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FOSSIL Project Newsletter Spring 2017

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News from the FOSSIL Project Vol. 4, Issue 1, Spring 2017 [email protected] www.myfossil.org @projectfossil The FossilProject Inside this issue: FOSSIL PROJECT UPDATES SPRING 2017 Featured Professional: by Eleanor Gardner James R. Thomka Personnel Updates Amateur Spotlight: We are proud to announce that Linda McCall, president Malcolm W. Bedell, Jr. of the North Carolina Fossil Club, has joined the FOSSIL Project’s steering committee. She will serve on the committee Featured Organization: through December 2017 and help to keep amateur interests Georgia Paleontological represented as the FOSSIL Project enters its final 1.5 years of Association funding. After her term is up, Linda will aid us in identifying another representative to serve on the committee. Linda has Horse Teeth and California already provided many excellent ideas and feedback, and we Crocs appreciate her continued commitment to the Project and the myFOSSIL community. Megalodon Tooth Deformities Linda McCall News from the Paleontological Society Dealing with a Fossil Estate As a member of the Paleontological Society Executive Committee, Bruce can report that we now have more than 50 members who have opted for the new amateur New Characters in Big Horn member category. The PS is very excited about this response so far, and we look Basin Paleontology forward to a continuing increase in representation from amateurs. We hope that the benefits of the PS will make membership attractive and also result in a continued California’s State Dino positive and supportive spirit of working together to advance the study of fossils and paleontology. DPS Releases “Guide to Fossil Collecting” Every year the PS receives nominations for the Strimple Award given to an amateur who has made sustained contributions to paleontology. The winner for 2017 will be Using Recent Paleo Lit in announced soon. STEM-Learning Visit to Mace Brown Museum in Charleston, SC Badlands Field Trips for In February, Bruce had the opportunity to visit Educators with Bobby and Sarah Boessenecker at the Mace Brown Museum, which is part of the geology myFOSSIL Women in Paleo department of the College of Charleston. He Webinar Reviews toured the exhibits and got a behind-the-scenes look at the collections. Although too short, it Upcoming Events was a great visit and Sarah and Bobby are doing terrific things to advance the museum and collections. Bruce MacFadden with Sarah and Bobby Boessenecker continued from page 1 FOSSIL Theme Session at the 2017 Northeast/North-Central GSA Joint Section Meeting On March 19, the FOSSIL Project hosted a very successful theme session at the 2017 Northeast/North-Central Geological Society of America joint section regional meeting in Pittsburgh, PA. We had a full day session featuring 16 talks and 3 poster presentations (10 of which were talks by amateur/avocational paleontologists!). To read respective abstracts, click through each title on the webpages below: Morning Session: https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2017NE/webprogram/Session41485.html Afternoon Session: https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2017NE/webprogram/Session42485.html Poster Session: https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2017NE/webprogram/Session42487.html Northeast/North-Central GSA Joint Section Meeting Several talks throughout the day, including Lee Cone’s on the relationships between amateur, professional, and commercial paleontologists, drew large crowds. New friendships and partnerships were established thanks to this meeting, and we look forward to further collaboration with groups such as the Bighorn Basin Paleontological Institute and the Minnesota-based Hill Annex Paleontology Project. Field Trip to Ambridge, PA Prior to the meeting, the Delaware Valley Paleontological Society and FossilGuy (Jayson Kowinsky) led the group on a great field trip. In the morning, we got a behind-the-scenes tour of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History with curator Dr. Matt Lamanna. Dr. Lamanna gave us a detailed look at the vertebrate prep lab, explained the 2 continued from page 2 fascinating historical significance of ‘Dippy’ the Diplodocus, and showed us the extensive vertebrate collections rooms (aptly called the “Big Bone Room” for dinosaur material and the “Little Bone Room” for mammal material). In the afternoon, we traveled to a road cut near Ambridge, PA, where there is an outcrop of the Pennsylvanian aged Glenshaw Formation. Despite the muddy conditions and occasional rain or sleet, we collected many carbonized plant specimens, such as Calamites stems and Pecopteris fern leaves. A great time was had by all! FOSSIL Represented at 2017 Southeast GSA Meeting in Richmond, VA Eleanor Gardner attended the SEGSA meeting in Richmond, VA, where she presented a poster entitled “Improving engagement of minority K-12 students in paleontological outreach and education initiatives: a case study from Florida.” Her coauthors on this poster were Cindy Lockner, Bonnie