Maryland Dinosaur Happenings

[Tompaleo@aol.com]

I thought the assembled mind might be interested in a couple recent events 
here in the "free state."

Dinofest may be over but at least a piece if it lives on. Some of you may 
remember mention by me late last year that there will be a small exhibit in 
Chicago containing fossils and casts that have resulted from some of my field 
efforts on the Arundel Clay. The exhibit was produced by Dr. Peter Kranz and 
actually features fossils from all periods of the Mz (i.e., Tr-J, Early K, 
Late  K) that occur in Maryland. Anyhow, Peter, being the talented go-getter 
he is has managed to turn his (our) Md. exhibit into a traveling dino exhibit 
in the Md. area. And this past Sunday, I my wife and twin raptors attended 
the "grand opening" of the first of such local exhibits located at Mt. St. 
Mary's College located on the front range of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mts 
near Thurmont, Md. The area coincidentally happens to also be very close to 
where the first Triassic-Jurassic aged tracks were found almost a century 
ago. 
For those of you sued to or expecting to see articulated, mounted Maryland 
dinosauria, forget about it! No such animal exists! But don't let that stop 
you should you live reasonably close by to see the show. I should also point 
out that there are non-dinosaur fossils on display as well (our Late-K Severn 
Fm. fauna is a marginal marine unit, hence mostly ammonites, pelecypods and 
the occasional croc, shark, and mosasaur vert.). 
BUT! What the exhibit lacks in terms of skeletons is more than compensated by 
some astoundingly beautiful artwork by our own (i.e., fellow Baltimorean as 
well as DML member) Greg Paul!  It's well worth the drive just to see his 
work. Naturally, Greg was in attendance as well.
All said and done, it was a very nicely done exhibit and runs until March 
11th.

>From the Baltimore area it's about 1.5 hrs drive time and the current 
location near the Md.-Pa. border and northern VA make it a very scenic drive 
for anyone who wishes to get out of the house or take a Sunday drive.

A second bit of news probably more of interest to "locals" is that the Md. 
Science Center  (in Baltimore) is in the process of planning to build a 
_dinosaur hall_. FINALLY!!!!!!!!
 I don't have any details but I have been invited (along with several other 
VIP's on the local paleo-circuit) to provide my 2c worth at a meeting 
tomorrow night on what the exhibit should look like. I am sure when all is 
said and done and we actually do have is built, Greg's outstanding work will 
be an integral part of it!

Lastly, does anyone need any rain? Please take our wet weather so I can get 
my ass back out to the quarry. I'm going stir-crazy having to stay indoors 
because of this mud-permafrost we have been dealing with since December makes 
finding anything virtually impossible!
I guess I'll go do my taxes....

That's all for now.

Tom


Thomas R. Lipka
Paleontological/Geological Studies
Tompaleo@aol.com