Seven field trips will be offered in conjunction with the Annual Meeting. Advance registration for all field trips is required. Onsite registration will not be accepted. SVP reserves the right to alter or cancel a field trip due to low registration or if access to site is limited or closed to the public. In the event of a field trip cancellation, SVP will refund fees in full.

Field Trip Disclaimer

Advanced registration for all field trips is required. Onsite field trip registration will not be accepted. All field trips are subject to change. SVP reserves the right to alter or cancel a field trip due to low registration or if access to sites is limited or closed to the public. In the event of a field trip cancellation, SVP will refund fees in full.

Paleontology and Geology of Orange County, CA

This one-day field trip will visit various paleontological sites in Orange County, located just south of the Los Angeles area. Orange County is rich in Eocene – Pleistocene vertebrate and invertebrate fossils. Miocene marine mammals are particularly abundant and diverse.

Participants will learn about the geologic history of the Los Angeles-Orange County Basin. The trip includes visits to the Clark Paleontology Museum, which displays and houses local fossils, and to the new Cooper Center, a curatorial facility that is the main repository for Orange County’s fossils.

Date: Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Time: 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Pick up/Drop off Location: Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites

Cost: $105.00 per person

Cost Includes: Transportation via bus, breakfast snack, lunch, and field guide

Minimum Number of Participants: 15

Maximum Number of Participants: 42

What to Wear or Bring with You: Dress appropriately for light hiking

Leaders:

Lisa Babilonia

Clark Paleontology Museum

Lisa.babilonia@ocparks.com

714-973-6671

Meredith Rivin

The Cooper Center

mrivin@fullerton.edu

714-647-2103

Rick Lozinsky

Fullerton College

rlozinsky@fullcoll.edu

714-992-7445

Field Trip to Rancho La Brea

The richly fossiliferous Rancho La Brea, type locality of the Rancholabrean North American Land Mammal Age, is now restricted to the 23 acres of Hancock Park that house the Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits. The trip will visit what remains of the Hancock Family asphalt quarry and sites excavated by the Los Angeles County Museum from 1913-15, the Pit 91 excavation, the current Project 23 excavations, the Fishbowl Lab, and some of the collections areas. Participants will also have the opportunity to explore the exhibits inside the Page Museum.

Date: Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Time: 1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Pick up/Drop off Location: Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites
Cost: $30.00 per person

Cost Includes: American Transportation Sightseeing bus from and to the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites. No private vehicles please.

Minimum Number of Participants: 25

Maximum Number of Participants: 40

Additional Information: Most of the park has paved paths.

Leaders:

Aisling Farrell

Collections Manager, Page Museum

afarrell@nhm.org

323-857-6300 x127

Gary Takeuchi

Assistant Collections Manager, Page Museum

gtakeuch@nhm.org

323-857-6300 x 124

Shelley Cox

Lab Supervisor, Page Museum

scox@nhm.org

323-857-6300 x 120

Stratigraphy and Vertebrate Paleontology of the Middle Miocene Barstow Formation, San Bernardino County, California

This 1-day field trip will take participants from Los Angeles to the western Mojave Desert to the type area of the Barstovian Land Mammal Age. Over the past century major collections of fossil mammals have been recovered from the fanglomeratic and lacustrine deposits to the Barstow Formation by field crews of museums and universities located throughout the United States. This trip will focus on the lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, vertebrate assemblages and paleoecology recorded in the Barstow Formation from approximately 17.0 – 12.5 Ma. Trip leaders will take guests to the Mud Hills region of the Mojave Desert north of Barstow, approximately three hours east of Los Angeles. Stops will include an overview of the formation and its paleontology along the “loop road” in Rainbow Basin, a visit to the Barstow Formation type section in Owl Canyon, and a trip up Coon Canyon to see some of the historic Frick quarries from which the classic Barstovian faunal assemblage was derived.

