This February 28-29th, 2020, join us for a Special Dinosaurs & Cavemen Science Expo. Previously, we’ve brought our labs to you at Rock Bridge High School and elsewhere. This year, come visit us in our Integrative Anatomy labs in the University of Missouri School of Medicine for a special open house and speaker. We’re opening our doors so you can learn how discoveries are made and meet the scientists behind them. Come learn about Hominid fossils, Crocodile and Dinosaur skulls, 3D Imaging and Printing, Microscopy, Anatomy Education and more!

 Come hear our special guest speaker, Boonville, MO native, Professor David Polly (Indiana University) who is giving TWO talks about evolution, climate change, and giant snakes. DID I SAY GIANT SNAKES??? Talk #1 on Friday is geared towards a hard science audience and will discuss how animals modify their body shapes to cope with ecology and climate. Talk #2 on Saturday is a public talk that takes us into the world of giant snakes and reptiles in the greenhouse climate of the Paleocene , 60 million years ago.

Schedule

Friday February 28th:

12-3pm Open House: 3rd floor Anatomy wing of Medical Sciences Building  (see directions below)

3:30-4:30pm, Science Seminar: David Polly: Functional traits, environments, and clades: at the interface of climate, ecology, and evolution. Where? School of Medicine PCCLC Room LC230 (see directions below)

Titanoboa considers swallowing a local crocodile on the banks of a river during the Paleocene of what is now Colombia, South America. Art by Jason Bourque.

Saturday, February 29th:

10:30-11:30, Saturday Morning Science Public Talk: 

David Polly: Hip-Deep in giant snakes: Titanoboa and temperature in the Paleocene. Where?: School of Medicine PCCLC Room LC230 (see directions below)

12-3pm Open House: 3rd floor Anatomy wing of Medical Sciences Building  (see directions below)

About the Speaker

David Polly, Indiana University

David Polly is a vertebrate paleontologist and the Robert R. Shrock Chair in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Indiana University.  His research is on the evolution of mammals, responses of vertebrate communities to largescale environmental change, and processes of morphological evolution.  He grew up in central Missouri, received a BA from the University of Texas, Austin (1987) and a PhD from University of California, Berkeley (1993), which was followed by a postdoc at University of Michigan (1994-1996) and faculty position at the School of Biological Sciences and Bart’s and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary, University of London (1997-2006).  He recently served as president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Directions

Free weekend parking is available in University Avenue Parking Structure, Virginia Avenue Parking Structure and the Virginia Avenue Garage Surface Lot. 

Talks will be held in the PCCLC (Patient Care Centered Learning Center), the new School of Medicine building overlooking the west end of Stankowski field. You will be able to enter the building through its West Entrance off of Tiger Avenue,  from campus through the School of Medicine Atrium near the Health Sciences Library or through University Hospital (though its less recommended). Room LC230 is the large lecture hall on the North end of the building; You can’t miss it. Location: PCCLC is here

Like regular Saturday Morning Sciences, light refreshments will be available starting 10am Saturday Feb 29th. 

The Integrative Anatomy Open House will be on the 3rd floor of the Medical Sciences Building, which is attached to the PCCLC and Health Sciences Library. Follow the dinosaur footprints and signs up the stairs or elevators to the 3rd floor and onto the Anatomy Wing. Our labs will be open for you to get guided tours and discussions with resident scientists. There will be loads of interesting and fun activities and demonstrations for kids and adults.  See you there! 

Contact:

Casey M. Holliday, PhD: hollidayca@missouri.edu; 573-884-6599

Thanks to our hosts and sponsors the Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, the Integrative Anatomy Program, The University of Missouri School of Medicine, Saturday Morning Science, and the National Science Foundation.