Karen Chin

Assistant Professor, Department of Geological Sciences and
Curator of Paleontology, University of Colorado Museum

Ph.D., University of California at Santa Barbara, 1996

E-mail:Karen.Chin@Colorado.edu
Phone: 303 735 3074
Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests

My research investigates the structure and dynamics of ancient ecosystems--particularly those of the Mesozoic Era (about 65 to 250 million years ago). I am interested in how ancient communities of organisms differed from modern ecosystems in composition and organization. Much of my work focuses on tapping information available in permineralized coprolites (fossil feces), but I also examine other trace and body fossils. My work focuses on understanding interactions among ancient organisms, and deducing the environmental conditions in which these organisms lived and were fossilized. I use a multidisciplinary approach by examining geological, biological, and chemical characteristics of fossils and compare the fossil evidence with modern ecosystems to derive paleoecological interpretations.

Recent Publications

Chin, K., and Bishop, J. in press. Exploited twice: bored bone in a theropod coprolite from the Jurassic Morrison Formation of Utah, USA. In: Bromley, R.G., Buatois, L.A., Mángano, M.G., Genise, J.F., and Melchor, R.N. (eds.), Sediment-Organism Interactions: A Multifaceted Ichnology. SEPM Special Publications, v. 88.
Yelinek, K. and Chin, K. in press. Probable dung beetle burrows associated with Daemonelix, beaver burrows in the Miocene Harrison Formation, Nebraska, U.S.A. In: Bromley, R.G., Buatois, L.A., Mángano, M.G., Genise, J.F., and Melchor, R.N. (eds.), Sediment-Organism Interactions: A Multifaceted Ichnology. SEPM Special Publications, v. 88.
Chin, K., Eberth, D.A., Schweitzer, M.H., Rando, T.A., Sloboda, W.J. and Horner, J.R. 2003. Remarkable preservation of undigested muscle tissue within a Late Cretaceous tyrannosaurid coprolite from Alberta, Canada. PALAIOS, volume 18, No. 3, pp. 286-294.
Hollocher, T.C., Chin, K., Hollocher, K.T, and Kruge, M.A. 2001. Bacterial residues in coprolite of herbivorous dinosaurs: role of bacteria in mineralization of feces. PALAIOS. 16: 547-565.
Chin, K., Tokaryk, T.T., Erickson, G.M. and Calk, L.C. 1998. A king-sized theropod coprolite. Nature. 393: 680-682.
Chin, K. and Kirkland, J.I. 1998. Probable herbivore coprolites from the Upper Jurassic Mygatt-Moore Quarry, Western Colorado. Modern Geology. 23: 249-275.
Chin, K. and Gill, B.D. 1996. Dinosaurs, dung beetles, and conifers: participants in a Cretaceous food web. PALAIOS. 11(3): 280-285.

Contributed Chapters and Short Course Notes

Chin, K. 2002. Analyses of coprolites produced by carnivorous vertebrates. In Kowalewski, M. and Kelley, P.H. (eds.) Predation in the Fossil Record. Paleontological Society Special Paper Volume 8. pp. 43-49.
Chin, K. 1997. Coprolites. In Currie, P.J. and Padian, K. [eds.], Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs. Academic Press. San Diego. pp. 147-150.
Chin, K. 1997. What did dinosaurs eat? Coprolites and other direct evidence of dinosaur diets. In Farlow, J.O. and Brett-Surman, M.K. [eds.], The Complete Dinosaur. Indiana University Press. Bloomington. pp. 371-382.
Chin, K. 1994. On the elusive trail of fossil dung. In Rosenberg, G.F. and Wolberg, D.L. [eds.], Dino Fest: Proceedings of a Conference for the General Public, March 24-26, 1994. Paleontological Society Special Publication # 7. University of Tennessee Press. Knoxville. pp. 285-294.
Hunt, A.P., Chin, K. and Lockley, M.G. 1994. The palaeobiology of vertebrate coprolites. In Donovan, S.K. [ed.], The Palaeobiology of Trace Fossils. John Wiley & Sons. Chichester. pp. 221-240.

Selected Recent Professional Society Work

University of Colorado at Boulder: Assistant Professor & Curator of Paleontology, August 2001 to present
Denver Museum of Nature and Science: Research Associate, March 2003 to present
Stanford University: National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, March 2000 –June 2001
United States Geological Survey: Visiting Scientist, 1996-2000 (Ford Postdoctoral Fellow 11/98-7/99)
Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman Montana: Currently Adjunct Curator of Paleobotany.

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