The Dallas Paleontological Society was founded in 1984 for the purpose of promoting interest in and knowledge of the science of paleontology. It was intended by the founding members that the Society would be a network for the exchange of data between professionals and serious amateurs in this field.
Regular Meeting April 12
Morotopithecus bishopi partial skull from Moroto, Uganda ![]() Dr. Dan Peppe w/partial proximal end of femur of E Miocene gompothere, Rusinga Island, Kenya C4 grasses and early Miocene hominoids The Dallas Paleontological Society will meet Wednesday, April 12th, at 7PM Central time in the Boonesville Auditorium (Room 125) of the Ellison Miles Building (Bldg H) at Brookhaven Campus of Dallas College, 3939 Valley View Lane, in Farmers Branch. Dr. Dan Peppe of Baylor University will speak on “Early Miocene evolution of open ecosystems and C4 vegetation in equatorial East Africa”. Plus, Dava Butler, PhD candidate at Baylor, will accept her DPS scholarship award and give a short presentation. Dan Peppe earned a BS with honors in Geology in 2003 from St. Lawrence University, in upstate New York, with a thesis on Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) fossil leaves in the Fox Hills Formation of North Dakota. Moving “up section” to study the Fort Union Formation, he earned his PhD degree in 2009 from Yale with a dissertation on early Paleocene plant communities in the northern Great Plains. Following his PhD, Dr. Peppe did a postdoc at Wesleyan University working on developing leaf-based proxies for temperature and precipitation. He then came to Baylor, where he has researched the relationship between climate change and terrestrial ecosystems in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico, and on Neogene deposits of East Africa. His research specialties include paleoclimatology, paleobotany and paleoecology, sedimentology and stratigraphy, paleomagnetism, and geochronology. Meetings of the DPS are free and open to the public. Members are welcome to bring food or snacks to share, and DPS will provide water and sodas. Everyone is invited to bring fossils to show and discuss. We love to see your recent finds, as well as favorite old ones and collections, and especially mystery specimens! Remote attendees can join our Zoom meeting at: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83765036222 (Meeting ID: 837 6503 6222 and Passcode: 618114). And finally, an apology. Last meeting night, March 8, the college forgot to install a web camera and microphone, so we announced there would be no Zoom connection to the meeting. We then realized that we could video the meeting from a cell phone, but many folks had already signed off. We are sorry if you missed an excellent presentation from Ron Tykoski of the Perot Museum. Whether we have a dedicated web cam and microphone, or just a cell phone, we WILL be online this month. We hope to see you one way or the other. If you are a Member of the DPS, you can still see a video of the March 8 meeting by going to the HOME choice on this page. If you go to the Programs on Videos section, the video is there to view. DPS Officers for 2023The officers for 2023 are: Vice President: Joe O'Neil Fossil Record Editor Bill Weaver Secretary: Dana Baggott Treasurer Pam (Paul) Lowers Fossil Bits and PiecesThe DPS offers extra benefits for Members. Types of Memberships and costs of each can be found under MEMBERSHIP choice in the menu bar, then New Member Online Application. Below is a list of what Members receive and the reasons you should plan to join (or re-join) us in our paleo adventures! MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS Newsletter: The Fossil Record, the Society’s monthly newsletter, is sent to all members. Special Events: Members receive Eblasts on surprise events and reminders of upcoming events. DPS Website: Current members have access to the Members only section of the DPS website, which includes the Membership Directory, past newsletters, and more. Field Trips: Some field trips have limited access (quarries, Oklahoma trilobites, etc.), and some field trips are designated members-only. Excavations: Participation in Fossil Bureau of Investigation (FBI) excavations. Discounts: Fossil prep kits, display items, books, and other unique items are occasionally offered at a discount to members. Occasional Papers: Each Occasional Papers is a collection of in-depth articles on paleontology written by members. One copy per membership is free to members for a limited time immediately following publication. Past Occasional Papers are available for purchase. Volunteerism: Volunteer opportunities to work the DPS booths provides community outreach, interaction with the public, and occasionally free entry to an event. Family: Family Membership provides a discount to a second adult and allows for PIT Crew membership in which children can participate in special PIT Crew-only workshops, classroom activities, and field trips. Dues pay for: food and drinks at the monthly meetings, refreshments on field trips, scholarships, and professional speakers for special meetings. Lake Ralph Hall/North Sulphur River, Fanin County To view a new 18 minute film on Florissant Fossil Beds Monument, please click on the link below: https://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm?id=42760664-E715-FE44-F38270C2561E1366 We at SMU prepared a short video about the Smithsonian