Researcher biography
Caitlin's research focuses on taphonomy, particularly the taphonomic characteristics of Lower Cretaceous dinosaur, crocodyliform, and fish fossils found in the Winton Formation at Isisford, central-western Queensland. A majority are preserved as articulated and associated skeletons encased in sandstone ‘boulders’ or concretions. She has documented the patterns of decay and disarticulation in modern juvenile saltwater crocodile carcasses lying in shallow pools of water. The results of this research were published in 2014.
The crocodile decay experiment data were used in deciphering the taphonomic pathways that the now fossilised carcasses of the crocodyliform Isisfordia duncani underwent before they were buried and fossilised. This along with taphonomic analysis of an osteichthyan fish fossil (the holotype of Cladocyclus geddesi) indicated that these fossils were autochthonous and/or parauthochthonous—representing animals that lived in or close to where their bodies were eventually buried (results to be published in 2017/2018). Integral to this work was the geochemical analysis of calcite cement in the fossil-bearing sandstone concretions, which indicated that these animals lived and died near a brackish-water river delta flowing out into the giant inland Eromanga Sea. These results, along with sedimentary analysis of the local Winton Formation outcrop, were published in 2016.
The taphonomy of these crocodile and fish fossils from outback Queensland has provided a glimpse into an Early Cretaceous (102 million year old) world of rivers, deltas, and inland oceans. Taphonomy is not only useful in uncovering clues about Earth’s ancient ecosystems, but also how traces of life and ecosystems may be preserved on other planets.
In October 2013, Caitlin took out the Best Student Oral Presentation prize at the 14th Conference on Vertebrate Evolution, Palaeontology, and Systematics (CAVEPS) in Adelaide. Caitlin's talk was titled "Patterns of aquatic decay and disarticulation in juvenile Indo-Pacific crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus), and implications for the taphonomic interpretation of fossil crocodyliform material". She has performed in numerous science outreach stage shows including ‘Science Says!’ by The Science Nation (2016), Soapbox Science Brisbane (2016), and ‘Convince Me!’ by ActReact Theatre (2017). She also gave a TEDx UQ speech in 2017, where she spoke about the science of taphonomy and its links to the past and the future.
Check out Caitlin's blog Taphonovenatrix
Publications
Syme, C.E. and Salisbury, S.W. 2018. Taphonomy of Isisfordia duncani specimens from the Lower Cretaceous (upper Albian) portion of the Winton Formation, Isisford, central-west Queensland. Royal Society Open Science.
Poropat, S. F., Nair, J. P., Syme, C. E., Mannion, P. D., Upchurch, P., Hocknull, S. A., Cook, A. G., Tischler, T. R., and Holland, T. 2017. Reappraisal of Austrosaurus mckillopi Longman, 1933 from the Allaru Mudstone of Queensland, Australia’s first named Cretaceous sauropod dinosaur. Alcheringa, DOI: 10.1080/03115518.2017. 1334826 [in press].
Syme, C. E., Welsh, K. J., Roberts, E. M., and Salisbury, S. W. 2016. Depositional environment of the Lower Cretaceous (upper Albian) Winton Formation at Isisford, central-western Queensland, inferred from sandstone concretions. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 86: 1067-1082. DOI: 10.2110/jsr.2016.67.
Syme, C. E., and Salisbury, S. W. 2014. Patterns of aquatic decay and disarticulation in juvenile Indo-Pacific crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus), and implications for the taphonomic interpretation of fossil crocodyliform material. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 412: 108-123. DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.07.031.
Conference abstracts
Syme, C. E., Poropat, S. F., Nair, J. P., and Tischler, T. R. Taphonomy of the sauropod dinosaur Austrosaurus mckillopi type individual: a short-lived saurian deadfall in the Early Cretaceous Eromanga Sea. In: Zuschin, M., Harzhauser, M., and Mayrhofer, S. 8th International Meeting on Taphonomy and Fossilization: Programme and Abstracts, September 14-17 2017, Vienna, Austria, pg 105–106.
Syme, C. E., Salisbury, S. W., Welsh, K. J., and Roberts, E. M. Living by the Eromanga Sea: evidence of brackish-water tolerant crocodyliforms and osteichthyans from the lower Cretaceous Winton Formation . Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology 77th Annual Meeting: Meeting Program and Abstracts, August 23–26, 2017, Calgary AB, pg 201–202.
Syme, C. E., Salisbury, S. W., Welsh, K. J., and Roberts, E. M. Living by the Eromanga Sea: taphonomy of crocodyliform and osteichthyan fossils from the Lower Cretaceous Winton Formation at Isisford, Queensland. In: Laurie, J. R., Kruse, P. D., Garcia-Bellido, D. C., and Holmes, J. D. Palaeo Down Under 2. July 11-15, 2016, Adelaide SA, The Geological Society of Australia, Abstracts Volume 117, pg 57.
Syme, C. E., Salisbury, S. W., Welsh, K. J., and Roberts, E. M. Taphonomic and sedimentological evidence for deltaic deposits in the Lower Cretaceous portion of the Winton Formation at Isisford, central-western Queensland. In: 15th Conference on Australasian Vertebrate Evolution, Palaeontology and Systematics (CAVEPS) Program and Abstracts, September 1-5, 2015, Alice Springs, NT, pg 48.
Syme, C. E., Salisbury, S. W., Welsh, K. J., and Roberts, E. M. Slow burial in a fast world: unusually high skeletal completeness in channel deposits. In: Maxwell, E., and Miller-Camp, J. (eds.) Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 74th Annual Meeting – Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Program and Abstracts, 2014, pg 238.
Syme, C. E. Devising an online repository of taphonomic oddities in fossil taxa. In: Mallison, H., Vogel, J., and Belvedere, M. (eds.) Digital Specimen 2014 - Abstracts of Presentations. Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, 76 p, pg 71-72.
Syme, C. E., and Salisbury, S. W. Patterns of aquatic decay and disarticulation in juvenile Indo-Pacific crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus), and implications for the taphonomic interpretation of fossil crocodyliform material. In: Marcus, S. (ed.) 10th North American Palaeontological Convention (NAPC) – Abstract Book, February 15-18, 2014, Gainesville FL, The Paleontological Society Special Publications, Volume 13, pg 121.
Syme, C. E., and Salisbury, S. W. Patterns of aquatic decay and disarticulation in juvenile Indo-Pacific crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus), and implications for the taphonomic interpretation of fossil crocodyliform material. In: 14th Conference on Australasian Vertebrate Evolution, Palaeontology and Systematics (CAVEPS) Program and Abstracts, September 30–October 5, 2013, Adelaide, SA, pg 79-80.