Dr. Julia Sankey

I am Professor of Paleobiology and Geology at California State University, Stanislaus. I have a background in both biology and geology. My B.S. is in Biology from the College of Idaho. My M.S. is in Quaternary Studies from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. My thesis was on Pliocene-Pleistocene vertebrates and magnetostratigraphy of southwestern Idaho. During that time, I worked for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Paleomagnetics Lab in Flagstaff. My Ph.D. is from Louisiana State University (Department of Geology and Geophysics), where I was collections manager of vertebrate paleontology in the Museum of Natural Science. My dissertation was on Late Cretaceous vertebrates and magnetostratigraphy of Big Bend National Park, Texas.

My current research is on 5 million year old giant salmon, tortoises, and other fossils from the Mehrten Formation exposed in and around Turlock Lake. Additionally, we are studying the sedimentology and depositional environments of the Mehrten.

Students, if you are interested in participating, let me know.

I am also an honorary research associate at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Alberta, Canada, the University of California Berkeley's Museum of Paleontology, Louisiana State University’s Museum of Natural Science, and the College of Idaho’s (C of I) O.J. Smith Museum of Natural History.

Currently I am very active with the C of I Museum, and am on the board of directors. I am also on several committees, including the exhibits committee, where I will be helping revamp the paleobiology/geology exhibits.

Students, if you are interested in participating, let me know.

• Research Associate and Member, Board of Directors, 2016- present, College of Idaho, O.J. Smith Museum of Natural History.
• Research Associate – 2005 to present. Univ. California Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley
• Research Associate – 2000 to present. Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology, Alberta 
• Research Associate – 1998 to present. Louisiana State Univ. Museum of Natural Science

• 2016. “Giant, tusk-toothed salmon, Galapagos-sized tortoises, and other extinct wildlife of Central California". College of Idaho, O.J. Smith Museum of Natural History, Night at the Museum Event for Homecoming. October 7, 2016.
• Sankey, J.T. 2016. “Giant, tusk-toothed salmon, Galapagos-sized tortoises, and other extinct wildlife of Central California”. Darwin Day. Modesto Junior College. February 10, 2016.
• Sankey, J.T. 2015. “Giant salmon and other extinct wildlife of Stanislaus County, California”. Stockton Area Atheists and Freethinkers, Manteca Public Library, September 16, 2015.
• Sankey, J.T. and students. 2014. “Sankey Paleo Research Group presentations”. Modesto Junior College, spring semester, 2014.

• Stanislaus State, Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Grants (2016). “Book Project: Giant Tortoises and Tusk-toothed Salmon: The Extinct Wildlife of Central California”, $4705.
• Dept of Education. Two grants to Stanislaus State to support STEM. Research Mentor, 2013-present. Faculty and student research on the geology and paleobiology of the Mehrten Formation (Miocene-Pliocene, ~5 Mya), Central Valley, CA. Grants fund research supplies, partial teaching release, and research/conference travel support for me and research students

California State University, Stanislaus, Department of Physics and Geology, 2003 to present

• Dinosaurs
• History of Earth and Life (lecture and lab)
• Sedimentary Rocks and Depositional Environments
• Earth Science
• Paleontology/Stratigraphy
• Principles of Geology (lecture and lab)
• California Geology
• Geological Field Excursions - Big Bend National Park, Texas
• Independent Research Study in Paleontology

I love to travel, and have had fantastic trips to Paris and southern France, Germany, Austria, New Zealand, Australia, Venezuela, Mexico, Canada, Bulgaria, Greece, etc. However, there’s still a lot of the world I want to see such as New Guinea, Africa, Argentina, Italy, Great Brittan, etc. Stanislaus State Geology students: “Let’s Go!”

Books: 

Sankey, J.T. and J. Biewer. In Preparation. Giant Tortoises and Spike-Toothed Salmon: The Extinct Wildlife of Central California.

Sankey, J.T. and S. Baszio, Editors. 2008. Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages: Their Role in Paleoecology and Paleobiogeography. Indiana University Press (Bloomington). Download table of contents (pdf).

