The Saurian Expedition of 1905 was a noted
paleontological
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of foss ...
research mission in northern
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. The expedition recovered many of the finest specimens of
ichthyosaur ever found.
The expedition was led by
Eustace Furlong, an assistant at the Geology Department at Berkeley, under the guidance of Prof.
John C. Merriam
John Campbell Merriam (October 20, 1869 – October 30, 1945) was an American paleontologist, educator, and conservationist. The first vertebrate paleontologist on the West Coast of the United States, he is best known for his taxonomy of ver ...
, of the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...
. The expedition was financed by
Annie Montague Alexander
Annie Montague Alexander (29 December 1867 - 10 September 1950) was an explorer, naturalist, paleontological collector, and philanthropist.
She founded the University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) and the Museum of Vertebrate Zool ...
, who four years earlier as a student in
Berkeley had become interested in Merriam's work. Alexander was an active participant and collector during the expedition along with
Edna Wemple, also a student of Merriam.
The expedition examined
Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
s in the
West Humboldt Range northeast of
Reno
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...
, progressing into central Nevada south to the
Shoshone Mountains. Some of the specimens were returned to Berkeley and became part of the collection of the
University of California Museum of Paleontology
The University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) is a paleontology museum located on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley.
The museum is within the Valley Life Sciences Building (VLSB), designed by George W. Kelham and ...
, which Alexander helped found and underwrite.
References
External links
UCMP: The Saurian Expedition of 1905
History of paleontology
Natural history of Nevada
1905 in the United States
1905 in science
North American expeditions
Expeditions from the United States
Paleontology in Nevada
1905 in Nevada
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