September/October 2014

Miner als • Dinosaur s • F ossils
Tate Geological Museum
Geological Times
Sept. - Oct. 2014 • Vol 19, No. 12
casp er co l l ege. ed u/ t a t e 3 0 7 - 2 6 8 - 2 4 47
Fossil of the Month
–
Small White River Turtle
©Drawing by Zack Pullen.
By J.P. Cavigelli, Tate Geological Museum Collections Specialist
This summer
Tate volunteers
and I have
been taking a
field trip every
week, mostly on
Tuesdays. We
have been to some
old localities and have also gotten access
to a few new places. One new place is a
ranch in eastern Wyoming with White River
Formation badlands. We spent a few days
out there and came up with some nice
additions to our White River Collection. This
month’s fossil is one of those – a small
specimen of Stylemys
nebraskensis. This
species is the
common
fossil
Fossil of the Month
Director’s Note
Kids’ Dig
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turtle in the White River Formation. Most
specimens are quite a bit bigger than this
one, which measures 3 ½ inches (8.5 cm)
across the shell, and about 3 ¼ inches (8
cm) from front to back, but this dimension
is misleading since it is a tad distorted. The
shell is darn near complete but squished.
A few remnants of leg bones can be seen
in the leg holes. The badlands on this
ranch, like many outcrops of White River
Formation, have a lot of turtles that should
have been collected a few to 50 years
ago ... which results in many half-turtles
and exploded turtles. Finding a complete
one is always a joy. (Exploded turtles are
turtles that have
weathered
away from
their original
resting
ground
and are
represented
by a slew
of turtle shell
pieces, as if they
exploded).
Dwaine Wagoner found
this little guy deep in a gully
that the two of us explored while
Steve Pfaff napped in the truck. (Not to
blame Steve; he had just come back from
an overseas trip the day before and was
quite understandably whooped). Only a
What’s insidePage 4-5
Essence of Rex Dedication Werner Wildlife Museum
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little piece of it was exposed, which is how
we like to find good fossils. It was fairly
quickly collected and Steve prepped it once
we got it back to the Tate. The photo below
shows the turtle in the process of being
excavated (photo by Dwaine Wagoner). The
right angle bend in the shell near the finger
(for scale) is not natural; that is the result of
crushing. It occurs to me that I have written
what I can about this nice find and not used
the word ‘cute.’ Too bad, because this turtle
is indeed very cute.
In other news from the same ranch, we
also collected a nice camel skull, named
Clyde, with an articulated neck; an oreodont
skull with some postcranial bones; and a
very small rodent palate. Tate Geological
Museum volunteers are currently preparing
these. These fossils are all about 35 million
years old. We have access to this ranch for
this year only and plan to get back out there
later in the summer. More fossils from our
Tuesday outings will probably show up on
these pages in the next year. We heartily
thank Jeb Hanson for allowing us to collect
on his ranch.
? and Answers
Events Calendar
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Director’s Note ©Drawing by Zack Pullen.
Members
Only Dig:
On August 9,
about a dozen Tate
members went out
to a ranch near
Edgerton, Wyoming
to search for
dinosaur fossils. The area is virgin terrain
for dinosaur hunting and many scattered
chunkosaurs were found. Lynne Swank
found a few pieces of a T. rex toe bone. A
few people looked for additional pieces,
or even the source of the bone, but with
little success. At the end of the day when
everyone regrouped, only Al Fraser had
found anything worth writing home about
... a group of bones coming out of the
shale fairly close to each other. J.P. wants
to go back some day to explore this site
further.
Save the Date: Lee Rex Rocks!
Invitations are in the mail! Our biennial
fundraiser will be on September 20, 2014
at the Casper Petroleum Club. There
will be both a silent and live auction of
spectacular mineralogical specimens,
original works by local artists, and unique
pieces for your home or office. If you
would like to attend the event, but didn’t
receive your invitation, please call 307268-2447 for more
information.
Seating
is limited
and RSVPs
are due by
September 16,
2014.
by Deanna Schaff
Museum Adventure Quest Camp
at the Tate:
On July 22, participants in the Museum
Adventure Quest Summer Camp once
again visited the Tate. There were 20
students. They were younger than MAQ
groups we’ve had in previous years, but
no less enthusiastic! This year we taught
them Gyotaku, the Japanese art of fish
printing. The students were then shown
how to fold origami dinosaur heads, and
we wrapped up the day with a look at
the fossil fishes in the Tate Geological
Museum’s collections. Some quite
beautiful Gyotaku were produced, and the
students all had a good time.
Caspar Collins Days:
The Tate had a table at Fort Caspar’s
Caspar Collins Days event on July 26. We
had touch specimens, membership forms,
and of course the ever popular dig box
for the kids. The staff would like to thank
Becky Rothenberg and Lynne Swank for
manning the table that day. (Also thanks
to J.P. and Dominique). Another popular
attraction was our “Guess the Number of
Rocks in the Jar and Win a Prize” contest.
