Tate Geological Museum

Transcription

1 Minerals Dinosaurs Fossils Tate Geological Museum caspercollege.edu/tate-geological-museum Sept./Oct Vol. 23, No. 1 Fossil of the Month Large Triceratops Tooth By J.P. Cavigelli, Tate Geological Museum Collections Specialist Drawing by Zack Pullen. This summer has been busy. We have done several dinosaur digs but have been stymied by rain, so the actual number of dig days is fewer than in previous years. Nonetheless, we are finding more good things. (There should be a wrap up in the next issue). In July at our Lance Formation dig Bob Sombathy of Panama City, Florida, found a fairly exceptional fossil. It is a very large Triceratops tooth. This tooth comes from the Promise Hill Quarry, which has produced many of the recent fossils featured in this series. Triceratops teeth are pretty common at Promise Hill, but mostly they are quite worn down. This one has not been exposed to the chewing action, so its crown is still complete. The stereo photo above shows the tooth in my hand. The dark part is the crown, and the brownish part near my fingertips is the root. The crown measures 1.5 inches (36 mm). If you are having a hard time seeing it in 3D, there is a prominent ridge running from the tip to the crack at the base. Check the internet to learn how to see stereoscopic images with the naked eye. Triceratops belongs to the family Ceratopsidae, which contains most of the large, horned, and frilled dinosaurs. There are at least two kinds of large ceratopsians found in the Lance formation; Triceratops and its lesser-known cousin Torosaurus. The common dogma is that the teeth of these animals cannot be identified to the genus. Triceratops is by far more common than Torosaurus, so many of us, by default, call all of these teeth Triceratops, when in reality this tooth could have come from either animal. We have collected a nice Torosaurus skull from a nearby ranch, and recently we were visited by a ceratopsian specialist. He is studying Torosaurus skulls and is hoping to learn to determine if these isolated teeth are identifiable to the genus. But for now, I am OK calling this a Triceratops tooth. A recent paper claimed that Torosaurus is simply a very large and old Triceratops. From what I have seen and read, the evidence is not satisfactory, so I am still calling them two separate genera. I would again like to thank Lee and Vicki Brown for allowing us to collect on their place, and to all the diggers who came out with us this year, especially Bob Sombathy. Fossil of the Month Page 1 Director s Report Page 2 Marine Illustration Page 3 WHAT S INSIDE Saturday Club Schedule Page 4 Gift Shop Page 5 Kids Corner Page 6? and Answers Page 7 Events Calendar Page 8

2 2 Drawing by Zack Pullen. Director s Report RECENT DONATIONS: We have had two recent, generous donations to the museum. One was the donation of the (or one of the) original architectural concept drawings of the museum. Donated by William E. Gezzi, the drawing shows what the architectural firm imagined the completed museum would look like. If you would like to see it, it is currently hanging in the museum gift shop, while we decide on a permanent home. The second donation, a fantastic mineral collection, was made by Rita Emch in memory of her husband, Meredith Mills. He was a local uranium geologist who began collecting in Arizona and had an eye for particularly beautiful rocks and minerals. Mills was also an expert gemologist. His beautifully faceted kunzite made the cover of Lapidary Journal in July While we are still processing this collection, we hope to have many of the pieces on exhibit before the end of the year. By Patti Wood Finkle, Director of Museums FOURTH OF JULY FEST: The Tate Geological and Werner Wildlife museums were asked to host a booth in the kids area at the city s annual Fourth of July and Fireworks Fest at the Casper Events Center. Working on short notice, I had two willing volunteers who helped me man the booth and teach kids and adults alike how to pan for minerals. I would like to give a big shout out to Anne Carlsen and Bob Montgomery for spending their Fourth of July in the heat and wind to promote the museums. THANK YOU! NATIONAL FOSSIL DAY OPEN HOUSE: This year s NFD open house will be Saturday, October 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Join our staff and volunteers for fossil-related activities, crafts, tours, and treats. Paint your own fossil cast, tour the Rex Annex, hunt for fossils, and have your face painted while you enjoy punch and cookies! We will have door prizes for the kids and the ever-popular Fossil Road Show, so bring in your rocks and fossils for identification. caspercollege.edu/tate-geological-museum

3 3 MARINE BIOLOGY Illustration Join the Tate Geological Museum s Russell J. Hawley to learn the basics of how to draw creatures of the sea, from lowly snails to mighty whales, in Marine Biology Illustration. This class is for both novices and experienced artists alike. Supplies and an evening snack will be provided. For ages 16 and older. Call the Tate to reserve your spot today at Tuesday, September 25, :30 p.m. Instructor: Russell J. Hawley, Education Specialist Cost: $

