Birds are dinosaurs. Because the ancestors of all birds were dinosaurs, living birds still have many dinosaurian characters like feathers, three-fingered hands, modified wrist bones, and incubating eggs on nests. Birds (also referred to as avian dinosaurs by paleontologists) that lived alongside (non-avian) dinosaurs had even more dinosaurian features. Like teeth. Although all toothed birdsContinueContinue reading “Before the dinosaur extinction lived birds with teeth.”
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Digging deeper into fossil seabirds from Kansas
Eighty-five million years ago, a seabird called Ichthyornis (which means “fish bird”) lived and died over the ocean that covered Kansas and much of central North America. With well-developed wings, hollow bones, and a body roughly the size and shape of a tern’s, Ichthyornis looked like modern birds and was clearly capable of flying. However,ContinueContinue reading “Digging deeper into fossil seabirds from Kansas”
Are you a Paleo Nerd?
In case you missed it, Dr. Laura Wilson was featured on the popular paleontology podcast Paleo Nerds in Spring 2021. Check out her interview (and the incredible splash page the Paleo Nerds team put together). Laura talks to Ray and Dave about the geology and ecology of the Western Interior Seaway – the ancient oceanContinueContinue reading “Are you a Paleo Nerd?”
Collections Progress Report: September 2018
In 2016, the Sternberg Museum’s Paleontology Department was awarded two National Science Foundation (NSF) grants to support collection improvement projects. For the past two years the collection staff has been working hard on grant initiatives, so we wanted to update you on our Year 2 progress! This year we added 89 new specimens to theContinueContinue reading “Collections Progress Report: September 2018”
#FHSMteach2018
During the last week of June, the Sternberg Museum hosted Kansas middle school and high school science teachers for a STEM teacher workshop. This endeavor was part of one of the National Science Foundation grants to the Sternberg Museum to improve the quality of and access to the Museum’s paleontology collection data. The theme ofContinueContinue reading “#FHSMteach2018”
Laura E. Wilson, Ph.D. 