On Friday, March 23, Richard Stucky, curator of paleoecology and evolution at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, will present Showdown at the Ivory Condominium: A New Pleistocene Fossil Site at High Elevation at Snowmass, Colorado.
The event will be held at the Dolores Community Center, 400 Riverside Ave., and will begin with wine and appetizers at 7 p.m., followed by the lecture at 7:30 p.m. The lecture is presented as part of the Distinguished Lecturers Series, organized by the Friends of Crow Canyon advisory board.
During his lecture, Stucky will discuss the fossil discoveries at Ziegler Reservoir in Snowmass one of the most significant fossil finds in Colorados history. While expanding the reservoir in 2010, a heavy equipment operator discovered the bones of a single juvenile mammoth. Subsequent excavations at the site revealed more than 5,000 bones of mastodons, mammoths, and other Pleistocene animals from 40,000 to 130,000 years ago. To date, 40 vertebrate species have been preserved from the site, along with invertebrates and plants. The collection provides one of the most complete records of the ecosystem that existed at that time at about 9,000 feet in elevation.
Stucky studies the evolution of mammals to understand how life on our planet has responded to a dynamic world. He focuses on land-based ecological systems from 50 million years ago in North America when the Earth experienced a period of global warming. Stucky has a keen interest in getting youth involved in science. Before Fridays evening lecture, he will give presentations to Dolores middle and high school students. Stucky received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado.
Sponsors for the event are the Cortez Animal Hospital, the Dolores Food Market, the Dolores State Bank, and Home Enhancement Systems. Tickets for the lecture are $30. A season subscription to all three spring 2012 Distinguished Lecturers Series talks is $85 for one person or $150 for two people. For this lecture, tickets are $5 for children 10-17 years old. Tickets for children younger than 10 years of age are free. Anyone age 17 or younger must be accompanied by an adult.
For more information or to purchase tickets, call 564-4396 (toll-free 800-422-8975, ext. 136), or email bstrickland@crowcanyon.org. Proceeds from the Distinguished Lecturers Series benefit the Four Corners Youth Scholarship Fund at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center.