Sunday program focuses on fossil dig site near Newberry

September 6, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Visitors to the Florida Museum of Natural History can learn about animals that roamed Florida 2 million years ago, surfacing now in western Alachua County, during the “Science Sundays” lecture series from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

Florida Museum Vertebrate Paleontology Collections Manager Richard Hulbert will discuss the struggles and victories of the “Tapir Challenge” fossil dig site, how it is being excavated and its scientific significance for understanding Florida’s ancient fauna and climate. Sunday’s program also includes a short documentary film by Michelle Friedline.

Museum staff and hundreds of volunteers recovered more than 200 skeletons of tapirs, sloths, giant armadillos, turtles, alligators, snakes and other animals at a limestone quarry northeast of Newberry during the 2006-07 season. Volunteers are needed for the upcoming season beginning later this fall.

For more information on the “Science Sundays” series, call 352-846-2000, ext. 246, or visit www.flmnh.ufl.edu/education/science_sundays.htm.