New York Paleontological Society Meeting Announcement

FROM PLANTS TO BUGS AND BEASTS

Fossils of Western North America

Urszula Golebiewska, Donald Phillips and Chiaki Yanagisawa

Vice President, President and past Vice President

The New York Paleontological Society

Sunday, October 15, 2017 2:00 P.M. Room 319

American Museum of Natural History New York City

The Northeastern United States is known for its rich deposits of Paleozoic fossils, mostly marine. But when it comes to Mesozoic and Cenozoic fossils, the Western U.S. and Canada lead the way. This month’s talk to our Society will take you on a grand tour of some of the fossils and fossil sites for which the West is famous.

We will begin with visits to many Eocene fossil sites in a number of states, including Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska and South Dakota. We will start with a number of areas in different states well known for their fossil plants and trees, and a site high in a mountain pass where one can collect fossil insects as well as other plant fossils. Ascending the “phylogenetic tree of life” so to speak, we will then collect fossil fish and other plants and animals in the famous Green River Formation of Wyoming, fossils whose exceptional preservation make them some of the most beautiful anywhere. Finally we will visit other Eocene sites in Nebraska and South Dakota for turtle and mammal fossils, including rhinoceros and titanothere mammals among others. Although some sites visited are in national or state parks where collecting is not allowed, many other sites visited are ones where the public is allowed to collect, so bring a notepad.

And finally, what would a fossil tour out West be without visiting some dinosaur sites. It will include a Jurassic Period professional dinosaur “dig” in Wyoming, and a number of “fossil trails” in Colorado and Utah where a short hike will take you to dinosaur fossils still in their rock matrix as found, as well as an in situ dinosaur trackway site and Jurassic age fossil trees and plants (no collecting is allowed at these sites, however). A fossil trail including marine fossils as well as dinosaur bones can be found at Dinosaur National Monument. And finally, trails in Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada, recognized as possessing one of the largest deposits of Cretaceous Period dinosaur and reptile fossils on earth, will be visited. Here, among other things, you can hike the trails to quarry sites where Barnum Brown’s team from New York excavated some famous specimens at the beginning of the Twentieth Century- specimens now on display at the American Museum of Natural History in that city.

After the talks, we’ll take you on a tour of the dinosaur halls to point out the final home of these specimens whose discovery sites were seen during the talk.

Note: As well as Officers of the Society, Urszula is an Associate Professor at Queensborough Community College, Don a Senior Lecturer at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, and Chiaki a Professor at Borough of Manhattan Community College.

ANNOUNCING

THE NEW YORK PALEONTOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S

ANNUAL HOLIDAYS PARTY

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2017 FROM ABOUT 12:30 to 6:00 P.M.

NYU TANDON SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

2 METROTECH CENTER, BROOKLYN, N.Y.

Please check the Newsletter for further information

Our Society is once again gearing-up for the festivities of the holiday season with its own Annual Holidays Party. It’s being held on the first Saturday of December (December 2^nd), early enough not to interfere with your holiday celebrations later in the month. Also, maybe you can pick up some presents at the party and help the Society’s treasury at the same time!

The party will feature our usual free food and beverages (for members and those guests who are registered), including many specialty foods and desserts. Many books, magazines and other items will be given away free as door prizes - and everybody gets one! There will also be sales tables, copies of our Society’s award winning field guides and publications and free copies of our Newsletters. And thanks to donations by our members, there will be many books on topics in paleontology, geology, dinosaurs and minerals, as well as in anthropology and natural history.

In addition, the events will include educational exhibits, children's events, some brief talks, classic videos with a prehistoric theme, and much more. A more detailed notice will be sent to members.

For more information, contact Don Phillips at president@nyps.org