The Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds

Teacher discount still available for summer seminars!

Filed under: Seminars, Education, For Teachers — The Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds, Inc. @ 5:30 pm

2007 paleontology intern Eva Lyon examines a dinosaur trackway on the Gold Belt Byway. Photo: Melissa Barton.

There’s still time for teachers to sign up for 2009 Summer Seminars at the discounted rates of $30 for a one-day seminar (regularly $50) and $40 for a two-day seminar (regularly $65). To receive the discount, teachers must be members of the Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds.

The Friends’ summer seminar series offers exciting opportunities to learn about science and history, emphasizing field trips and hands-on activities, and are open to all interested adults. Teachers may choose to pay an additional fee for BOCES or graduate credit from Adams State College. Friends members receive a $10 discount on seminar fees.

2009 Summer Seminar Series

Saturday, May 30, 2009 - Geology and Paleontology of the Florissant Valley
Thursday June 18, 2009 - They’re Alive! Bringing Historical Characters Back to Life with First-person Storytelling
Saturday, June 20, 2009 - Insects in the Colorado Landscape
Saturday, June 27, 2009 - Red Rocks and Cool Caves: A Geological Adventure Expedition
Thursday, July 9, 2009 - Sustainability
Friday, July 10, 2009 - Natural History and Ecology of the Flammulated Owl
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - Forest Ecosystems of the Central Rockies, Flora of Florissant Fossil Beds
Sat, Sun, July 18-19, 2009 - Gold Belt Byway Tour
Saturday, August 22, 2009 - Preserved in Time: The Landmark Environmental Achievement to Save the Florissant Fossil Beds
Sunday August 23, 2009 - The History of Paleontology and Fossil Tourism in the Florissant Valley

For more information and to download a registration form, visit the park’s Summer Seminar Series information page.

Comments Off

Florissant diatoms in the news

Filed under: Paleontology, Research, News, Ecology, Science — The Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds, Inc. @ 5:12 pm

University of Colorado at Boulder doctoral candidate Mary Ellen Benson’s research is in the news at Boulder’s Nanomaterials Characterization Facility.

Diatoms may someday play a role in microelectronics and other nanotechnological devices by growing nano-scale structures. The trick is getting the diatoms, a type of microscopic algae, to build the right structures.

Read more about Benson’s research on the fossil diatoms of Florissant and how researchers may use diatoms for nanotechnological applications in Dan Ray’s article, Nanotechnology in Nature: Ancient Algae Hints at Earth’s Past, Nanotechnology’s Future.

More on Mary Ellen Benson’s research…

Exceptional diversity of fossil algae at Florissant

-Melissa Barton

Photo: Modern marine diatoms (Dr. Neil Sullivan, University of Southern California/NOAA)

Comments (0)

Upcoming Events

Filed under: History, Events, Education, Science, Friends — The Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds, Inc. @ 12:56 pm

Ranger Harv Burman leads a trail walk

Thursday, November 13th - Board Meeting
The next Friends Board Meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Florissant Library. Come get involved!

Sunday, December 7th - Annual Meeting and Potluck
The annual meeting and potluck has been rescheduled for Sunday, December 7th, at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Come celebrate another great year and learn about upcoming events and projects and ongoing scientific research.

Sunday, February 15th, 2009 - Charlotte Hill’s 160th Birthday Celebration
Celebrate the 160th anniversary of the birth of settler Charlotte Hill, who collected thousands of important fossils for early scientists at Florissant.

Saturday-Sunday, August 22-23, 2009 - 40th Anniversary of Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
There’s still time to get involved with planning this exciting event. Contact the Monument at 719-748-3253 for more information.

Watch our Schedule of Events for more information about upcoming events and programs.

Photo Credit: Melissa Barton

Comments Off

Oldest North American mole found at Florissant

Filed under: Paleontology, Research, Species Spotlight, Science — The Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds, Inc. @ 9:53 pm

Despite over 120 years of fossil discoveries, the Florissant Fossil Beds are still producing new discoveries.

A new genus and species of fossil mole has been described from Florissant, published in September 2007 in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. Karen Lloyd, who graduated in 2007 from the University of Colorado with an M.S. in Museum and Field Studies, discovered a partial jaw with three teeth among material collected from Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.