Journal Articles: 

Sankey, J.T.; J. *Biewer, *J. Basuga; *F. Palacios; H. Wagner; D. Garber. 2016. The giant, spike-toothed salmon, Oncorhynchus rastrosus and the “Proto-Tuolumne River” (early Pliocene) of Central California. PaleoBios 33:1-16. University of California Museum of Paleontology.

Biewer, J., Sankey, J.T., Hutchison, H., Garber, D. 2016. A fossil giant tortoise from Northern California. PaleoBios 33:1-13. University of California Museum of Paleontology.

Gardner, J.D., Roček, Z., Přikryl, T., Eaton, J., Blob, R., and Sankey, J. 2010. Comparative morphology of the ilium of anurans and urodeles (Lissamphibia) and a re-assessment of the anuran affinities of Nezpercius dodsoni Blob et al., 2001. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30(6):1684-1696.

Longrich, N., Sankey, J.T., and Tanke, D. 2010. Texacephale langstoni, a new genus of pachycephalosaurid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the upper Campanian Aguja Formation, southern Texas, USA. Cretaceous Research. 31(2010):274-284.

Nydam, R.L., J.G. Eaton, and J.T. Sankey. 2007. New taxa of transversely-toothed lizards (Squamata: Scincomorpha) and new information on the evolutionary history of "Teiids". Journal of Paleontology 81(3):538-549.

Sankey, J.T. 2006. Turtles of the upper Aguja Formation (late Campanian), Big Bend National Park, Texas; pp. 235-243. In: Late Cretaceous Vertebrates from the Western Interior. Bulletin 35, S. Lucas and R. Sullivan (eds.). New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (Albuquerque).

Sankey, J.T. 2005. Late Cretaceous vertebrate paleoecology, Big Bend National Park, Texas; pp. 98-106. In: Dinosaur Park Symposium, Short Papers, Abstracts, and Program, D.R. Braman, F. Therrien, E.B. Koppelhus, and W. Taylor (eds.). Special Publication of the Royal Tyrrell Museum, September 24-25, 2005. Drumheller, Alberta, Canada.

Sankey, J.T., D.B. Brinkman, M. Guenther, and P.J. Currie. 2002. Small theropod and bird teeth from the Judith River Group (late Campanian), Alberta. Journal of Paleontology 76(4):751-763.

Sankey, J.T. and W.A. Gose. 2001. Late Cretaceous mammals and magnetostratigraphy, Big Bend, Texas. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University No. 77:1-16.

Sankey, J.T. 2001. Late Campanian southern dinosaurs, Aguja Formation, Big Bend, Texas. Journal of Paleontology 75(1):208-215.

Sankey, J.T., T.R. Van Devender, and W.H. Clark. 2001. Late Holocene plants, Cataviña, Baja California, Mexico. Southwestern Naturalist 46(1):1-7.

Clark, W.H. and J.T. Sankey. 1999. Late Holocene Sonoran Desert arthropod remains from a packrat midden, Cataviña, Baja California Norté, México. Pan-Pacific Entomologist 75(4):183-199.

Schiebout, J.A., S. Ting, and J.T. Sankey. 1997. Microvertebrate concentrations in pedogenic nodule conglomerates: recognizing the rocks and recovering and interpreting the fossils. Palaeontologia Electronica. 1(2):54 pp. http://palaeo-electronica.org/1998_2/toc.htm

Sankey, J.T. 1996. Vertebrate paleontology and magnetostratigraphy of the Upper Glenns Ferry (latest Pliocene) and Lower Bruneau (Pliocene-Pleistocene) Formations, near Murphy, southwestern Idaho. Journal of the Idaho Academy of Science, 32(1/2):71-88.

Book Chapters:

Sankey, J.T. 2010. Faunal composition and significance of high diversity, mixed bonebeds containing Agujaceratops mariscalensis and other dinosaurs, Aguja Formation (upper Cretaceous), Big Bend, Texas; pp. 520–537. In: New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium, M. Ryan, B. Chinnery-Allgeier, and D. Eberth (eds). Indiana University Press (Bloomington).