Believe it or not, we had a tie! Rose B. and
Nancy J. missed the number of rocks by
just 42 each. Both ladies won a $20 gift
certificate to the museum gift shop.
National Fossil Day
Join us on October 15 for our
annual National Fossil Day Open
House from 3 to 6 p.m. As
always, we will have our Fossil
Road Show, tours, treats, a craft,
and games. Stay tuned to find
out what special surprises we
are lining up for this year’s event.
More details to come!
Casper College Student Discount:
As the fall semester commences so will
our new student discount! Whether it is a
rock hardness kit for a geology student,
The Elements book for a chemistry
student, or even an excavation kit for
a student’s child, all Casper College
students, with a valid student I.D., will
receive a five percent discount off of their
gift shop transaction. Good luck students
on this coming semester!
Tate Museum
Geological Times
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From the gift shop
Fall is fast approaching and with the turn of the leaves, it is time for
the Tate Geological Museum’s monthly social event, “Coffee, Tea, and
Dee!” Enjoy a wonderful cup of the Pleistocene Epoch Mammuthus
Columbi coffee or a special blend of rooibos tea, provided by P. Hawk
Coffee and Tea, at no expense from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. Sip on your hot
beverage and take a gander at the gift shop’s “Coffee, Tea, and Dee” sale.
• September 17 – 10 percent off all books
• October 15 (National Fossil Day) – 10 percent off all fossils
• November 12 – 10 percent off all jewelry
• December 10 – 10 percent off all t-shirts and plush animals
*Discounts end at 11:30 a.m.
*All members and students receive the above discount in addition to
their regular discount.
Members’ Only Kids’ Dig:
©Drawing by Zack Pullen.
By Patti Wood Finkle, Exhibit Specialist
On July 12, J.P.
and I took 29 folks
out for the first Tate
Kids’ Expedition of
the season. We were
hunting for ammonites
and baculites west of
town. Almost as soon as we got there
one participant found a foot-long baculite
(although he will spend quite a long time
gluing it back together!) Inspired, the
rest of us set off to find our own fossils.
Several folks found ammonites and all of
the kids found lots of baculite pieces. Join
us for our next Tate Kids’ Expedition in
conjunction with Russell’s Saturday Club
on September 6.
(Members are free; all others must pay the regular
Saturday Club fee of $5 per person.)
Tate Museum
Geological Times
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Essence of Rex Dedication:
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The new bronze original by
Chris Navarro, Essence of Rex,
was officially dedicated on
Thursday, Aug. 21. The Casper
College Foundation and the
donor, Marialyce Tobin, planned
a family-friendly event. We had
an estimated 600 to 700 people
join us for the ceremony, food,
games, tours, and cake. We
saw lots of familiar faces as well
as many new ones, including a
surprise visit from U.S. Senator
John Barrasso. THANK YOU to
everyone who helped organize
the event as well as those who
volunteered that day.
CC Photos by Karel Mathisen
1. U.S. Senator John Barrasso
greets the crowd.
2. Chef Wayne Martin, creator of
the fantastic T. rex cake.
3. The food tent was busy all afternoon.
4. The platform under Essence of
Rex proved to be a great hangout
for the kids.
5. College President Walt Nolte.
6. Sculptor Chris Navarro, Marialyce
Tobin, CC President Walt Nolte,
and Foundation Board President
John Jorgensen cut the ribbon
during the Essence of Rex dedication.
7. Foundation employees Hannah
Wille (l) and Katie Schwieger (r).
8. Essence of Rex donor, Marialyce
Tobin, poses with the T. rex cake.
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Tate Museum
Geological Times
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Tate Museum
Geological Times
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Werner Wildlife Museum:
By India Hayford, Museum Assistant
New Employees at Werner
Wildlife Museum:
In early July, Pat Bedford and India
Hayford were hired as museum assistants
at the Werner Wildlife Museum. Pat, a
participant in the ExperienceWorks program,
covers mornings at the Werner. She retired
from social services in Adams County,
Colorado and brings particular expertise on
making the museum a welcoming place for
visitors with physical challenges. She has
found her niche in giving group tours of the
museum and has taken over the care and
feeding of the museum’s backyard birds.
India has a B.S. in plant science,
graduate study in range ecology, and work
experience as an environmental consultant,
fisheries biologist for Wyoming Game and
Fish, and range conservationist for the US
Forest Service. She completed the legal
assistant certification program at Casper
College in 1999 and worked as a CLA for
a civil litigation firm until retiring in 2010.
Being back where people speak science
makes her feel like she has returned home
after a long, long journey.
