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Lecture: Bighorn Basin Paleontology
June 20 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm MDT
Bighorn Basin Paleontology: How the Largest of the Largest Dinosaurs Came to Be
By Dr. Michael D’Emic
June 20, 2024
Noon–1 p.m.
NOTE: If you missed this talk, watch the video on the Draper’s YouTube channel!.
Join us for the June Lunchtime Expedition focusing on Bighorn Basin paleontology, How the Largest of the Largest Dinosaurs Came to Be, presented by Dr. Michael D’Emic, vertebrate paleontologist and Associate Professor at Adelphi University. Please note that this lecture takes place on the third Thursday of June rather than the first Thursday like most in this series.
The in-person talk takes place in the Center’s Coe Auditorium, with a virtual option available. If you prefer to join us online, you may register in advance via Zoom webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cLTx2iaGTNuPev-hin6L8A
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
About the program
The long-necked dinosaurs known as sauropods are by far the biggest land animals ever to walk the earth, rivaled in size only by the largest whales today. What led to the exceptional size of the sauropods? Where, when, and how did their titanic sizes evolve, and how did sauropods grow? And why haven’t other groups of reptiles, mammals, or birds evolved such immense sizes? These questions will be answered with the ever-growing fossil record and the field of paleo-histology, which is the science of studying bones and other tissues under the microscope.
About the speaker
D’Emic is a paleontologist and Associate Professor at Adelphi University in New York. He earned his doctorate at the University of Michigan studying the evolution of long-necked dinosaurs. His research takes him around the world to visit museums and excavate fossils. He has been excavating fossils in the Bighorn Basin with students and colleagues since 2007.
Mike has published numerous articles on dinosaur evolution, including a recent cover article for Scientific American. When not working, Mike enjoys hiking in New York’s Catskill Mountains with his wife and daughter.
Upcoming Lunchtime Expeditions
The series generally continues on the first Thursday of each month, but please note the date changes in June and July.
• July 11 (note date change): Global Warming in the Bighorn Basin 56 Million Years Ago, by Dr. Scott Wing
• July 12: Bonus lecture! Human-Environment Relations from Different Perspectives: Findings from Collaborative Research of Indigenous Peoples and Swiss Anthropologists
• August 1: Voyagers of the Night: Investigating the Ecology of Bats in the West, by Dr. Riley Bernard
• September 5: A Specialist Carnivore at its Southern Range Periphery: Canada Lynx in Disturbed Landscapes, by Dr. John Squires
• October 10 (note date change): Sporting Lead-Free: A Vital Step for Wildlife Conservation, by Hannah Leonard
• November 7
• December 5
Have you missed a Lunchtime Expedition?
The talks in this series are gathered in YouTube playlists by year:
• 2024 Lunchtime Expeditions
• 2023 Lunchtime Expeditions