Cronin, and Russell Brown of the Florida Fossil Hunters club in Orlando. The poster, which presented the history of and improvements to the FFH annual Women in Paleontology Day, was very well received. Several council members of the Paleontological Society communicated their desire to see more projects like it in the future. Read the poster abstract here: https://gsa.confex.com/ gsa/2017SE/webprogram/Paper291658.html FOSSIL Webinar Series The FOSSIL Project’s second webinar series, promoting the theme of “Women in Paleontology,” has garnered a lot of interest and reached new audiences. For those who haven’t yet heard of our webinar series, it is free, open to anyone interested in fossils and paleontology, and co-sponsored by the Paleontological Society as well as the iDigBio project at the University of Florida. Participants do not need to be registered as a myFOSSIL community member, although additional benefits accrue to our members (see below). On January 25th, California-based museum researcher and educator Tara Lepore presented “Women in Paleontology: Tara’s Take.” On February 22nd, Brenda Hunda, who is the curator of invertebrate paleontology at the Cincinnati Museum Center, presented “My Life as a Curator.” On March 29th, Florida-based amateur paleontologist Cindy Lockner presented “Fossil Volunteering.” For reviews of the webinars, please see Joyce Drakeford’s article in this newsletter. Each hour-long webinar was delivered via the AdobeConnect online platform that provides a venue for presentations and real-time chats Screen shot of Brenda Hunda’s webinar and Q&As. We are looking forward to the final webinar in this series, which promises to be excellent! Join us at http://bit.ly/ WiPWebinar on April 26th from 7-8pm Eastern to learn from Lisa White, a micropaleontologist and the director of education at the University of California Museum of Paleontology. The FOSSIL Project will be providing a Certificate of Completion for those members of the myFOSSIL community who attend (or watch recordings of) all four webinars in the series. Contact Eleanor at [email protected] for more information. To watch recordings, just navigate to the Resources section of the myFOSSIL website at: http:// community.myfossil.org/video-tutorials/. Given the success of our first two webinar series, we have decided to move forward with an idea for a third series to take place Fall 2017. This series will be focused on fossil identification, and we hope to present it in a PBS “Antiques Roadshow” style format. We hope to travel to different locations around the nation and film on-site. We are really excited to begin planning for this webinar series and we welcome your input! To contribute ideas and add to the conversation, please visit the webinar forum on our website—in the Upcoming Opportunities forum: http:// community.myfossil.org/forums/topic/fossil-webinar-series/. 3 continued from page 3 FOSSIL Participants Making a Big Impact at Montbrook Dig The Florida Museum of Natural History has been lucky to get lots of volunteer help over the past year in excavating Miocene-aged fossils from the Montbrook fossil site near Williston, FL. Amateur paleontologists associated with the FOSSIL Project, such as Cindy Lockner (Florida Fossil Hunters), Lee Cone (Special Friends of the Aurora Fossil Museum), and Bonnie Cronin & Russell Brown (Florida Fossil Hunters), have worked hard at the site. Teachers associated with myFOSSIL have also played an important role: Tynessa Morgan-Craft (Dallas Paleo Society / Dallas Independent School District), Matthew Croxton (Southwest Florida Christian Academy), and others participated in a blitz-style excavation event in June 2016. In April 2017, the museum is excited to welcome another set of teachers to the site, including myFOSSIL member Dave Ellingson (Woodburn High School in OR). Cindy Lockner Tynessa Craft-Morgan myFOSSIL Website Upgrades Soon, we should have the ability to upload, view, and manipulate 3D fossil images on www.myfossil.org! Our web development partners, Atmosphere Apps, have been working hard to make STL file viewing an integral aspect of our website. Check back to myfossil.org soon to see it in action! Recent & Upcoming Events In February, FOSSIL graduate student Victor Perez gave a talk at monthly meeting of the Gainesville Gem & Mineral Society. The society members were excited to Sample STL file learn about the myFOSSIL website and the volunteer opportunities available at the Montbrook fossil site. If you’d like someone from the FOSSIL team to come speak at your club/society meeting, please contact the Project Coordinator, Eleanor Gardner, at [email protected]. Also in February, Victor helped to organize and facilitate a FLMNH paleontology-themed “pop up” museum event at the Depot Park near downtown Gainesville, FL. Members of the Florida Paleontological Society were also present and helped to make the event a big success. Victor is continuing to work closely with the Public Programs unit of FLMNH in planning future paleontology-themed “pop up” events. If you are interested in learning about “pop up” events, please contact Victor at [email protected].
