Waco Mammoth Excursion

 






 
 
 
 
 
 
Dr. Bakker’s presentation on mass extinctions
Ever wonder why large animals such as the dinosaurs and wooly mammoths became extinct while small animals like tiny prehistoric mammals and pond turtles survived?
A size comparison of the modern day elephant, wooly mammoth and the columbian mammoth (the species found at the Waco site)
The excursion group learns about the features of the Columbian Mammoth as well as the story behind the site yet to see
Entering the building enclosed site, a life size Columbian mammoth mural awaits to greet you. The edifice built around the site is air conditioned and kept at a constant temperature all year long to help preserve the site and bones. The building around the site is also impermeable, thanks to the construction design, to floods that could cause potential damage to the bones. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lyme Regis

Image
  We got up early today to make our way from London to Lyme Regis. Got up around 6:30 am and made our way to a continental breakfast at the hotel.  All packed up and on our way, we made a stop to see Stonehenge. An hour or so later, we arrived in Lyme Regis, Mary Anning's town.     Ammonites led the way to and decorated the town of Lyme Regis Finally arrived at the Lyme Regis Museum!   After arriving, my parents surprized me with a private tour guide of Mary Anning's life in Lyme Regis. Natalie Manifold took us all around town to show us the town's old post box (the wood still intact), the mill and the field where young Mary Anning was struck by lightning, Joseph Anning's (Mary Anning's older brother, who collected fossils with her) home, the Jurassic outcrops, the town church, and Mary Anning's grave stone. After the tour, we quickly made our way upstairs inside the museum (It was closing) and discovered two people who turned out t
Read more

Permian Workshop at the Houston Museum of Natural Science

Image
PERMIAN WORKSHOP AT HMNS   WASH STATION When the Paleo Team digs in Seymour, all of the material that is removed while looking for fossils is placed in a bucket and brought back to Houston.  This allows the Team to "Clean" or "Wash" the dirt which leaves behind very small bones and pieces that were missed or not seen the first time.  Buckets of matrix are labelled with the location that the matter was collected from.  In order to wash the dirt, a highly sophisticated system of 2 large storage containers with a very fine mesh in between them are used.  The matrix is placed on top of the mesh held in place by nesting storage containers.  These seem to work best because the high sides prevent the matrix from spilling as easily.  A water hose is used to spray the matrix and to remove the majority of the dirt.  Then the inner container is carefully removed and the mesh is bundled up and then swung in a circle to essentially wring any extra water out of what is re
Read more
Image
SMU paleontology grad named one of the AAAS IF/THEN ambassadors The ambassadors are encouraged to share their stories of being women innovators, in hopes it inspires the next generation of women to get into science, technology, engineering and math [STEM] Myria Perez ’18 and Louis Jacobs DALLAS (SMU) – SMU (Southern Methodist University) graduate Myria Perez ’18 was one of 125 women innovators across the country who was selected to be an AAAS IF/THEN ambassador. Their mission? To share their stories and serve as high-profile role models for girls, in hopes it leads to a new generation of women getting into science, technology, engineering and math [STEM]. “We firmly believe that if we support a woman in STEM, then she can change the world,” Lyda Hill, the founder of Lyda Hill Philanthropies, said in a statement. “The goal of IF/THEN is to shift the way our country — and the world — think about women in STEM and this requires changing the narratives about women
Read more