Fossil Insects Found Along the Middle Fork Presentation

Date: August 1, 2014
Contact: Denise Germann, 406 888 5838

The Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center at Glacier National Park is hosting a brown-bag luncheon presentation regarding fossil insects in the Kishenehn Formation on Tuesday, August 5th from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. This lecture takes place at the park’s community building in West Glacier. Dr. Dale Greenwalt will present on the Smithsonian’s efforts to collect and study fossil insects along the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. This brown-bag presentation is free and open to the public.

Dr. Greenwalt, a former biochemistry professor, is currently the President of the Paleontological Society of Washington. Dr. Greenwalt also collaborates with the National Museum of Natural History’s Paleobiology Department. His presentation will describe the Smithsonian’s efforts over the last five years to collect and study fossil insects from 46-million year-old lake sediments now exposed along the Middle Fork of the Flathead River.

The fossils themselves are unusually small and extremely well-preserved. They include numerous new species of flies and wasps as well as a new family of damselflies. The Kishenehn site may be the most productive site for fossil mosquitoes in the world. The presentation will include research into the processes believed to be responsible for the remarkable preservation of these fossils.
 
The Glacier National Park Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center hosts brown-bag lectures throughout the year. Please visit http://www.crownscience.org/getinvolved/outreach/brownbag for more information.