Dinosaur death pit topic of special presentation at Tate

Joseph “Joe” Peterson, Ph.D., will give a special lecture titled “Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry: A Reevaluation of a Dinosaur Death Pit.” The talk is free and open to all and will take place at the Tate Geological Museum on Monday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m.

“This presentation will discuss the various hypotheses that have been proposed for the history of the Cleveland-Lloyd Quarry and the results of our analysis of the quarry over the last decade,” said Peterson. According to Peterson, the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry is home to one of the world’s densest concentrations of Jurassic carnivorous dinosaurs. Still, he asked, “How did such a unique deposit form?”

A Professor of Geology, Peterson teaches Evolution of Earth, Paleontology, and Stratigraphy and Basin Analysis at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. He also teaches field courses in Utah that examine Mesozoic stratigraphy and paleontology. His research has focused on inferring dinosaur behavior from fossil injuries and Jurassic paleoecology and taphonomy. He also researches vertebrate paleontology and vertebrate taphonomy, focusing specifically on Late Cretaceous dinosaurs such as tyrannosaurs and pachycephalosaurs. In addition, he is investigating the role of microorganisms in the preservation of soft tissues in dinosaur fossils.

Peterson received his B.S. in geology from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, Illinois, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in geology from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.

The Tate Geological Museum is located on the southern end of the Casper College campus; look for the life-sized T.rex bronze near the Tate or call the museum at 307-268-2447.