exhibit, "Sea Monsters Unearthed: Life in Angola's Ancient Seas," that has been posted on the Embassy of Angola in the United States website (https://angola.org) and on the Embassy Facebook page. To see it, click on the link (https://angola.org), which will take you to the website. The video is playing without sound on the banner. Scroll down to Highlights and you will see a photo of a fossil. Click on that photo and you will see the video with sound and Portuguese captioning on the Embassy Facebook page. Attached is an information sheet about the exhibit, prepared for the Angolan Embassy. If you would like the video with English captioning, just let me know. Enjoy! Louis Jacobs, DPS Advisor jacobs@mail.SMU.edu NMNH Notice and Links_July 2020.docx (This will download to your computer to view.) We are very happy to announce that the very first Occasional Papers Volume 1, written by 9 members of the founding group of the DPS is now available to download! It is under the HOME choice on the menu bar, then Members-Only Content and then Documents and Resources. To see the info for Earth Science week, click here. The Paleontograph back issues are now available at the following link https://www.aaps-journal.org/the-paleontograph.htmlDallas Library and DPSThe Dallas Library’s Podcast on Natural Dallas (P.O.N.D.) Annual Community Nature Expo includes a video featuring the DPS. Please watch all the videos for some interesting things to do and learn about in the outside world. Visit http://dallaslibrary2.org/pond/ for the videos. | Upcoming Events
What we are doing now!!MOSS CREEK Field Trip April 1 The North Sulphur River has long been a favorite fossil destination for hundreds of members and the public, as well. The channeling (straightening) of the river has greatly amplified its erosion so that many wonderful paleontological specimens have been exposed and collected. So many that the DPS chose to dedicate an entire Occasional Paper to the various facets of the NSR. This OP sold out of the original 2000 copies, was beautifully revised by Mark McKinzie (thank you very much) and has been reprinted. So, with thousands of fossil collectors probing the NSR and all of its tributaries, it was only a matter of time until Moss Creek and its unique selacian (shark and ray) fauna were discovered. It is a clean, narrow creek that is usually wadable. Stratigraphically, it is in the Menebites danei ammonite zone of the Ozan Member of Campanian Age (Taylor Group), Gulfian Series of the Upper Cretaceous. That makes these shark teeth about 80 myo. Shark researchers Shawn Hamm and David Cicimurri are writing a paper on Moss Creek. He describes the red beds exposed here as a result of a low-sea level, turbulent environment that was inhabited by small sharks, rays and osteichthyans (bony fish). The conditions must have been a slow-depositional, nutrient-rich habitat because there’s an abundance of shark and ray teeth in this relatively thin interval. The good news is YOU WILL FIND TEETH - hundreds of gorgeous teeth of many species if you collect and screen properly. The bad news is that most of the teeth are small. Here is a photo of some of the largest teeth you should find. (Note the tooth ON the ruler.) This trip is on very private land, so a Hold Harmless Agreement is required. Your collecting success will be dependent on your collecting method. You can go around and pick up a few teeth on the surface or bulk sample and screen later (strongly recommended). Hopefully, the creek will be wet with pools of water for washing sediment. You can use standard screens of ½ then ¼ inch in the field then window screen followed by ½ mm screen* at home to capture most of the teeth. A paint strainer (see GOOGLE) is wonderful to collect all sediment below window screen. I plan to take home buckets of sediments for later screening and sorting on hot summer days and cold winter nights. Dried sediments can be treated with hot vinegar and/or hot water or both to further reduce the volume (to lessen sorting time). This is especially critical for microsorting samples less than 1mm under a microscope. We’ll provide some 5-gal. buckets BUT start collecting your own now – they’re free. McAlister’s and Jason’s Delis, for instance, throw away dozens of buckets a month – just go in (or eat in) and ask or call them for ‘empty pickle buckets’. They will even save them for you if you’re nice or even tip (I give a $2-bill for 3 or more). Secondary reason here is to keep large, non-biodegradable items like these out of landfills. NEVER BUY BUCKETS! – too many free ones out there. Roger Farish can address any concerns you may have 972-898-2700. As usual, contact the DPS HotLine 817-355-4693 if weather is questionable. Now Available! Also Available Now
Join us nowCome and join us for a great time at our next meeting, and click below to become a member. Individual and Family memberships are available, and kids can participate in the PIT Crew (Paleontologists In Training). Mail Check to: DPS PO BOX 223846 Dallas, Texas 75222-3846 The PIT Crew
For more information, Click the link here or click the link under the home page called "For Kids - The Pit Crew" , to see policies, upcoming events, announcements, and how to sign up to take advantage of this new program. About Us and Our Monthly MeetingsThe Dallas Paleontological Society normally meets the second Wednesday of every month at 7:00 PM. |