Lloyd named the fossil mole Oreotalpa florissantensis, which means “mountain mole from Florissant” (oreo = mountain, talpa = mole). In addition to representing a new genus and species, Oreotalpa is the first evidence that moles lived around ancient Lake Florissant, as well as the oldest known specimen of a mole from North America. While moles were previously believed to have originated in Europe, Oreotalpa suggests the possibility of a North American origin for moles.

Research since 2003 by Lloyd, her advisor Dr. Jaelyn Eberle, and another Museum and Field Studies graduate and former park intern, Marie Worley-Georg, has more than tripled the number of known fossil mammals from Florissant.

The list now includes rodents (relatives of squirrels, mice, and the “mountain beaver” Aplodontia), rabbits, shrews and other insectivores, the small three-toed horse Mesohippus, deer-like Leptomeryx, sheep-sized oreodonts, a pigmy opossum, a rhinoceros-like brontothere, and a tapir-like ancestor of the rhinoceroses. Although less abundant at Florissant than fossil plants and insects, mammals are an important part of the ecological picture of ancient Lake Florissant.

You can read an abstract and download a copy of Lloyd and Eberle’s paper at Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

-Melissa Barton

Image Credit: Walter Heubach (German, 1865-1923) (European mole, Talpa europaea)

Comments (0)

Notes From the Lab: Yale Peabody Museum

Filed under: Paleontology, Research, Science, Antero Formation, Notes from the Lab — The Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds, Inc. @ 3:00 pm

Last spring I applied for and received a Schuchert and Dunbar Grant-in-Aid to visit Yale University’s Peabody Museum of Natural History and study their collection of insects from the Antero Formation of South Park, Colorado, as part of my thesis on ecological changes during the Eocene and Oligocene. Yale’s collection of Antero insects and plants, while small, is currently the most significant Antero collection in any museum. My advisor at the University of Colorado–Boulder, Dr. Dena Smith, and I thought it was important to examine this historical collection. While we had already borrowed most of the plant specimens, the Peabody has approximately 400 insect specimens (a lot to pack up), and this was a great opportunity to study both those and the plant specimens which were too fragile to loan.

I spent a week photographing and examining the insect fossils with a microscope, and was also able to see the other plant fossils. The trip was very productive for me, as in addition to having a better idea of the insect diversity and sizes, I now have a far better understanding of the lithology (geological characteristics) of the lake shales.

I also determined that Dr. Christopher Durden, who collected the fossils as a student at Yale in the 1960s, was not sorting in the field, as the majority of the insects are extremely tiny, and a few specimens turned out not to be specimens at all, but simply discoloration on the rocks. It was clear that Durden collected anything that looked like it might be a fossil. This is important, as it reassures me that the insect collection will be useful for ecological analysis. However, since Durden was collecting insects and insects and plants are rarely found in equal abundance in the same layers, that explains the small size of the plant collection relative to the insect collection. Unfortunately, while the plants provide an important species list, the sample is too small for statistical analysis.

Unlike Florissant, the majority of the insects present are extremely tiny, hardly visible with the naked eye. Fly larvae and aquatic insects were extremely common. The preservation is often extremely good, showing fine detail of wing venation and patterns on beetle carapaces. Among the plants, I also observed a species previously undescribed in the Antero literature, which may in fact be a new genus or species.

The chance to visit the Peabody was also exciting for other reasons–the collections and workspaces are housed in the new environmental science building, in purpose-built spaces designed for museum collections. The collections spaces are spacious and climate-controlled, with separate air-handling systems to keep down dust and movable shelving with room for further expansion of collections. It was truly inspiring to see what museum collections spaces can look like when built according to modern standards.

Sadly, it is challenging to convey the importance of collections to the public, given their behind-the-scenes nature, and most museums have difficulty obtaining the funding and public support necessary to renovate collections spaces. Museum collections contain a vast amount of our scientific and cultural heritage, and provide invaluable resources for research, education, and exhibit. I believe that ensuring that they receive proper care should be a public priority.

I am extremely grateful to Dr. Derek Briggs, curator of invertebrate paleontology, Dr. Susan Butts, invertebrate paleontology collections manager, and Dr. Leo Hickey, curator of paleobotany, for this opportunity and their assistance during my visit.

The Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds

May 14, 2009

Teacher discount still available for summer seminars!

Florissant diatoms in the news

More on Mary Ellen Benson’s research…

November 3, 2008

Upcoming Events

October 19, 2008

Oldest North American mole found at Florissant

August 20, 2008

Notes From the Lab: Yale Peabody Museum

Read more about the Antero project…