Predatory gar fish topic of April Werner Wildlife Series

“Ancient Predators: Gar Fish in the Tate Geological Museum and in Florida Streams” is the title of the April Werner Wildlife Series presented by JP Cavigelli.

Cavigelli’s presentation on Thursday, April 18, at 7 p.m., will touch on fossil and living gar. “Gars are ancient predatory fishes that still patrol freshwater creeks in the United States,” noted Cavigelli, museum collections specialist at the Tate. The presentation will also feature the Tate’s new fossil gars. “My talk will tell you everything you’ve ever wanted to know about fossil and living gars but were afraid to ask.”

In addition to his job as collections specialist, Cavigelli is prep lab manager and field trip organizer at the Tate. He has been in charge of unearthing and preparing fossil vertebrates, including a mammoth and a T rex. Before coming to Casper College in 2004, Cavigelli was the collections manager at the University of Wyoming for two years. There, he designed the database he still uses. Cavigelli does freelance fossil preparation in his private lab for private collectors and academic paleontologists. He has participated in paleontological expeditions to Mongolia, Niger, Tanzania, Alaska, and North Dakota.

The Werner Wildlife Study Series occurs in the Africa-Arctic Room in the Werner Wildlife Museum. The family-friendly event is free and open to the public. For more information, call the museum at 307-235-2108.

The Werner Wildlife Museum, located off the Casper College campus at 405 E. 15th Street, is free and open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

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