Overview: 

Topic: Paleontological Marvels from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods of southeastern Colorado
Speaker: Bruce A. Schumacher, USDA Forest Service Paleontologist, Lakewood, CO
Date and Time: Tuesday, October 1, 2024 at 6:30 pm
Location-Hybrid: In person at the Church of Transfiguration & virtual attendance via Zoom Note: We are returning to our normal meeting location at Church of the Transfiguration

Presentation Details

It is fall in our Evergreen World.  You can tell by the crisp evening air, the first aspen leaves are falling, and elk jams are a feature of downtown Evergreen!

For our October Chapter Meeting on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, we are going to take a step back to a much different time in Colorado, when inland seas and a warm, humid climate prevailed. Our Chapter program will be “Paleontological Marvels from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods of southeastern Colorado” presented by Bruce A. Schumacher, National Paleontology Program Manager, USDA Forest Service.  This will be an exciting presentation and you will not want to miss it.  Note: we are returning to our normal

meeting format, meeting in the sanctuary of Evergreen Church of the Transfiguration, and virtually via Zoom. Doors open at 6:00 pm, and you will want to arrive early to get yourself a great seat for this presentation, to catch up with your fellow Audubon Chapter members, and to learn about all the great events and opportunities you can participate in with Evergreen Audubon.

The southeastern corner of Colorado is surprisingly rich with world-class paleontology localities of the Mesozoic Era (~250 to 65 million years ago). Most think of Colorado’s High Plains as arid short-grass flatlands, and former dustbowl country in the heart of rain shadow effect. However, drainage networks here consist of deeply incised canyons and rocky terrain stemming from much wetter climate and glacial meltwater erosion during the Ice Age. The Purgatoire valley hosts dramatically rugged terrain exposing many Mesozoic age rock layers. Along the banks of the Purgatoire River are resistant expanses of lacustrine limestone beds (Jurassic Morrison Formation, 150 million years old) that preserve more than 2,000 individual dinosaur tracks, recording the behavior of at least 125 individual dinosaurs. The Morrison Formation also contains abundant dinosaur bones and skeletons classically known from the Jurassic Period (Allosaurus, Apatosaurus). Younger Cretaceous rocks formed in shallow marine environments and contain a rich record of fossils from a time when North America was divided into western and eastern halves by a shallow sea (100 to 80 million years ago). Recent discoveries from Cretaceous marine beds include the partial skeleton of an elasmosaurid plesiosaur (long-neck marine reptile with flippers for limbs) and a rare filter-feeding fish (Rhinconichthys) known from only 3 specimens worldwide.

During his presentation, Bruce will speak about each of these paleontological discoveries.

About the Speaker

Bruce Schumacher grew up in central Kansas, and in college developed a deep interest in Cretaceous marine fossils of the region. Bruce received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Geology

from Fort Hays State University, 1990, 1992, and a Ph.D. at the South Dakota School of Mines in 1997. During doctoral studies Bruce received extensive experience as a fossil preparator and field collector, accepting a position as fossil preparator with the Chicago Field Museum in 1997. Bruce started his career with the Forest Service as a regional paleontologist (2000-2018) stationed on the Comanche National Grassland (La Junta, CO). During this time field activity focused on dinosaur bones and trackways from the Jurassic Morrison Formation of the Purgatoire River valley. In 2018 Bruce accepted position as the National Paleontology Program Manager for Forest Service and relocated to Denver. Bruce is the author of several peer review paleontological publications, including descriptions of new Cretaceous fish and plesiosaurs.

Zoom Meeting Details

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83158390470?pwd=YnczUHJ4WExONTU4RWNDQXZDQzhLQT09

Meeting ID: 831 5839 0470
Passcode: 030633

Dial-in according to your phone’s area code.  If you are dialing in from a Colorado phone, the number is:
+1 720 707 2699 US (Denver)
Meeting ID: 831 5839 0470
Passcode: 030633

Or find the appropriate number for your area code visit the Zoom website https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kzc31iRPZ