Western Science Center
The Western Science Center (WSC), formerly the Western Center for Archaeology & Paleontology, is a museum located near Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet, California. The WSC is home to a large collection of Native American artifacts and Ice Age fossils that were unearthed at Diamond Valley Lake, including "Max", the largest mastodon found in the western United States, and "Xena", a Columbian mammoth, as well as dinosaur fossils recovered from New Mexico. Opened in 2006, the museum has been designed to provide world-class facilities for the research, curation, and presentation of the nearly one million specimens discovered during the development of Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet. The Campus The building was designed to be among the most eco-friendly museums in the United States. Its special environmental features include solar panels on the roof, cold-water pipelines run below the floor to reduce air conditioning, landscaping with low-irrigation native foliage, and extensive water recl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hemet, CA
Hemet is a city in the San Jacinto Valley in Riverside County, California. It covers a total area of , about half of the valley, which it shares with the neighboring city of San Jacinto. The population was 89,833 at the 2020 census. The founding of Hemet, initially called South San Jacinto, predates the formation of Riverside County. This area was then still part of San Diego County. The formation of Lake Hemet helped the city to grow and stimulated agriculture in the area. The city is known for being the home of ''The Ramona Pageant'', California's official outdoor play set in the Spanish colonial era. Started in 1923, the play is one of the longest-running outdoor plays in the United States. Hemet has been named a Tree City USA for 20 years by the Arbor Day Foundation for its dedication to the local forest. The city is home to the Hemet Valley Medical Center, a 320-bed general hospital. History This had long been the territory of the indigenous Soboba people and Cahuill ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Luiseño People
The Luiseño or Payómkawichum are an indigenous people of California who, at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the 16th century, inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging from the present-day southern part of Los Angeles County to the northern part of San Diego County, and inland . In the Luiseño language, the people call themselves ''Payómkawichum'' (also spelled ''Payómkowishum''), meaning "People of the West." After the establishment of Mission San Luis Rey de Francia (The Mission of Saint Louis King of France), "the Payómkawichum began to be called San Luiseños, and later, just Luiseños by Spanish missionaries due to their proximity to this San Luis Rey mission. Today there are six federally recognized tribes of Luiseño bands based in southern California, all with reservations. Another organized band is not federally recognized. History Pre-colonization The Payómkawichum were successful in utilizing a number of natural resour ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Natural History Museums In California
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are part of nature, human activity is often understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena. The word ''nature'' is borrowed from the Old French ''nature'' and is derived from the Latin word ''natura'', or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant "birth". In ancient philosophy, ''natura'' is mostly used as the Latin translation of the Greek word ''physis'' (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics of plants, animals, and other features of the world to develop of their own accord. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by pre-Socr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Archaeological Museums In California
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. It is usually considered an independent academic discipline, but may also be classified as part of anthropology (in North America – the four-field approach), history or geography. Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. Archaeology is distinct from palaeontology, which is the study of fossil remains. Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for which, by definition, there are no written records. Prehistory includes over 99% of the human past, from the Paleolithic until the adve ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Museums In Riverside County, California
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these items available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. The largest museums are located in major cities throughout the world, while thousands of local museums exist in smaller cities, towns, and rural areas. Museums have varying aims, ranging from the conservation and documentation of their collection, serving researchers and specialists, to catering to the general public. The goal of serving researchers is not only scientific, but intended to serve the general public. There are many types of museums, including art museums, natural history museums, science museums, war museums, and children's museums. According to the International Council of Museums (ICOM), there are more than 55,000 museums in 202 count ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Smithsonian Affiliations