Recommended publications
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  • Fossil Collecting Areas in Iowa

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    FOSSIL COLLECTING AREAS IN IOWA The following list, although far from compete, includes a few of the better fossil collecting areas in Iowa. 1. Rockford, Floyd County (¼ mile south and ¼ mile west of the Rockford Brick and Tile Company pit, on county road “D”). Well preserved brachiopods, gastropods, and corals are most abundant in the yellowish shales that overlie the blue-gray beds. The fossils occurring here are known as the Hackberry fauna and have been described by C.L. and M.A. Fenton in a book entitled, “The Hackberry State of the Upper Devonian,” published by the MacMillan Company in 1924. 2. Bird Hill, Cerro Gordo County This is near the center of the north line of section 24, T 95N, R.19W, about 3½ miles west and ¼ mile south of the Rockford Brick and Tile Company Plant. The Hackberry fauna can be collected here also. 3. Elgin-Clermont area, Fayette County In the Elgin Member of the Maquoketa Formation large trilobites and both straight and coiled cephalopods are found. Fragments of trilobites are common, but whole specimens are rare. Road cuts along the new highway between Clermont and Elgin, the dry stream bed along county road “Y” east of Clermont, and the high-road cuts along the Turkey River southeast of Elgin are all good collecting sites. References for this area are: (1) Slocum, A.W., “Trilobites from the Maquoketa Beds of Fayette County, Iowa,” Iowa Geological Survey Annual Report, Volume 25; (2) Walter, O.T., “Trilobites of Iowa and some Related Paleozoic Forms,” Iowa Geological Survey Annual Report, Volume 31; (3) Ladd, H.S., “Stratigraphy and Paleontology of the Maquoketa Shale of Iowa,” Iowa Geological Survey Annual Report, Volume 34.
  • PIR/PER) for the State Route 86 / Avenue 50 New Interchange Project, City of Coachella, Riverside County, California E-FIS 0801-000144 (EA 08-0C970

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    Texas Memorial Museum Page 1 Hall of Geology and Paleontology Overview Over its long history Texas has been pocked by meteorites and covered by oceans. Mountains have come and gone, and new ones have appeared. Forests have sprouted and disappeared, and the climate has changed dramatically. Texas has been home to some of the world’s strangest and most spectacular creatures. Its dynamic geological history has left today’s Texas with a great wealth of natural resources. So walk with us back through the Ice Ages, beyond the Age of Dinosaurs, into the most remote depths of Texas’ natural history. By studying environments and life forms of Texas’ past, we have learned much about our natural world today. As you walk through the Hall of Geology and Paleontology, consider this: what will the Texas environment be like in the future? Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills Correlations English Language Arts and Reading 3rd grade - 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.14, 3.15, 3.18, 3.20 4th grade - 4.1, 4.3, 4.5, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 4.15, 4.16, 4.18, 4.19, 4.21, 4.25 5th grade - 5.1, 5.3, 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, 5.10, 5.15, 5.16, 5.18, 5.19, 5.21, 5.25 Science 3rd grade - 3.9 (A-C), 3.10 (A) 4th grade - 4.9 (A,B), 4.10 (A) 5th grade -5.7(D), 5.9 (A-C), 5.10(A) Social Studies 3rd grade - 3.16 (E) 4th grade - 4.6 (A), 4.22 (C) 5th grade - 5.6 (A), 5.25 (C) Words to Know • adaptation – Features or behaviors that can improve a plant or animal’s chance for survival and of producing more surviving young.
