How Fast Did Dinosaurs Grow Up?
Michael D’Emic
By Michael D’Emic
June 19, 2019
5:15 p.m.
Join us for our Draper Natural History Museum’s June “Draper After Dark” lecture. Dr. Michael D’Emic, Assistant Professor of Biology at Adelphi University presents How Fast Did Dinosaurs Grow Up? The talks in this series are free, and take place in the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s Coe Auditorium once a month from June through August.
The past few decades have seen a surge in the number of dinosaur discoveries, leading to the announcement of species new to science every few weeks. This mountain of new information has allowed paleontologists to take a closer look at dinosaurs, and every year we understand more about how they lived, grew, reproduced, evolved, and went extinct. One of the most common and outstanding questions about dinosaurs is: how fast did they grow up? Using new techniques, paleontologists can interpret the micro-anatomy of bones viewed under the microscope to understand the age and growth rate of an individual, as well as infer something about its health and metabolism, including if dinosaurs were “warm-blooded” or “cold-blooded.” These cutting-edge studies are leading to an increasing appreciation for the diversity of dinosaur life in the past, including the origin of dinosaurs’ modern descendants, the birds.
About our speaker
Dr. Michael D’Emic is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Adelphi University where he has worked since 2015. He was formerly a Research Instructor at the School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, and a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology and Geography at Georgia Southern University. Originally from New York, he received his Bachelors of Arts in Biology from Boston University and went on to receive a Masters and PhD from the University of Michigan. He is an expert in dinosaur anatomy, growth, and evolution and has published nearly 30 research articles. His field research centers on the Bighorn Basin, where he has led fossil excavations for over a decade. He has traveled to museums around the world for research, and participated in excavations in Utah, Arizona, New York, and Madagascar.
Draper After Dark lectures are supported in part by Sage Creek Ranch and the Nancy-Carroll Draper Foundation.
These lectures take place in our Coe Auditorium and are free and open to the public.