4 4 Fall Saturday Club Schedule! OCTOBER 6: ORIGAMI Origami is the Japanese art of folding paper into figures of birds and other animals. Not only is it fun, but origami can also give a student a better intuitive grasp of certain geometrical principles! Free and open to kids 6 and older! NOVEMBER 3: BRINGING THE BONES TO LIFE Students are shown how to reconstruct the appearance of a live dinosaur by sketching the muscles onto the animal s skeleton. We ll start by reviewing muscle function and placement in modern birds and reptiles, and then apply these principles to our own dinosaur drawings. Free and open to kids 6 and older! DECEMBER 8: ORNAMENTAL DINOSAURS In this free Saturday Club, which is open to the public, we make our own dinosaur ornaments to liven up the holiday season! (Note: This date may be subject to change. Check with the Museum for updates). Free and open to all! caspercollege.edu/tate-geological-museum

5 5 Make the Gift Shop part of your visit!

6 6 Kids Corner caspercollege.edu/tate-geological-museum

7 7? and Answers By Russell J. Hawley, Tate Geological Museum Education Specialist Drawing by Zak Pullen. Q: A: 260 million years ago puts us into the late Permian. The largest Permian herbivores of North Africa would have been the pareiasaurs, bulky beasts distantly related to the reptiles that would eventually give rise to modern turtles. The 2.5 meter-long Pareiasaurus is typical of the group. It had a short, broad, spiky skull with jagged, leaf-shaped teeth for shredding plants and it was studded with scutes bony armor plates set into the skin of its back and sides. Pareiasaurus has been found from Asia to Tanzania and South Africa; it would have, undoubtedly, been present in North Africa during the Permian as well. Any chance you could give me a quick rundown of the terrestrial vertebrates one could expect to find in what is now North Africa about 260 Ma before present era? John Waterman The Moradi Formation of Northern Niger has also yielded the bones of a large, 3 meter-long pareiasaur named Bunostegos. In addition to the standard-issue pareiasaur equipment, Bunostegos also sported pairs of bony knobs on its skull, giving its head an almost uintathere-like appearance. The other two major herbivore groups of North Africa were the tusked and beaked dicynodonts and the captorhinids; the latter represented in Niger by Moradisaurus, which had a battery of several tooth rows in the roof of its mouth. The dominant land predators of the Permian were the gorgonopsians, which had low-slung bodies, heavy skeletons, and saber teeth. The meter-long Lycaenops is typical of the group, but other gorgonopsians were quite a bit larger the Late Permian Inostrancevia of northern Russia grew to a length of 3.5 meters. A gorgonopsian tooth found at Moradi is 10 centimeters long, indicating the presence of a roughly lion-sized predator in North Africa at this time. In the late Permian there were not yet any crocodiles instead, the riverbanks were haunted by cochleosaurians, predators that looked a whole lot like 3-meter-long salamanders. One bizarre example found at Moradi is Nigerpeton. In this animal, the nostrils were elevated and set far back along the snout. At the tip of the snout was a pair of holes when the animal closed its mouth a pair of tusk-like lower teeth poked up through the holes, presenting the appearance of a pair of tiny horns. Late Permian animals. Scale bar equals 2 meters

8 Casper College Tate Geological Museum 125 College Drive Casper, WY CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED Minerals Dinosaurs Fossils Event Calendar SEPTEMBER Dinosaur Dig No Scientific Illustration Class OCTOBER 3 Coffee, Tea and Dee: 8:30-11:30 a.m. 6 Saturday Club 20 National Fossil Day Open House NOVEMBER 3 Saturday Club 7 Coffee, Tea and Dee: 8:30-11:30 a.m. 22 Museum closed Thanksgiving Day 23 Holiday hours 10 a.m.-4 p.m. DECEMBER 5 Coffee, Tea and Dee: 8:30-11:30 a.m. 8 Holiday Open House 10 a.m.-2 p.m Museum closed Christmas Holiday hours 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Casper College is an equal opportunity institution and as such, does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, veteran status, political affiliation, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law in admission or access to or treatment or employment in its educational programs or activities. Direct inquiries or complaints to Linda Toohey, associate vice president for student services at 125 College Dr, Casper, WY 82601, , or linda.toohey@caspercollege.edu, or the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 1244 Speer Blvd, Ste 310, Denver, CO ; or TDD Scan to find out more about the Tate Geological Museum!