Sankey, J.T. 2008. Vertebrate paleoecology from microsites, upper Aguja Formation (Late Cretaceous), Big Bend National Park, Texas (26 pp, 4 figs, 1 table). In: The Unique Role of Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages in Paleoecology and Paleobiology, J.T. Sankey and S. Baszio (eds.). Indiana University Press (Bloomington).

Sankey, J.T. 2008. Diversity of latest Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian) small theropods and birds: teeth from the Lance and Hell Creek formations (19 pp, 4 figs, 5 tables). In: The Unique Role of Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages in Paleoecology and Paleobiology, J.T. Sankey and S. Baszio (eds.). Indiana University Press (Bloomington).

Welsh, E. and J.T. Sankey. 2008. First dinosaur eggshells from Texas: Aguja Formation (late Campanian), Big Bend National Park. In: The Unique Role of Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages in Paleoecology and Paleobiology, J.T. Sankey and S. Baszio (eds.). Indiana University Press (Bloomington).

Sankey, J.T., D.B. Brinkman, R.C. Fox, and D.A. Eberth. 2005. Patterns of distribution of mammals in the Dinosaur Park Formation and their paleobiological significance; pp. 436-449. In: Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, P.J. Currie and E. Koppelhus (eds). Indiana University Press.

Sankey, J.T., B.R. Standhardt, and J.A. Schiebout. 2005. Theropod teeth from the upper Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian), Big Bend National Park, Texas; pp. 127-152 In: Carnivorous Dinosaurs,Ken Carpenter (ed), Indiana University Press (Bloomington).

Sankey, J.T. 2002. Vertebrate paleontology and magnetostratigraphy of the Glenns Ferry and Bruneau Formations (Plio-Pleistocene), near Murphy, southwestern Idaho; pp. 1-49 In: W.A. Akersten, H.G. McDonald, D.J. Meldrum, and M.E.T. Flint (eds), And Whereas... Papers on the Vertebrate Paleontology of Idaho Honoring John A. White, Volume 2. Idaho Museum of Natural History Occasional Paper 37.

Mead, J.I., J.T. Sankey, and H.G. McDonald. 1998. Pliocene (Blancan) herpetofaunas from the Glenns Ferry Formation, southern Idaho; pp. 94-109 In: W.A. Akersten, H.G. McDonald, D.J. Meldrum, and M.E.T. Flint (eds), And Whereas... Papers on the Vertebrate Paleontology of Idaho Honoring John A. White, Volume 1. Idaho Museum of Natural History Occasional Paper 36.

Recent Abstracts (* indicates student):

Sankey, J.T., Biewer, J., Basuga, J., Palacios, F. 2016. Did the giant, tusk-toothed salmon (Oncorhynchus rastrosus) morph before migration upriver like modern salmon do today? Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 76th Annual Meeting, Oct. 26-29, 2016, Salt Lake City, Utah, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Program and Abstracts: 217-218.

Biewer, J.; Sankey, J.; Garber, D.; Wagner, H.; Wilson, W.; Castle, L.; Beaman, M. 2016. Lost and found: the Turlock Lake paleofauna and flora. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 76th Annual Meeting, Oct. 26-29, 2016, Salt Lake City, Utah, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Program and Abstracts:98.

Sankey, J.T.; *Basuga, J.; *Palacios, F., *Biewer, J. 2016. Survival of the Tuskiest: Giant, Tusk-Toothed Salmon from California (Miocene/Pliocene): Coastal Marine vs Freshwater. Western Association of Vertebrate Paleontology, Annual Meeting, Anza Borrego State Park, CA. PaleoBios, University of California Press; p. 13.

*Wilson, W.; Sankey, J.T.; *George, M.; *Biewer, J.; Garber, D. 2016. Depositional Environments of the Turlock Lake Paleoflora, upper Mehrten Formation (Mio-Pliocene), Northern San Joaquin Valley, California. Western Association of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting, Anza Borrego State Park, CA. PaleoBios, University of California Press; p. 31.

