Symposium Will Cover Search for Ancient Life

Mar 26, 09:59 AM

Current Headlines: By AJ Hostetler

Three paleontologists will discuss their personal "Adventures in Deep Time" at Hampden-Sydney College as part of a symposium Monday through Thursday at the school.

Each speaker will give two talks on the search for ancient life: a seminar for college students and an evening lecture free to the public at 7:30 p.m. In addition, the symposium will present a related theater performance and an art show at the college's museum.

Nick Fraser of the Virginia Museum of Natural History will kick off the symposium on Monday. The author of "Dawn of the Dinosaurs" will speak about his upcoming search for Chinese cousins of Virginia fossils found in Solite Quarry near Danville.

In May, Fraser will spend about a month in China's northeastern province of Liaoning near the North Korean border. The fossil formation is near the source of recent famed discoveries of feathered-dinosaur fossils.

On Wednesday evening, Paul Selden of the University of Kansas will talk about his research on fossilized giant spiders and his studies of fossils in Brazil, England, China and South Africa.

Hans Sues of the Smithsonian Institution will discuss his research on extinct mammal precursors and reptiles in Central Asia on Thursday evening as part of his "Hunting Dinosaurs in Tamerlane's Backyard."

For more information on the symposium, call (434) 223-6172 or go to www2.hsc.edu/academics/biology/symposium/.

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