Natural Trap 2.0: Paleontology - study of specimens from Natural Trap Cave, WY

Natural Trap 2.0 is a paleontological research project focused on the study of specimens recovered from Natural Trap Cave in Wyoming. The project is associated with Des Moines University (DMU) and recognized through an award from the National Science Foundation. The project seeks to curate, analyze and interpret fossil materials that illuminate past ecosystems and faunal communities preserved within a uniquely informative depositional context. Natural Trap Cave represents a concentration of vertebrate remains formed by geological and ecological processes that accumulated specimens over time. By returning attention to this site and its collections, the research aims to leverage modern paleontological techniques and perspectives to reassess specimens, extract new data and synthesize findings that advance understanding of the region’s paleobiology.

The project integrates museum-based research with field-based context where possible, emphasizing specimen-based inquiry. Work on Natural Trap 2.0 includes inventorying and documenting existing collections, applying current methods for morphological description, and situating specimens within broader temporal and environmental frameworks. The project also fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, drawing on comparative anatomy, stratigraphic context and taphonomic interpretation to better understand how assemblages formed and what those assemblages reveal about historical biodiversity and environmental change in the region.

Natural Trap 2.0 provides an opportunity to develop research infrastructure around collections, to improve specimen records and accessibility and to build capacity for future studies. Through systematic study of the Natural Trap Cave specimens, the project contributes foundational data that can be used by other researchers for comparative analyses, phylogenetic studies and paleoecological reconstructions.