Sankey, J.T., *Biewer, J., *Wilson, Whitney; *Basuga, Janis; *George, Michael; *Palacios, Francisco; Wagner, Hugh; Hutchison, H.; Garber, Dennis. (2015). Kayaking for Paleo – Relocating and documenting the Turlock Lake fossil sites, upper Mehrten Formation (early Pliocene; Hemphillian LMA), Stanislaus County, California. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 75th Annual Meeting, Oct. 14-17, 2015, Dallas, Texas, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Program and Abstracts, 2015:208

*Biewer, J.; Sankey, J.T.; Hutchison, H.; Wagner, Hugh; Garber, D. (2015). First Identification and Description of the Great Plains Giant Tortoise Hesperotestudo cf. H. orthopygia from the early Pliocene (Hemphillian) Mehrten Formation of Stanislaus County, California. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 75th Annual Meeting, Oct. 14-17, 2015, Dallas, Texas, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Program and Abstracts, 2015:91

Sankey, J.T., *Biewer, J., Wagner, H., Hutchison, H., Garber, D. 2015. Giant Salmon, Tortoises, and other Wildlife from the Mio-Pliocene Mehrten Formation, Stanislaus County, California. Western Association Vertebrate Paleontology: Program with Abstracts, February 14, 2015, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, California. PaleoBios 32(1):13, University of California Press.

Sankey, J.T., *Biewer, J., *George, M., *Maldonado, N., *Campos, M., *Martinez, V., *Garner, J., *Ocon, J., *Snyder, M., *Wilson, Whitney, *Monschein, A. 2015. Miocene – Pleistocene geology and paleobiology of Stanislaus County, California. Western Association Vertebrate Paleontology: Program with Abstracts, February 14, 2015, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, California. PaleoBios 32(1):14, University of California Press.

Balisi, M., Wang, X., Sankey, J.  2015.  Fossil Canids from the Mehrten Formation, Late Cenozoic of Northern California. Western Association Vertebrate Paleontology: Program with Abstracts, February 14, 2015, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, California. PaleoBios 32(1):4, University of California Press.

*Biewer, J., Sankey, J.T., Wagner, H., Hutchison, H., Garber, D. 2015. First description of the large tortoise from the Mio-Pliocene Mehrten Formation of Stanislaus County, California. Western Association Vertebrate Paleontology: Program with Abstracts, February 14, 2015, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, California. PaleoBios 32(1):4, University of California Press.

My current research is on 5 million year old giant salmon, tortoises, and other fossils from the Mehrten Formation exposed in and around Turlock Lake. Additionally, we are studying the sedimentology and depositional environments of the Mehrten.

Recent papers:

First Identification and Description of the Great Plains Giant Tortoise Hesperotestudo cf. H. orthopygia from the early Pliocene (Hemphillian) Mehrten Formation of Stanislaus County, California

The giant, spike-toothed salmon, Oncorhynchus rastrosus and the “Proto-Tuolumne River” (early Pliocene) of Central California

I am convinced that undergraduates benefit from doing research, and especially by working on projects of their own. As an undergraduate I found it incredibly rewarding to produce new knowledge and discoveries in science, and to not just learn (and get tested on) already discovered knowledge. For example, when I was a college student at the College of Idaho, I did an independent field and museum research project on Pliocene mammals from southwestern Idaho that I had spent a summer collecting. This project became my undergraduate senior thesis and later my M.S. thesis. I gave my first presentation on this research as a college senior at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in 1986. Doing research (and presenting it at a national meeting) was one of the most important activities that I did in college, both personally and professionally.

Based on my own experience doing research as an undergraduate student, I encourage students to become involved in research. At California State University, Stanislaus, I have included many undergraduates in research projects. Additionally, I strongly encourage my students to present and publish their research at national conferences. Attached is a list of recent student projects and publications.

Currently, students can get involved in my local research project on the 5 million year old giant salmon, tortoise, and other extinct wildlife of the Central Valley of California.

Additionally, we are working on the sedimentology and depositional environments of the Mehrten Formation.

Students are involved in all aspects of the research, from field work at Turlock Lake; to museum work at the University of California Berkeley Museum of Paleontology; to presentations at conferences.