Smithsonian Affiliations is a division of the Smithsonian Institution that establishes long-term partnerships with non-Smithsonian museums and educational and cultural organizations in order to share collections, exhibitions and educational strategies and conduct joint research. Partner organizations are known as "Smithsonian Affiliates" and are allowed to use the tag line "In Association with the Smithsonian Institution" and the approved Smithsonian Affiliations logo on their website, programming, and marketing material. Any 501(c)(3) nonprofit or publicly operated educational entity can apply to become a Smithsonian Affiliate. History The Smithsonian Affiliations program was established in 1996 by Smithsonian Secretary I. Michael Heyman with the approval of the Smithsonian Board of Regents, in response to several challenges the Institution faced at the time: a decrease in federal funding, limited storage space for expanding collections, and the need to make the Institution mor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded on August 10, 1846, it operates as a trust instrumentality and is not formally a part of any of the three branches of the federal government. The institution is named after its founding donor, British scientist James Smithson. It was originally organized as the United States National Museum, but that name ceased to exist administratively in 1967. Called "the nation's attic" for its eclectic holdings of 154 million items, the institution's 19 museums, 21 libraries, nine research centers, and zoo include historical and architectural landmarks, mostly located in the District of Columbia. Additional facilities are located in Maryland, New York, and Virginia. More than 200 institutions and museums in 45 states,States without Smithsonian ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ornatops
''Ornatops'' (meaning "ornate face") is a genus of brachylophosaurin saurolophine hadrosaur from the Late Cretaceous Menefee Formation of New Mexico, United States. The genus contains a single species, ''Ornatops incantatus''. Discovery and naming ''Ornatops'' was originally discovered in 2018 within the Menefee Formation of New Mexico, United States. The fossil material was discovered by staff and volunteers from the Western Science Center, Zuni Dinosaur Institute for Geosciences, and Southwest Paleontological Society. The specimen was described on the basis of a relatively complete and articulated specimen WSC 10058 in 2021. The holotype consists of a well-preserved skull lacking the maxillae and lower jaws, two dorsal vertebrae, a rib, ossified tendons, the right scapula, most of the right humerus, ulna, and radius, the second and third right metacarpals as well as an incomplete ilium and ischium, making it the most complete dinosaur from the Menefee Formation. In 2021, th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Menefee Formation
The Menefee Formation is a lower Campanian geologic formation found in Colorado and New Mexico, United States. Description The Menefee Formation consists of fluvial sandstone, shale, and coal. Based on ammonite biostratigraphy, the age of the Menefee Formation can be constrained to 84.2-79 million years ( Ma), based on the presence of '' Baculites perplexus'' in the overlying Cliff House Sandstone The Cliff House Sandstone is a late Campanian stratigraphic unit comprising sandstones in the western United States. Description The Cliff House Sandstone consists of fine grained white to orange calcareous sandstone. It intertongues with the ..., and ammonites from the late Santonian in the underlying Point Lookout Sandstone. Named members include a lower Cleary Coal Member and an upper Allison Member. The Mesaverde Group in the San Juan Basin records a marine regression-Transgression (geology), transgression sequence of the western margin of the Western Interior Seaway. The Me ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. It is usually considered an independent academic discipline, but may also be classified as part of anthropology (in North America – the four-field approach), history or geography. Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. Archaeology is distinct from palaeontology, which is the study of fossil remains. Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for which, by definition, there are no written records. Prehistory includes over 99% of the human past, from the Paleolithic until the adven ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paramylodon
''Paramylodon'' is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Mylodontidae endemic to North America during the Pliocene through Pleistocene epochs, living from around ~4.9 Mya–11,000 years ago. It is also known as Harlan's ground sloth. Due to the partly very good fossil preservation, the body armor typical for the mylodonts has mostly been preserved in the form of osteoderms. In addition, a sex-specific difference in cranial structure can be demonstrated. According to the finds, the representatives of ''Paramylodon'' lived in open landscapes, sometimes also in mountainous locations, and most likely fed on grass-eating or mixed plant diets. Unique trace fossils also provide information about the locomotion of the animals, which was quadrupedal. In addition, due to the design of the forelimbs, a certain burrowing way of life cannot be disputed. Within the genus only two species are recognized: ''Paramylodon harlani'' and ''Paramylodon garbanii''. The first fossil findings d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Columbian Mammoth
The Columbian mammoth (''Mammuthus columbi'') is an extinct species of mammoth that inhabited the Americas as far north as the Northern United States and as far south as Costa Rica during the Pleistocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with '' Mammuthus subplanifrons'' in the early Pliocene. DNA studies show that the Columbian mammoth was a hybrid species between woolly mammoths and another lineage descended from steppe mammoths; the hybridization happened more than 420,000 years ago. The pygmy mammoths of the Channel Islands of California evolved from Columbian mammoths. The closest extant relative of the Columbian and other mammoths is the Asian elephant. Reaching at the shoulders and in weight, the Columbian mammoth was one of the largest species of mammoth. It had long, curved tusks and four molars, which were replaced six times during the lifetime of an individual. It most likely used its tusks and trunk like modern elephants—for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |