28th Annual Tate Conference presents ‘The Jurassic: Death, Diversity and Dinosaurs

For the 28th year, the Tate Geological Museum at Casper College will host its Annual Tate Conference on June 7-9. This year’s topic is “The Jurassic: Death, Diversity and Dinosaurs.”

The conference will feature speakers on Saturday, June 8, and two field trips on Friday, June 7, and Sunday, June 9. Saturday evening’s dinner will feature keynote speaker Matt Wedel, Ph.D., of Western University of Health Sciences, according to Dalene Hodnett, director of museums. Wedel is co-author of “The Sauropod Dinosaurs: Life in the Age of Giants,” author of “Totally Amazing Facts About Dinosaurs,” and the co-producer of the Sauropod Vertebra of the Week website. His talk is titled “The Sauropod Heresies: Evolutionary Ratchets, the Taphonomic Event Horizon, and All the Evidence We Cannot See.”

The first field trip on June 7 will take participants to Alcova Reservoir southwest of Casper to look at Jurassic rocks, including the marine Sundance Formation and the terrestrial Morrison Formations that are well exposed. According to Hodnett, two stops will include where pterosaur tracks were first discovered in the Windy Hill Sandstone and an in situ sauropod site where the Tate collected a pair of feet. An ichthyosaur site will also be visited if time allows. Because all three sites are on Bureau of Land Management land, private collecting of fossil bones is prohibited. However, Hodnett noted that there will be opportunities to collect marine invertebrates as the local Sundance Formation is rich in belemnites. Lunch will be served in the field to all participants,

The other field trip on June 9 will take participants on an exploration of the historic Como Bluff near Medicine Bow, Wyoming. “This site is an integral part of the famous dinosaur wars between Marsh and Cope of the late 1800s,” Hodnett said. The field trip will feature the paleontological history of the area and visits to an ongoing dig site, Nail Quarry, a dinosaur track site, and Bone Cabin, a small building built of dinosaur bones in the 1930s as a tourist site.

The Saturday portion of the conference will feature experts from throughout the country who will speak on various topics related to the Triassic Period. A sampling of speakers and topics can be found here.

“This year’s conference is an opportunity for experts and hobbyists in paleontology to come together, discuss current findings of the ancient past, and learn more about this fascinating field,” said Hodnett. “Besides the excellent lineup of speakers, both field trips offer unique insights into the Jurassic,” she added.

The registration deadline is June 3. To register for the conference, go to the conference site here.

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