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Missouri River Dig Norristown PA
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| Title | Missouri River Dig Norristown PA |
| Digitaization Specification | Master file format: ? bytes, application/doc, Uncompressed, DOC, ; Checksum: ; Adobe Photoshop CS3 |
| Transcript | Office of University Relations SDSM& T News 501 E. St. Joseph Street • Rapid City, SD 57701- 3995 Phone: ( 605) 394- 6082/ 2554 • Fax: ( 605) 394- 6177 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: ( August 19, 1998) NORRISTOWN STUDENT FINDS FOSSIL OF 80- 85 MILLION YEAR OLD FISH DURING FIELD DIG ALONG MISSOURI RIVER IN SOUTH DAKOTA Robert Meredith of Norristown found an 80- 85 million year old fish fossil while digging for prehistoric marine turtles, mosasaurs, plesiosaurs and other Late Cretaceous fossils in South Dakota. Meredith, who graduated from Villanova University with a major in biology, spent the first two weeks of August participating in a field dig along the Missouri River led by paleontologists from the South Dakota Museum of Geology. During the excavation, Meredith unearthed fossils of Xiphactinus, a bulldog face fish from the Niobrara Formation 80- 85 million years ago. Other discoveries during the first week of the session included a bison skull estimated to be 20, 000 years old. The excavations were conducted in an area where the SDSM& T Museum of Geology previously made the important scientific discovery of Archelon, a giant marine turtle that lived toward the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. The shell of this largest known sea turtle measures 12 feet across. " I wanted to take a field paleontology course and this one sounded really good, " said Meredith in describing his decision to participate in SDSM& T's summer field dig program. Numerous sea reptiles, especially mosasaurs, have been found in the area along the Missouri River where SDSM& T paleontologists have conducted field digs. Sea life at the end of the dinosaur age was dominated by mosasaurs and plesiosaurs. Mosasaurs were giant, large- toothed marine reptiles that are distant relatives of modern- day lizards. They inhabited the shallow seas that covered the Great Plains from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic during the Late Cretaceous period between 90 to 65 million years ago. A previous dig at this Missouri River site yielded an especially significant discovery of baby mosasaur remains found among the pelvic area of the mother specimen. This is the first definite evidence that these lizard- like creatures gave live birth to their young. " These ferocious mosasaurs were top dog in the water, " says Dr. James Martin, SDSM& T Museum of Geology Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology and Professor of Geology. " A T- rex wouldn't stand a chance in the water against a mosasaur." SDSM& T's field paleontology program attracts students, teachers and volunteers from across the nation each summer. The public can participate on a limited, space- available basis. To obtain information about future SDSM& T field digs, individuals should contact Dr. Philip Bjork, SDSM& T Museum of Geology, at 1- 800- 544- 8162, ext. 2467, or via email: pbjork@ msmailgw. sdsmt. edu. ++ 30++ Photo Caption: Robert Meredith carefully chips away soil and rock along the banks of the Missouri River in search of fossils from the Late Cretaceous period. ( Photo Courtesy of SDSM& T University & Public Relations) ( i: univ\ pressrele\ 0898\ Missouri River Dig Norristown PA) |
| Creator | South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. University Relations; |
| Subject | South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Museum of Geology; |
| Local Subject | South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
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| Digital Publisher | South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Devereaux Library
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| Date | 1998-08-19 |
| Type | Text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Language | eng |
| Relation | Is part of Office of University Relations SDSM&T News Collection |
| Rights | The work from which this copy was made did not include a formal copyright notice. This work may be protected by U. S. copyright law (Title 17, United States Code), which governs reproduction, distribution, public display, and other uses of protected works. Uses may be allowed with permission from the copyright holder, if the copyright on the work has expired, or if the use is fair use or within another legal exemption. The user of this work is responsible for compliance with the law. |
| Submitting Institution | Devereaux Library. South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. |
| Date Digital | 2009 |
| CONTENTdm number | 1401 |
| CONTENTdm file name | 1402.pdf |
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