PaleoPalooza (formerly Fossil Fair) to be held at the Museum on Saturday, November 14

For immediate release ‐ November 02, 2015

Contact: Emelia Cowans, 919.707.9837. Images available upon request

PaleoPalooza, the nation’s largest event dedicated to paleontology, comes to the Museum Saturday, November 14

RALEIGH — Got Dino fever? Well, you’re in luck! PaleoPalooza, the nation’s largest event dedicated to paleontology, will be held at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences on Saturday, November 14 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Formerly known as Fossil Fair, PaleoPalooza celebrates paleo mammals as a theme, which complements our current special exhibition, Extreme Mammals, running through March 27, 2016.

The entire Museum will be teeming with dozens of displays, activities and presentations by paleontologists from North Carolina and around the world. Visitors can check out a vast array of fossils from plants to mammals from the NC Fossil Club, bring in “anything fossil” (or not) for identification by experts with the Smithsonian Institution, and go on behind-the-scenes tours of the Museum’s Paleontology Research Lab every hour, on the hour, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and learn excavation techniques.

There will even be opportunities to use your newly acquired excavation skills to uncover your own plastic dinosaur at Dino Excavations. You can even take your prizes home. For younger children, there will be a Dinosaur Playground Children’s Activity Area with paleo-themed toys and games.

Additionally, we’ve created our very own “mock” Lascaux Cave in the Museum’s Immersion Theater. This complex of caves, located in southwestern France, are famous for Upper Paleolithic art consisting of images of large animals that lived at the time, most of which are known from fossil evidence. Some of the cave paintings are estimated to be 17,300 years old. Not only can you check out some paintings, you can paint some of your own.

At 1:30 p.m., Keynote speaker Dr. David Krause, Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Anatomical Sciences at Stony Brook University, New York, will discuss his research on ancient mammals from the African island of Madagascar. Over the past two decades, discoveries made during his Mahajanga Basin Project in northwestern Madagascar have established the island as having some of the most complete and scientifically significant specimens of Late Cretaceous vertebrate animals anywhere in the world. Many of the specimens his team has recovered represent species that are new to science. Their findings also help clear up the island’s role in the plate tectonic history of the Southern Hemisphere. PaleoPalooza is held in partnership with the North Carolina Fossil Club and sponsored by Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.

DAILY PLANET THEATER PRESENTATIONS –NATURE RESEARCH CENTER, FLOORS 1-3

10:30amWhat We Can Learn from Digital Dinosaurs
Jason Bourke, Paleontology Lab, NC Museum of Natural Sciences
11:30amHow Do We Know What We Know about Dinosaurs?
Mary Higby Schweitzer, NC Museum of Natural Sciences & Dept. of Biological Sciences, NC State University
12:30pmFossils of the Night: Bats through Time
Gregg F. Gunnell, Director, Division of Fossil Primates, Duke University Lemur Center
1:30pmThe Bizarre and Marvelous Cretaceous Mammals, Dinosaurs, and other Animals from Madagascar
David W. Krause, Distinguished Service Professor, Stony Brook University
2:30pmHow to Join the Tail Club Club
Victoria Arbour, NC Museum of Natural Sciences & NC State University
3:30pmCT Paleontology: A New/Old Adventure
Lisa Schultz, Senior Clinical Education Specialist, Siemens Medical Solutions, USA, Inc.

WINDOWS ON THE WORLD PRESENTATIONS –NATURE EXPLORATION CENTER, 3RD FLOOR

11amGigantic and Still Growing! The Histology of Dreadnoughtus schrani
Elena R. Schroeter, NC State University
12pmDawn of the Dinosaurs: What Ruled Before the Dinosaurs
Susan Drymala, Graduate Student Researcher, NC State University, NC Museum of Natural Sciences
1pmMeet the Animals: Ancient Animals
Museum Educator
2pmMeet the Animals: Ancient Animals
Museum Educator

SPECIAL PALEOPALOOZA 3D MOVIE SCHEDULE

Tickets: $5 Adults; $4 Senior, Student, & Military; $3 Children (3-12); $2 Members. All of our films are about 30-minutes in length, and appropriate for most ages.
10am – BBC Prehistoric Planet
11am – Titans of the Ice Age
12noon – Dinosaurs Alive!
2pm – BBC Prehistoric Planet
3pm – Titans of the Ice Age
4pm – Dinosaurs Alive!

For more information about PaleoPalooza, contact Kari Wouk, Senior Manager of Educational Collaborations, at 919.707.9879 or via email at kari.wouk@naturalsciences.org.

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