  • A Revision of the Classification of the Plesiosauria with a Synopsis of the Stratigraphical and Geographical Distribution Of

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    LUNDS UNIVERSITETS ARSSKRIFT. N. F. Avd. 2. Bd 59. Nr l. KUNGL. FYSIOGRAFISKA SÅLLSKAPETS HANDLINGAR, N. F. Bd 74. Nr 1. A REVISION OF THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE PLESIOSAURIA WITH A SYNOPSIS OF THE STRATIGRAPHICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE GROUP BY PER OVE PERSSON LUND C. W. K. GLEER UP Read before the Royal Physiographic Society, February 13, 1963. LUND HÅKAN OHLSSONS BOKTRYCKERI l 9 6 3 l. Introduction The sub-order Plesiosauria is one of the best known of the Mesozoic Reptile groups, but, as emphasized by KuHN (1961, p. 75) and other authors, its classification is still not satisfactory, and needs a thorough revision. The present paper is an attempt at such a revision, and includes also a tabular synopsis of the stratigraphical and geo­ graphical distribution of the group. Some of the species are discussed in the text (pp. 17-22). The synopsis is completed with seven maps (figs. 2-8, pp. 10-16), a selective synonym list (pp. 41-42), and a list of rejected species (pp. 42-43). Some forms which have been erroneously referred to the Plesiosauria are also briefly mentioned ("Non-Plesiosaurians", p. 43). - The numerals in braekets after the generic and specific names in the text refer to the tabular synopsis, in which the different forms are numbered in successional order. The author has exaroined all material available from Sweden, Australia and Spitzbergen (PERSSON 1954, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1962a); the major part of the material from the British Isles, France, Belgium and Luxembourg; some of the German spec­ imens; certain specimens from New Zealand, now in the British Museum (see LYDEK­ KER 1889, pp.
  • Source-Rock Geochemistry of the San Joaquin Basin Province, California

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  • Mary Anning of Lyme Regis: 19Th Century Pioneer in British Palaeontology

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    Headwaters Volume 26 Article 14 2009 Mary Anning of Lyme Regis: 19th Century Pioneer in British Palaeontology Larry E. Davis College of St. Benedict / St. John's University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/headwaters Part of the Geology Commons, and the Paleontology Commons Recommended Citation Davis, Larry E. (2009) "Mary Anning of Lyme Regis: 19th Century Pioneer in British Palaeontology," Headwaters: Vol. 26, 96-126. Available at: https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/headwaters/vol26/iss1/14 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@CSB/SJU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Headwaters by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@CSB/SJU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LARRY E. DAVIS Mary Anning of Lyme Regis 19th Century Pioneer in British Palaeontology Ludwig Leichhardt, a 19th century German explorer noted in a letter, “… we had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of the Princess of Palaeontology, Miss Anning. She is a strong, energetic spinster of about 28 years of age, tanned and masculine in expression …” (Aurousseau, 1968). Gideon Mantell, a 19th century British palaeontologist, made a less flattering remark when he wrote in his journal, “… sallied out in quest of Mary An- ning, the geological lioness … we found her in a little dirt shop with hundreds of specimens piled around her in the greatest disorder. She, the presiding Deity, a prim, pedantic vinegar looking female; shred, and rather satirical in her conversation” (Curwin, 1940). Who was Mary Anning, this Princess of Palaeontology and Geological Lioness (Fig.
