On Thursday, Jan. 21, at 7:30 p.m., the Zion Canyon Field Institute will host the first presentation of the 2016 ZCFI Fern and J. L. Crawford Lecture Series. Dr. Alan Titus, a paleontologist for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, will give a lecture entitled “Southern Utah’s Sea Monsters.” The ZCFI lecture will take place at the Canyon Community Center in Springdale and is free to the public.
Over the last 15 years, research in and around Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument has uncovered the remains of eight different marine reptiles from the gray badlands formed in the Late Cretaceous age Tropic Shale. Five of these creatures were terrifying medium-to-large size predators called plesiosaurs which dominated the seas as the region’s top marine carnivore. Also found were two marine turtles and North America’s oldest mosasaur, a monitor lizard-like animal that later in geologic time reached lengths of 40 feet or more.
Dr. Alan Titus has worked as a paleontologist at Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument since 2000. He has even had a dinosaur named after him: Nasutoceratops titusi. At the ZCFI lecture, Titus will summarize recent finds at Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument — including the newly found mosasaur — and talk about the implications of the area’s rich and unique “sea monster” fauna.
The Zion Canyon Field Institute’s Fern and J. L. Crawford Lecture Series is a collaborative presentation of ZCFI and the Division of Resource Management in Zion National Park. ZCFI exists to educate and inspire local, national, and international visitors about the greater Zion National Park ecosystem and environment through intensive classes that immerse visitors in the field. These classes give visitors unique opportunities to investigate the vast natural and cultural resources of the park and its surrounds. Visiting instructors — experts in science, the humanities, and the arts — emphasize learning through adventurous, hands-on exploration.
Zion Canyon Field Institute is the educational branch of Zion Natural History Association, the park’s nonprofit partner. Established in 1929, the Zion Natural History Association supports education, research, publication, and programs for the benefit of Zion National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, and Pipe Spring National Monument.
The Canyon Community Center is located at 126 Lion Blvd. in Springdale. For more information please call (435) 772-3264.
