August Luncheon

Please RSVP by 3:00pm on Friday, August 16, 2024.

Reservations made after the deadline will incur an additional fee of $10.

LOCATION: In-Person luncheon meeting will be held at the Bush Convention Center. Virtual meeting on Zoom. 

TOPIC: "Vertebrate Paleontology Stratigraphy of Upper Cretaceous-Paleogene Strata in the Big Bend Region of Texas and Northern Mexico"

ABSTRACT: Upper Cretaceous-Paleogene rocks exposed in the Big Bend of Texas and northern Mexico preserve diverse and nearly continuous paleontological record, comprising more than 1,000 species of fossil plants and animals. Many of the significant terrestrial flora and fauna of the Big Bend have been recovered from the Aguja, Javelina, and Black Peaks formations. These units are exposed throughout Big Bend National Park and in adjacent regions of northern Chihuahua and Coahuila, Mexico. Turtles, crocodilians, and dinosaurs are some of the more notable vertebrates found in the paralic deposits of the Aguja Formation. The last of the North American titanosaurs, Alamosaurus; the giant theropod, Tyrannosaurs; and the largest flying animal to ever live, Quetzalcoatlus; are well-known animals recovered from the continental deposits of the Javelina and Black Peaks formations. Ongoing research continues to yield new and interesting finds, adding to more than a century of paleontological work done in the Big Bend.

BIO: Dr. Tom Shiller is an Associate Professor of Geology at Sul Ross State University. Shiller received his bachelor’s degree in Geology from Sul Ross and his graduate degrees in Geoscience from Texas Tech University. At Texas Tech, Shiller conducted research in Big Bend National Park and northern Mexico where he studied the stratigraphy and paleontology of Upper Cretaceous strata. As a faculty member at Sul Ross, he continues to work in Big Bend and has several active excavations in the National Park. Shiller has also done paleontological research in southeast Alaska and, recently, in northcentral Cambodia.