  • The Paleontology Synthesis Project and Establishing a Framework for Managing National Park Service Paleontological Resource Archives and Data

    The Paleontology Synthesis Project and Establishing a Framework for Managing National Park Service Paleontological Resource Archives and Data

    Lucas, S.G. and Sullivan, R.M., eds., 2018, Fossil Record 6. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 79. 589 THE PALEONTOLOGY SYNTHESIS PROJECT AND ESTABLISHING A FRAMEWORK FOR MANAGING NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCE ARCHIVES AND DATA VINCENT L. SANTUCCI1, JUSTIN S. TWEET2 and TIMOTHY B. CONNORS3 1National Park Service, Geologic Resources Division, 1849 “C” Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20240, [email protected]; 2National Park Service, 9149 79th Street S., Cottage Grove, MN 55016, [email protected]; 3National Park Service, Geologic Resources Division, 12795 W. Alameda Parkway, Lakewood, CO 80225, [email protected] Abstract—The National Park Service Paleontology Program maintains an extensive collection of digital and hard copy documents, publications, photographs and other archives associated with the paleontological resources documented in 268 parks. The organization and preservation of the NPS paleontology archives has been the focus of intensive data management activities by a small and dedicated team of NPS staff. The data preservation strategy complemented the NPS servicewide inventories for paleontological resources. The first phase of the data management, referred to as the NPS Paleontology Synthesis Project, compiled servicewide paleontological resource data pertaining to geologic time, taxonomy, museum repositories, holotype fossil specimens, and numerous other topics. In 2015, the second phase of data management was implemented with the creation and organization of a multi-faceted digital data system known as the NPS Paleontology Archives and NPS Paleontology Library. Two components of the NPS Paleontology Archives were designed for the preservation of both park specific and servicewide paleontological resource archives and data. A third component, the NPS Paleontology Library, is a repository for electronic copies of geology and paleontology publications, reports, and other media.
  • Appendices D Through I

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    Appendix D Operation & Maintenance Appendix D. Operation and Maintenance Plan Operation and Maintenance Plan This document presents the operation and maintenance (O&M) plan for Western Area Power Administration’s (Western) Sierra Nevada Region (SNR) transmission line systems. 1.0 Inspection/System Management In compliance with Western’s Reliability Centered Maintenance Program, Western would conduct aerial, ground, and climbing inspections of its existing transmission infrastructure since initial construction. The following paragraphs describe Western’s inspection requirements. Aerial Inspections Aerial inspections would be conducted a minimum of every 6 months by helicopter or small plane over the entire transmission system to check for hazard trees1 or encroaching vegetation, as well as to locate damaged or malfunctioning transmission equipment. Typically, aerial patrols would be flown between 50 and 300 feet above Western’s transmission infrastructure depending on the land use, topography, and infrastructure requirements. In general, the aerial inspections would pass over each segment of the transmission line within a one-minute period. Ground Inspections Annual ground inspections would check access to the towers/poles, tree clearances, fences, gates, locks, and tower hardware, and ensure that each structure would be readily accessible in the event of an emergency. They would allow for the inspection of hardware that would not be possible by air, and identify redundant or overgrown access roads that should be permanently closed and returned to their natural state. Ground inspections would typically be conducted by driving a pickup truck along the ROW and access roads. Detailed ground inspections would be performed on 20 percent of all lines and structures annually, for 100 percent inspection every 5 years.
