President's Message
Peace River Adventure 2012!
What a great weekend! I just arrived home after yet another successful Peace River Adventure. The numbers were huge. Our fieldtrip Chairman Fred Hendershot and I lost count of how many people we put in the river. There were at least 200 fossil hunters in the Peace River for Saturday’s dig at Zolfo Springs, half of them were brand new to TBFC. By my best estimation we served over 130 people that afternoon at the barbecue dinner, and Dr. Bob Sinibaldi lead us through a profitable auction.
The Peace River Adventure has turned into one of TBFC’s largest events, second only to FossilFest. The only way it could be pulled off is with the help of our Directors and the many volunteers. I’d like to acknowledge and thank the following individuals who came out of the river early, or didn’t go hunting at all so that they could volunteer to make the trip enjoyable for all the other participants: Leslie & Joseph Branin, Alyssa Cane, Bill Faucher, Albert, Teresa, & Albie Fava, Roger & Teresa Morgan, Altren & Denise Neumann, Glenna & George Overhuls, Seina Searle and Dr. Bob Sinibaldi. And these are just the people who signed up prior to the event to help out. Lots of folks just showed up throughout the weekend and offered to do anything they could to help out. I wish I could name everyone here, but there were too many. Everyone’s hard work is appreciated and made for a great Peace River Adventure.
TBFC’s 2011-2012 Season Comes to an End
Is TBFC’s season really over? We are wrapping up the season, but there are still plenty of events left before TBFC takes a much deserved break. If you’re new to TBFC you may not know that we shut down for the summer. There will be no regular monthly meetings held in June, July, and August. But that doesn’t mean we’re finished yet.In just the next 30 days, TBFC will squeeze in our last monthly meeting on May 5th, two field trips (Vulcan and another Peace River trip), and to wrap it all up, TBFC’s end of the season dinner at Nature’s Classroom on June 2nd. Get your fill of “paleo” with TBFC and don’t miss any of our final events.
May 5th Meeting
Flightless bats, Climbing hedgehogs, or Primitive Tree Shrews:
Understanding the Fossil Family Nyctitheriidae
with Carly Manz
May features yet another presenter from the Florida Museum of
Natural History. Carly Manz is a PhD candidate at the University
of Florida in the Department of Geological Sciences. She had her
first experience with paleontological research while an undergraduate
at the University of Michigan, where she volunteered in the Fossil
Prep Lab at the Natural History Museum. After an inauspicious start
of super-gluing her fingers to a 50 million year old whale rib on
the first day, she was quickly fascinated by the science of vertebrate
paleontology. After coming to Florida her research shrank considerably,
from ancient whales to her current topic, tiny shrew-sized mammals
that lived 55 million years ago, during one of the warmest periods
of the Earth’s history since the extinction of the dinosaurs.
In Carly’s presentation she will discuss the Nyctitheriids, small,
insect-eating mammals that show up in the fossil record soon after
the dinosaurs went extinct, about 64 million years ago. Their
lineage survived for another 30 million years before they, too,
went extinct. Because they are so small, their fossils are
exceedingly rare and little is known about how they lived and
which modern mammalian groups they are most closely related to.
They have been hypothesized to be the ancestors of bats, shrews
and hedgehogs, or even euarchontans, the group including primates,
flying lemurs, and tree shrews. New nyctitheriid fossils have
been recovered from the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming, providing the
first look at skulls and skeletal elements that have never been
seen before and are helping shed light on what, exactly,
nyctitheriids are.
TBFC’s End of the Season Banquet
June 2nd at Nature’s Classroom
Now, don’t let the “banquet” thing impress you too much. It’s just a fancy word for TBFC’s annual end of the season informal dinner and get together (with a scholarship presentation, fossil auction, and some door prizes thrown in for good measure). It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a member of TBFC for ten years or ten minutes, everyone’s invited. The dinner is a great opportunity for fossil friends old and new to get together for a final evening of fun and fossil tales as we wrap up the 2011-2012 season. And there’s always a bunch of great fossils and “paleo” related items in the auction (if you have anything you’d like to donate, just bring it along to the dinner). This is a great event for the entire family and cheap too. Keep in mind that Nature’s Classroom is not normally open to the public. Take this opportunity to visit their animal preserve and aviary.
We’ll cater in spaghetti, pizza, wings, salads, dessert and drinks. The cost is just $5 per person which makes for an inexpensive family outing.
TBFC’s End of the Season Banquet will be held at the TECO Center for Environmental Studies at Nature’s Classroom at 6PM on June 2nd. Nature’s Classroom is located at 1300 Verges Road, Thonotosassa. This about ten minutes from where we normally meet at USF.
RSVP is not required just show up and pay at the door. But… If you know for sure that you will be attending, please send me an email or give me a call to let me know (fossilnerd@msn.com, or, 813-909-9358). This will help me a lot with knowing how much food to have on hand when everyone arrives. Don’t miss it! This really is the last event of the season, whew!
Thanks to you all!
As I close this edition of the Tampa Bay Fossil Chronicles, the 2011-2012 season comes to an end for this publication. As I have reported to you many times in the past, it is an honor and a privilege to serve and represent the Tampa Bay Fossil Club and its many fine members.
I get many compliments throughout the year on what a great job I’ve done with TBFC. I’m always quick to point out that I do none of this alone. I have a great support staff behind me in the Officers, Directors, and many of you who volunteer to help TBFC excel to the exceptional level it has in both the public and scientific communities. Without all of you, none of what TBFC accomplishes each season would be possible.
The 2012-2013 season will be a special one for all of us as we celebrate TBFC’s 25 Anniversary. If you think we pack a lot of adventure into a regular season, just wait until next year! There will be a few surprises too…
I want to thank everyone who helped make this, and every other season of the Tampa Bay Fossil Club, a great experience for me, and all of our members.
Thanks for the adventure TBFC!
Michael Searle
President 2001- Present