Date: Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Ends: 8:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Pick up/Drop off Location: Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites

Cost: $105.00 per person

Cost Includes: Transportation via 4WD SUVs, lunch, dinner, snacks, beverages, and field guide

Minimum Number of Participants: 12

Maximum Number of Participants: 21

What to Wear or Bring with You: Late October weather in the Mojave Desert is variable. Bring layers, daytime temperatures range from the 40’s to the 80’s depending on the year. Wear comfortable hiking attire. This trip involved moderate hiking up sandy washes and over uneven terrain.

Leaders:

Darrin Pagnac

South Dakota School of Mines

darrin.pagnac@sdsmt.edu

Kent Smith

Oklahoma State University, CHS

kent.smith@okstate.edu

Ian Browne

Oklahoma State University, CHS

ian.browne@okstate.edu

DreamWorks Animation Studios; Glendale, CA

Tour of one of the largest operating animation studios in the world, including production facilities and teaching facilities where skeletal modeling classes for California State University Graduate students are being held. Attendees will see first-hand techniques applicable to developing digital skeletal models, as well as productions involving animal anatomical models.

Date: Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Time: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Pick up/Drop off Location: Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites

Cost: $25.00 per person

Cost Includes: Transportation from and to the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites and lunch provided by DeamWorks Animation Studio.

Minimum Number of Participants: 10

Maximum Number of Participants: 20

Leaders:

Stuart Sumida

Department of Biology

California State University San Bernardino

5500 University Parkway

San Bernardino, California 92407

USA

909-537-7338

951-505-9020 (mobile)

909-537-7038 (fax)

ssumida@csusb.edu

Angela Lepito

Director, DreamWorks Education and Outreach

DreamWorks Feature Animation

1000 Flower Street

Glendale, California 91201

818-695-5000

Arikareean and Hemingfordian Mammalian Vertebrate Paleontology of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California

This field trip will explore strata and localities associated with the Middle Cenozoic mammalian record of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SAMO). The mammalian fossils found in these rocks are being used with other lines of evidence to determine the timing of a complex sequence of Cenozoic geological events in southern California. SAMO is a hidden paleontological gem of the National Park Service. Its 154,000 acres preserve a geologic record stretching from the Late Jurassic to the present, with a number of fossiliferous formations and noteworthy fossil sites. Although SAMO is best known for its invertebrate record, it also has numerous examples of Cenozoic vertebrates. Three formations in the east-central part of the recreation area (the Sespe, Vaqueros, and Topanga Canyon formations) have yielded fossils of chondrichthyans, bony fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals dating from the Arikareean and Hemingfordian NALMAs. These fossils, mostly found and described only in the past two decades, help elucidate a complicated and eventful period of time in southern California: the Sespe, Vaqueros, and Topanga Canyon formations record a transition from terrestrial to shallow and eventually deep marine conditions, against a backdrop of rifting and tectonic movement that would lead to the east-west orientation of the Transverse Ranges, including the Santa Monica Mountains. Investigation of these fossils is ongoing, and many areas and topics remain to be explored, making this an ideal field trip for students, museum staff, and university faculty interested in research projects in the Los Angeles area.

Date: Sunday, November 3, 2013

Time: 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Pick up/Drop off Location: Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites

Cost: $80.00 per person

Cost Includes: Transportation, field trip guide, lunch, snacks, and water will be provided for participants.

Minimum Number of Participants: 14

Maximum Number of Participants: 24

What to Wear or Bring with You: Participants should anticipate variable weather conditions for an outdoor activity during a Fall field trip in southern California. Comfortable walking shoes and a light jacket are recommended. Due to limited space in the vehicles, participants are asked to bring not more than one bag or piece of luggage.

Leaders:

Justin Tweet

Tweet Paleo-Consulting

9149 79^th Street South

Cottage Grove, MN 55016

612-860-9469

jtweet.nps.paleo@gmail.com

Bruce Lander

Paleo Environmental Associates, Inc.

