Spirit Whales and Sloth Tales: Fossils in Washington State

The Wenatchee Valley Erratics Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute’s next program will be Tuesday, December 12 at 7:00 PM. This is a hybrid program, with the speakers presenting remotely via Zoom from Seattle. For those who are not computer- or Zoom-savvy, you can attend in-person for a screening at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center, 127 S. Mission, Wenatchee. Or at home via Zoom link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84520197937 Webinar ID: 845 2019 7937

In Washington, you are never far from the past, including evidence of plants and animals that came before. Fossil flowers in Republic. Trilobites near the Idaho border. Primitive horses on the Columbia Plateau. Tracks of giant birds near Bellingham. Curious bear-like creatures on the Olympic Peninsula. With abundant and well-exposed rock layers, Washington has fossils dating from Ice Age mammals from only 12,000 years ago, to marine invertebrates more than 500 million years old.

Join co-authors Dr. Liz Nesbitt and David B. Williams as they discuss this rich array of past life, which is featured in their new book, “Spirit Whales and Sloth Tales: Fossils in Washington State”— the first book ever on fossils in the state! Why did they choose the fossils they did? What is the new science that has allowed paleontologists to tease out the 500-million-year long story of life in this region?

Liz Nesbitt is curator emerita of invertebrate and micropaleontology at the Burke Museum. David B. Williams is an author, naturalist, tour guide, and Curatorial Associate at the Burke Museum.

Please sign in, or show up, at 7:00 PM, December 12! The program is free and open to the public.