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    Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 7918 Jones Branch Drive, Suite 300 McLean, VA 22102 USA Phone: (301) 634-7024 Email: [email protected] Web: www.vertpaleo.org FEIN: 06-0906643 April 21, 2020 Subject: Fossils from conflict zones and reproducibility of fossil-based scientific data Dear Editors, We are writing you today to promote the awareness of a couple of troubling matters in our scientific discipline, paleontology, because we value your professional academic publication as an important ‘gatekeeper’ to set high ethical standards in our scientific field. We represent the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP: http://vertpaleo.org/), a non-profit international scientific organization with over 2,000 researchers, educators, students, and enthusiasts, to advance the science of vertebrate palaeontology and to support and encourage the discovery, preservation, and protection of vertebrate fossils, fossil sites, and their geological and paleontological contexts. The first troubling matter concerns situations surrounding fossils in and from conflict zones. One particularly alarming example is with the so-called ‘Burmese amber’ that contains exquisitely well-preserved fossils trapped in 100-million-year-old (Cretaceous) tree sap from Myanmar. They include insects and plants, as well as various vertebrates such as lizards, snakes, birds, and dinosaurs, which have provided a wealth of biological information about the ‘dinosaur-era’ terrestrial ecosystem. Yet, the scientific value of these specimens comes at a cost (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/science/amber-myanmar-paleontologists.html). Where Burmese amber is mined in hazardous conditions, smuggled out of the country, and sold as gemstones, the most disheartening issue is that the recent surge of exciting scientific discoveries, particularly involving vertebrate fossils, has in part fueled the commercial trading of amber.
  • 71St Annual Meeting Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Paris Las Vegas Las Vegas, Nevada, USA November 2 – 5, 2011 SESSION CONCURRENT SESSION CONCURRENT

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    ISSN 1937-2809 online Journal of Supplement to the November 2011 Vertebrate Paleontology Vertebrate Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Society of Vertebrate 71st Annual Meeting Paleontology Society of Vertebrate Las Vegas Paris Nevada, USA Las Vegas, November 2 – 5, 2011 Program and Abstracts Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 71st Annual Meeting Program and Abstracts COMMITTEE MEETING ROOM POSTER SESSION/ CONCURRENT CONCURRENT SESSION EXHIBITS SESSION COMMITTEE MEETING ROOMS AUCTION EVENT REGISTRATION, CONCURRENT MERCHANDISE SESSION LOUNGE, EDUCATION & OUTREACH SPEAKER READY COMMITTEE MEETING POSTER SESSION ROOM ROOM SOCIETY OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS SEVENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING PARIS LAS VEGAS HOTEL LAS VEGAS, NV, USA NOVEMBER 2–5, 2011 HOST COMMITTEE Stephen Rowland, Co-Chair; Aubrey Bonde, Co-Chair; Joshua Bonde; David Elliott; Lee Hall; Jerry Harris; Andrew Milner; Eric Roberts EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Philip Currie, President; Blaire Van Valkenburgh, Past President; Catherine Forster, Vice President; Christopher Bell, Secretary; Ted Vlamis, Treasurer; Julia Clarke, Member at Large; Kristina Curry Rogers, Member at Large; Lars Werdelin, Member at Large SYMPOSIUM CONVENORS Roger B.J. Benson, Richard J. Butler, Nadia B. Fröbisch, Hans C.E. Larsson, Mark A. Loewen, Philip D. Mannion, Jim I. Mead, Eric M. Roberts, Scott D. Sampson, Eric D. Scott, Kathleen Springer PROGRAM COMMITTEE Jonathan Bloch, Co-Chair; Anjali Goswami, Co-Chair; Jason Anderson; Paul Barrett; Brian Beatty; Kerin Claeson; Kristina Curry Rogers; Ted Daeschler; David Evans; David Fox; Nadia B. Fröbisch; Christian Kammerer; Johannes Müller; Emily Rayfield; William Sanders; Bruce Shockey; Mary Silcox; Michelle Stocker; Rebecca Terry November 2011—PROGRAM AND ABSTRACTS 1 Members and Friends of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, The Host Committee cordially welcomes you to the 71st Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Las Vegas.