The “underground” conjures up images of wartime intrigue or noble resistance. Closer to home, underground is home to thousands of species supporting food webs and life cycles critical to the life around us. But to Paleontologist Tom Deméré, beneath our feet lies a map of life from the Cretaceous to the Pleistocene.

The Carlsbad-Oceanside area is underlain by a layer-cake sequence of stratified sedimentary rocks that preserve portions of the last 75 million years of regional Earth history. Fossils preserved in this crustal archive include dinosaurs, lemur-like primates, camels, giant sharks, beluga whales, giant sea cows, mastodon, ground sloths, and dire wolves.

Curator of Paleontology for the San Diego Natural History Museum since 1979, Dr. Deméré has supervised the discovery and recovery of thousands of fossil specimens now residing in the museum’s collection. Each tells a story; each holds secrets. Tom Deméré will join us to unveil them both.

Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Social: 6:30 p.m. Program: 7:00