Faculty member at Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College helped name newly discovered dinosaur species

Nathan Van Vranken, program coordinator for the Biological and Environmental Technology program at Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College, was part of the team that got to name a new species of mosasaur: Jormungandr walhallaensis.

According to an article on Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College’s website, Van Vranken discussed his motivation for assisting Amelia Zietlow of the Richard Glider Graduate School and Division of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History and Clint Boyd of the North Dakota Geological Survey on this research. He said, “Ultimately, I was interested in assisting Amelia and Clint with this project, as one of my areas of focus in paleontology is the biogeography and biostratigraphy of mosasaurs and how their habitats, ranges, and distributions change overtime along the coasts.”

Of the name for the new mosasaur, which is an aquatic reptile, Van Vranken said, “The new genus is called Jormungandr walhallaensis in reference to the fossils being collected near the town of Walhalla, North Dakota. The tale of Jormungandr, I think, paints a wonderful picture and helps contribute to our understanding of the northernmost regions of the interior seaway, especially with the mosasaurs, and discoveries such as these can pique scientific curiosity.” Jormungandr is a giant serpent creature in Norse mythology. 

The team of Boyd, Van Vranken, and Zietlow wrote a paper discussing the fossils. The features of the Jormungandr walhallaensis include some that came from much earlier times and later times, creating a “mosaic” of features. Zietlow used software to find the Jormungandr walhallaensis a place in its family tree. Van Vranken used Geographic Information Systems to determine more about the dinosaur’s place in its environment. 

Van Vranken said of the programs offered by Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College, “We contribute to cutting-edge research in the science and support both traditional and non-traditional science-related careers which can lead to the development of the Potomac Highlands and surrounding areas by studying innovative topics.”

To read the paper authored by Boyd, Van Vranken, and Zietlow, visit the American Museum of Natural History’s website.

For more information about Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College, visit its website.