2248 Winrock

Altadena, CA 91001

626-797-9895

paleo@earthlink.net

Vincent L. Santucci

Senior Geologist/Paleontologist

National Park Service

Geological Resources Division

1201 Eye Street

Washington, DC 20005

202-513-7186

vincent_santucci@nps.gov

Sharktooth Hill National Natural Park

This one day field trip will journey to Kern County, California where participants will visit various points of interest throughout the scientifically and historically significant Kern River district northeast of Bakersfield. Crossing the San Andreas Fault rift in the Tehachapi Mountains, where the North American and Pacific plates meet, we will examine the regional geology of Kern River Oil Field, from the Oligo-Miocene boundary through the Quaternary. We will especially examine the Miocene marine sequence from that has been analyzed paleomagnetically and formed the basis for numerous publications. We will visit the Sharktooth Hill National Natural Landmark and exposed portions of the Sharktooth Hill Bonebed, a thin but dense layer of vertebrate fossils that is a global standard of comparison for middle Miocene marine assemblages.

Date: Sunday, November 3, 2013

Time: 7:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Pick up/Drop off Location: Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites

Cost: $55.00 per person

Cost Includes: Transportation via vans, snacks, lunch, beverages, and field trip guide.

Minimum Number of Participants: 11

Maximum Number of Participants: 41

What to Wear or Bring with You: A hat along with sunscreen and clothing covering your arms and legs as it may be hot or, less likely, wet. A water bottle would be useful. Moderate hiking footwear as the terrain is hilly, although not rocky. We will provide all collecting gear so there is no need to bring picks or hammers.

Physical Capabilities: Must be able to walk on trails for about a half a mile and endure prolonged exposure to sun and wind.

Leaders:

Lawrence G. Barnes, Curator Emeritus

900 Exposition Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90007

work: (213) 763-3329

cell: (435) 616-4431

lgbarnes22@yahoo.com

Vanessa R. Rhue, Curatorial Assistant

900 Exposition Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90007

work: (213) 763-3248

cell: (949) 246-3767

vrhue@nhm.org

Samuel A. McLeod, Collections Manager

900 Exposition Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90007

work: (213) 763-3325

cell: (213) 840-9391

smcleod@nhm.org

Howell W. Thomas, Paleontological Preparator

900 Exposition Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90007

work: (213) 763-3324

cell: (626) 437-6769

hthomas@nhm.org

Western Mojave Desert Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology with Special Emphasis on the Dove Spring Formation

The western Mojave Desert, a mere 2-hour drive from downtown Los Angeles, contains rich and diverse records of fossil vertebrate assemblages (and occasional marine assemblages) ranging in age from Paleocene to Quaternary. The Dove Spring Formation, the most thoroughly documented of these assemblages represent one of the most complete Clarendonian to earliest Hemphillian-aged successions in North America. The diverse fossil assemblages collected over more than a hundred years contain a diverse assemblage of 86 species of fossil vertebrates, and pollen, phytolith, leaf and wood floras including the oldest published C4 grasses in North America. The majority of these collections are housed at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

The trip will cross through the tectonically active valleys and transverse ranges of southern California with a discussion of the geology along the way, and a brief stop at an overlook of the San Andreas Fault, the boundary between the North American continent and the Pacific Plate. The trip will then cross into the western Mojave Desert arriving in Red Rock Canyon State Park, with is scenic desert cliffs, buttes and spectacular rock formations, in the center of 15 square miles of exposures of Dove Spring Formation. We will tour the State Park Interpretive Center with its fossil exhibits of the Dove Spring assemblages. We will take a two mile (round trip) trail hike up a prominent basalt ridge where we will be able to observe the entire 1800 meter succession of Dove Spring lithology exposed. Trip leaders will lead a discussion on the geology and stratigraphy of the area. This hike will provide opportunity for close examination of a Yellowstone hot spot ash, one of 17 such beds that have been used for precise age correlation of the fossil assemblages. We will spend a short time getting a close look at some of the fossil-producing deposits then retrace our journey back to Los Angeles.

Date: Sunday, November 3, 2013

Time: 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Pick up/Drop off Location: Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites

Cost: $98.00 per person

Cost Includes: Coach travel, box lunch, snacks, beverages, and a field guide.

Minimum Number of Participants: 20

Maximum Number of Participants: 40

What to Wear or Bring with You: Closed-toed shoes are required. Must be able to walk on trails for about two miles.

Leaders:

David Whistler

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

dhwhistler@bendcable.com

Xiaoming Wang