Birmingham Paleontological Society

The next regular meeting of the BPS is Monday, February 2, 2009, 7-9 pm at the McWane Science Center in Birmingham, Alabama.  The

This month the group had a "Scouting Outing" to a new location in Walker county.  An initial quick survey of the site a few days before turned up few fossils, so there was some concern about taking a group.  We also planned for two more stops, and with this group, even heading off for dinner can be fun! We need not have been concerned, plenty of fossils were found by everyone.

If you wanted a day/weekend out in the woods, you couldn't have custom-ordered more perfect weather or a more perfect spot to enjoy the outdoors.   A small group of BPS’ers set out for Butler County to a site owned by a member’s relatives.  They kindly let us in there at least once a year and a big THANK YOU goes out to them from BPS.    We use the word “intrepid” a lot to describ

The next meeting of the BPS will be Monday, January 5, 2009, 7-9 pm at the McWane Science Center in Birmingham, Alabama.  

The speaker will be James Lamb, Curator of Paleontology at McWane Science Center.

Once again, BPS took a trip south to Dallas county, Alabama, to search in the extensive Cretaceous chalk gullies found there.  This was our last gully trip of the season, since hunting season is about to start, so we were in a frantic hurry to collect the items we had previously flagged, and find as much as we could so it could be preserved, and not get washed down a gully, and potentially los

The "Fossils of the Black Belt - A Hands-On Field Workshop" was a huge success!  This fossil workshop was sponsored by the Geological Survey of Alabama, The University of West Alabama, and Discovering Alabama.  Approximately 35 teachers from around the South arrived bright and early in Livingston, Alabama to learn about fossils and field geology.  After a morning lecture, the group

The next regular meeting of the BPS will be Monday, November 3, 2008, 7-9 pm at the McWane Science Center in Birmingham, Alabama.  Our speaker will be Dr. Mark Uhen, a paleontologist at the Alabama Museum of Natural History.  Dr. Uhen's specialty is the evolution of cetaceans (whales and dolphins).  His lecture is titled "Where Did Whales Come From?".

In October 2008, Dr. Uhen spoke on NPR's All Things Considered, on the topic "Legs Propelled Whale Ancestor".

A weekend trip to the Cretaceous chalk gullies of Dallas County Alabama and a creek in Perry county turned up numerous fossils.  Ancient creatures, including shark, turtle, mosasaur, ptychodus, fish, clam, and ammonite were found during the three day weekend trip.

Day 1 Friday         Day 2 Saturday         Day 3 Sunday