MASTER’S STUDENT

Declan’s research focuses on reassessing taxonomy of North American ornithomimids.  Ornithomimid genera such as Struthiomimus and Ornithomimus have extensive stratigraphic ranges compared to other dinosaurs in Late Cretaceous deposits such as the Dinosaur Park Formation and Horseshoe Canyon Formation, which have high faunal turnover rates. As a result, the extensive ranges might represent a significant gap in our understanding of ornithomimid taxonomy and diversity during the Late Cretaceous. Moreover, ratio-based characters used to distinguish ornithomimid genera historically, such as the tibia to femur ratio, are thought to be unreliable in distinguishing species. Declan hopes to bring clarity to ornithomimid taxonomy by revisiting described and undescribed material to gain an understanding of ornithomimid diversity in North America during the Late Cretaceous and identify potentially overlooked species as well as revise characters that are used to distinguish ornithomimid genera.

Born and raised in Edmonton, Declan has been passionate about dinosaurs and palaeontology since he was four years old. His passion led him to pursue studying palaeontology at the University of Alberta where he graduated with an BSc. Honours in Paleontology in June 2024. Declan worked in the Caldwell Lab during undergraduate and his thesis project focused on describing a new species of snake from the Miocene of Nevada. Additionally, Declan has also participated in medical research and published a urologic study on genital pain in patients post-surgery. In the summers, Declan regularly participates with Fieldwork in Dinosaur Provincial Park and Morrin, Alberta.

LAB-RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Email: drourke@ualberta.ca