 2, in press.
Olsen, P.E., Kent, D.V., Sues, H.-D., Koeberl, C., Huber, H., Montanari, A., Rainforth, E.
C., Fowell, S.J., Szajna, M.J., Hartline, B.W., Ascent of dinosaurs linked to an
iridium anomaly at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. Science, v. 296, p. 1305-1307.
Olsen, P.E., McCune, A.R., Thomson, K.S., 1982, Correlation of the early Mesozoic
Newark Supergroup by Vertebrates, principally fishes: American Journal of Science,
v. 282, p. 1-44.
Olsen, P.E., McDonald, N.G., Huber, P., Cornet, B., 1992, Stratigraphy and Paleoecology
of the Deerfield rift basin (Triassic-Jurassic, Newark Supergroup), Massachusetts: in
Robinson, P., Brady, J. B. (eds.) Guidebook for Field Trips in the Connecticut Valley
Region of Massachusetts and Adjacent States (vol. 2), New England Intercollegiate
Geological Conference 84th Annual Meeting, Contribution no. 66, Department of
Geology and Geography, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, p.
488-535.
Pratt, L.M., 1989a. Deposition, diagenesis and maturation of organic matter in rift-basin
lacustrine shales of Triassic Jurassic Newark Supergroup [abstr.]: Am. Assoc. Pet.
Geol. Bull., v. 73, p. 40 l .
Pratt, L.M., 1989b. Organic geochemical studies of rift-basin lacustrine shales in the
Triassic-Jurassic Newark Supergroup [abstr.]: Int. Geol. Congr., 28th Session,
Washington, D.C., Abstracts, vol. 2, p. 637.
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Pratt, L.M., Burruss, R.C., 1988. Evidence for petroleum generation and migration in the
Hartford and Newark Basins; In Froelich, A.J., Robinson, G.R., Jr., (eds.), Studies of
the early Mesozoic basins of the eastern United States: U.S. Geol. Surv. Bull., no.
1776, p. 74-79.
Pratt, L.M., Burruss, R.C., Olsen, P.E., 1986, Petroleum generation and migration in
Lower Jurassic sequences, Hartford Basin, Connecticut and Massachusetts [abstr.]:
Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Bull., v. 70, p. 635.
Pratt, L.M., Shaw, C.A., Burruss, R.C., 1988, Thermal histories of the Hartford and
Newark Basins inferred from maturation indices of organic matter; In Froelich, A.J.,
Robinson, G.R., Jr., (eds.), Studies of the early Mesozoic basins of the eastern United
States: U.S. Geol. Surv. Bull., no. 1776, p. 58-63.
Pratt, L.M., Vuletich, A.K., Burruss, R.C., 1986, Petroleum generation and migration in
Lower Jurassic lacustrine sequences, Hartford Basin, Connecticut and Massachusetts;
In Carter, L.M.H., (ed.), USGS Research on Energy Resources-1986, Program and
Abstracts: U.S. Geol. Surv. Circ., no. 974, p. 57-58.
Pratt, L.M., Vuletich, A.K., Daws, T.A., 1985, Geochemical and isotopic characterization
of organic matter in rocks of the Newark Supergroup; In Robinson, G.R., Jr.,
Froelich, A.J., (eds.), Proceedings of the second U.S. Geological Survey workshop on
the early Mesozoic basins of the eastern United States: U.S. Geol. Surv. Circ., no.
946, p. 74 78.
Pratt, L.M., Vuletich, A.K., Shaw, C.A., 1986, Preliminary results of organic
geochemical and stable isotope analyses of Newark Supergroup rocks in the Hartford
and Newark Basins, eastern US. U.S. Geol. Surv. Open-File Rept., no. 86-284, 29 p.
Spiker, E.C., Kurt, R.K., Hatcher, P., Gottfried, R.M., Horan, M.F., Olsen, P.E., 1988,
Source of kerogen in black shales from the Hartford and Newark basins, eastern U.S.:
U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, 1776, 63-68.
Whiteside, J. H., Olsen, P.E., 2003, Possible Triassic-Jurassic boundary sections,
Hartford basin, Eastern North America. Geological Society of America, Abstracts
with Programs, v. 35, no. 2, in press.
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