Upcoming Events:
Two new monthly after-school programs
will begin at the Werner this fall: Eagle
Talks will cover the science and mythology
of eagles and Animal House will explore
the habits and stories of a different animal
each month. The Werner’s annual art show
for students and faculty is coming up in
November; please see the associated article
in this issue.
Fiber artists and clothing makers in
Natrona and Converse Counties will have
their chance for recognition this spring
when the Werner sponsors a wearable
art contest and fashion show, tentatively
called Walk on the Wild Side. Exhibits in
the Werner will provide inspiration for the
participants.
Something Wild at the Werner:
Werner Wildlife Museum’s annual art
show is scheduled to open on Friday,
Nov. 14, 2014. All current students and
employees of Casper College are eligible to
submit one or two pieces of art. The show
is not juried and acceptance is subject to
size, content, and space restrictions.
This year’s theme is Something Wild and
all artwork must represent wild things: no
man-made structures, people, or domestic
animals in this one. Applications are
available at the Werner Wildlife Museum
at 405 East 15th Street or by email at
ihayford@caspercollege.edu. Deadline
for all art and accompanying paperwork is
November 1 at 4:45 p.m.
Tate Talks
Learn more about the museum.
Hawley Vision
Come see what it’s all about.
Visit: caspercollege.
tv/hawleyvison
Visit: caspercollege.tv/tatetalks
Learn from the experts with these
behind the scenes podcasts!
Tate Museum
Geological Times
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? and Answers
©Drawing by Zak Pullen.
Q:
What is the pineal eye, and what is it used for?
A:
The pineal eye is found in the modern lamprey, certain
lizards including iguanas, skinks, the lizard-like tuatara
(Sphenodon) of New Zealand, and also in tadpoles, but it
is not found in adult frogs, or in turtles, geckos, snakes,
crocodiles, or mammals.
Sphenodon probably has the most well developed pineal eye of
any modern reptile. It consists of a nerve that originates between
the diencephalon and the midbrain and then runs up to a point just
under the midline of the skull roof where it terminates in a little eye,
complete with a tiny lens and retina. Just above the eye is a hole
in the roof of the skull, the pineal foramen. Because it’s under the
skin, the pineal eye cannot form images, but it can tell whether it’s
light or dark.
Many fossil vertebrates have a pineal foramen, including many
jawless fishes, some fossil lobe-finned fishes, and most Paleozoic
amphibians and reptiles, but not dinosaurs. Indeed, Al Romer
observed that “a median eye seems to have become, so to speak,
unfashionable” during the Triassic period and it is found in very few
later Mesozoic vertebrates.
The head of Sphenodon,
showing the position of the
pineal eye under the pineal
foramen.
Tate Museum
Geological Times
By Russell J. Hawley, Tate Geological Museum Education Specialist
The pineal eye seems to function as a sort of photosensitive
‘timing gear,’ keeping track of periods of light and dark and thus
triggering behaviors that are related to various daily and seasonal
cycles. Exempli gratia, when a reptile’s pineal eye detects that the
days are getting shorter, it alerts the animal to get ready to go into
hibernation.
The function of the pineal eye in lizards was determined in
an experiment – the foramen of a captive lizard was covered by
a small piece of aluminum foil. The lizard was then allowed to go
about its daily business. Ordinarily a lizard shuttles back and forth
between the sun and the shade to keep its body temperature at
an optimal level – with the pineal eye covered, the lizard spent too
much time basking in the sun and ran its metabolism too high. This
less efficient metabolic level would have required the animal to eat
more. (An error of this kind is referred to as a reptile dysfunction.)
Casper College
Tate Geological Museum
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Casper, WY 82601
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2014 Tate Museum Event Calendar
September
Geological Times
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Tate Museum
Minerals • Dinosaurs • Fossils
CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED
12-14
15-19
17
20
November
Saturday Club and Members’ Only Kids’ Field Trip,
10:30 a.m. until noon
The 47th Annual Denver Gem and Mineral Show
Summer dinosaur dig to Merle Site, Lusk Wyoming
Coffee, Tea and Dee, 7:30-11:30 a.m.
Biennial fundraiser, “Lee Rex Rocks,” Casper
Petroleum Club
October
4
15
15
Saturday Club, Flying Reptiles, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Coffee, Tea and Dee, 7:30-11:30 a.m.
National Fossil Day Open House, 3-6 p.m.
Scan to find out more
about the Tate
Geological Museum!
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12
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Saturday Club, Mineral Geometry, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Coffee, Tea and Dee, 7:30-11:30 a.m.
Werner Wildlife Museum Art Show Something Wild,
opening, 3-6 p.m.
December
10
13
Coffee, Tea and Dee, 7:30-11:30 a.m.
Annual Holiday Open House and Saturday Club craft,
10 a.m.-4 p.m.