FW: Upcoming Paleo talk Feb 20th: Super deadly killer dinosaurs?

["Steven Coombs" <gasperex@hotmail.com>]

Some pretty neat stuff.................

Steven Coombs
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Steven's Dinosaurs: http://www.stevensdinosaurs.com


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Hello All
Please find attached the February talk and March symposium
schedule for the Alberta Paleo society. Hope to see you there.

Philip Benham
APS Technical Program director, CSPG Paleo Division Head.
Staff Geologist
Frontier: Northern Development
Shell Canada Limited
PO Box 100, Stn M
400-4 Ave SW
Calgary, AB, Canada
T2P 2H5
(403)-691-3343
benham@shell.ca


Super deadly killer dinosaurs? T. rex's biomechanical truce with
incompetence

Speaker: Eric Snively, University of Calgary

7:30-9 PM
Friday, February 20, 2004
Room B108, Mount Royal College

Abstract:
Tyrannosaurid dinosaurs, including Albertosaurus and Tyrannosaurus
rex, are culturally notorious as avatars of destructive force.
Recent research has brought their behaviour into the realm of
quantitative testability. Deductions about their predatory ecology
are possible, if variably certain. Tyrannosaurids were unusual as
the only large carnivorous animals in their habitat. This raises
the question of whether and how tyrannosaurid adaptations
contributed to monopolization of their niche.

Tyrannosaurids possessed escalating adaptations for dismembering
prey, but their bodies and limbs represent compromises for
circumventing decreased agility at large sizes. The jaws and neck
of Tyrannosaurus rex are implicated as uniquely powerful amongst
terrestrial vertebrates, with high measured and calculated bite
forces, and neck muscles that exerted immensely high torque for
tearing flesh and bone from prey. As a biped with a mass up to 10
tonnes and high turning inertia, catching prey was more
problematic. Tyrannosaurus rex and other giant carnivorous
dinosaurs had bodies proportionally short from nose to tail, which
reduced their rotational inertia sufficiently for procuring live
food. Uniquely for large predatory theropods, the feet of
tyrannosaurids became stronger the harder they tried to maneuver.
This paradoxical adaptation probably assisted tyrannosaurids in
bringing down comparatively agile or dangerous prey, such as adult
pachycephalosaurs, juvenile duckbilled hadrosaurs, and adult
horned ceratopsians.

Biography:
Eric Snively received a B.A. in integrative Biology from the
University of California at Berkeley, and an M.Sc. from the
University of Calgary. He has done fieldwork with the Royal
Tyrrell Museum the last three summers.
Eric is currently working on a Ph.D. at the University of Calgary with
Dr. Anthony Russell. His research involves computer modeling of
tyrannosaur and bird neck muscle function, and electrical activity of
neck muscles in predatory birds. And yes, T. rex is the coolest
dinosaur
by an absurd margin.


Information:

This event is jointly presented by the Alberta Palaeontological
Society,
Mount Royal College and the CSPG Paleontology Division. For information
or to present a talk in the future please contact CSPG Paleo Divison
Head Philip Benham at 403-691-3343 or programs@albertapaleo.org. Visit
the APS website for confirmation of event times and upcoming speakers:
http://www.albertapaleo.org/

************************************************************************
********************

Unwrapping the Past: Eighth Annual APS Palaeontological Symposium
Saturday March 20, 2004
Mount Royal College Science Wing (Lower Level)
4825 Richard Road SW, Calgary, Alberta

Alberta Palaeontological Society, Canadian Society of Petroleum
Geologists (Paleontology Division) and Mount Royal College Department
of
Earth Sciences jointly sponsor the symposium. On Saturday all lectures
and poster displays are free and open to the general public. A fossil
identification booth and fossil displays will be at the event. Keynote
talk is on Leonardo; a mummified hadrosaur excavated in Montana and
certified by Guinness as the World's best-preserved dinosaur. On Sunday
March 21st a pair of limited space workshops will be available to those
who register (see below).

Speaker Schedule
(All lectures to be held in Jenkins Theatre, Mount Royal College)

9:30 - 10:00 a.m. Don Henderson, University of Calgary
Sauropod Dinosaurs were the Colossal Corks of the Mesozoic.

10:00 - 10:30 a.m. Lisa Budney, University of Alberta
New Technologies Challenge Old Views on the Evolution of Reptilian
Dental Morphology and Histology

10:30 - 10:45 a.m. Coffee break

10:45 - 11:15 a.m. Darren Tanke, Royal Tyrrell Museum
Discovery of William E. Cutler's Winter 1919-1920 Fieldcamp, Dinosaur
Provincial Park, Alberta

Special Presentation
11:15 - 12:15 p.m. Gerhard Maier, ESSO
African Dinosaurs Unearthed: The Tendaguru Expeditions

12:15 - 2:00 p.m. Lunch Break & Poster Session

2:00 - 2:30 p.m. Marisa Gilbert, University of Alberta
Approaches in Vocalizing the Science of Palaeontology to the Public of
All
Ages

2:30 - 3:00 p.m. Richard McCrea, University of Alberta and Lisa G.
Buckley, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Excavating British Columbia's First Dinosaurs, and Other
Palaeontological
Projects in the Tumbler Ridge Area

3:00 - 3:30 p.m. David Eberth, Royal Tyrrell Museum
Revising the Edmonton Group: A Framework for Assessing Biostratigraphy
and Climate Change

Keynote Talk
3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Nate Murphy, Director of Vertebrate
Paleontology, Phillips County Museum, Montana
Leonardo, the Virtual Dinosaur


The Workshops

Sunday, March 21

9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Plant Morphology-Instructor: Georgia Hoffman.
Location: Geological Survey of Canada, 3303 - 33 St. NW, Calgary.
Learn to categorize plant fossils into morphotypes based on leaf
structure. Participants will practice their new skills using Paleocene
leaf fossils. Fee: $15.00. Limit: 20 participants.

1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Jaw Form and Function : Adaptive Radiation of the
Mammalian Masticatory Apparatus-Instructor: Dr. Anthony Russell.
Location: University of Calgary (building and room to be announced)
This workshop will focus on muscles, bones and joints as they relate to
jaw form and function. The workshop is hands-on; including dissection.
Those who do not wish to dissect carcasses should not enroll.
Fee: $15.00. Limit: 20 participants.

Workshop registration deadline is March 7, 2004. To sign up contact
Vaclav Marsovsky at (403) 547-0182 or vaclav@telusplanet.net. Cheques
should be made payable to Alberta Palaeontological Society. Payment may
be handed to Vaclav or mailed to the APS mailing address, PO Box 35111,
Sarcee Postal Outlet, Calgary, AB, Canada T3E 7C7

Information:

For information or to present a talk in the future please contact CSPG
Paleo Divison Head Philip Benham at 403-691-3343 or
programs@albertapaleo.org. Visit the APS website for confirmation of
event times and upcoming speakers: http://www.albertapaleo.org/

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