Guest Night 2011 is almost here and you need to plan now to attend on Saturday, May 21 ! We are sure to have another sold out event at the Houston Museum of Natural Science that continues to be the best value for any geologist or their guest at the very reasonable price of $30 per person. Doors will open at 5:45 for the buffet dinner and cash bars while we visit among the wonderful museum exhibits. We will move into the IMAX theater at 7:30 for awards and recognitions before hearing our featured speaker, Derek Main. After a short intermission, we will see the IMAX film “Born to be Wild 3D”, and we will wrap things up by 10:00.
This year we will hear of the Arlington Archosaur discovery from Derek Main, a Lecturer in Geology at the University of Texas at Arlington. The title of his presentation is: “Wildfire Paleoecology along the Cretaceous Coast of Texas”. Derek describes this dig as a unique snapshot of a complete Cretaceous ecosystem. Imagine the paleo Mississippi delta at the location of present day Arlington. This Woodbine age site has yielded several significant fossils - a 95-million year old new super predator crocodile (and her babies), a new lungfish, and a fossil that may be an early ancestor of the “duck-billed dinosaurs” or iguanodonts. Dr. Christopher Scotese, Main’s PhD advisor at the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department at UTA, notes “the site is significant because it has a diverse fauna of reptiles and also abundant plant material.”
We are also excited to see the new IMAX movie “Born to be Wild 3D.” This film is about saving orphaned orangutans and elephants in Borneo and Kenya. It is narrated by Morgan Freeman and documents the dedication and remarkable bond between these animals and the humans that rescue and raise them. This will be the very first showing of this film in Houston by special arrangement with the HMNS.
Guest Night continues to recognize those students who have received special awards for their Science Fair entries. Please share with us the appreciation for these students’ work as we encourage them to continue their studies in the geosciences.
For more details and to register for this great annual event, click here.
Click here to see the FaceBook page for the UTA Archosaur Site with the latest activities there and great photos.