Highlights of Paleontology at UT Austin

scimitartooth
In about 1950, paleontologists from UT Austin discovered a nearly complete scimitar-toothed cat, and many more less-complete specimens, in Friesenhahn Cave.

  • 2008: Early hominid Lucy CT-scanned
  • 2001: Fossil fetus of an Elephant bird CT-scanned and reconstructed without breaking egg shell
  • 1999: Non-vertebrate Paleontology Lab established
  • 1997: High Resolution XRay CT Lab founded
  • 1994: FAUNMAP, database of North American mammals for the last 40,000 years (E. Lundelius)
  • 1971: Discovery of the largest known flying animal, Quetzalcoatlus, in Big Bend (D. Lawson)
  • 1950: H.B. Stenzel produces reports on the Stone City fauna and the evolution of the gastropod Athleta petrosa
  • 1949-1951: Discovery of nearly complete scimitar-toothed cat in Friesenhahn Cave (Evans, Mead, et al.)
  • 1949: Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory (VPL) established
  • 1939-42: WPA project collects fossils for UT from 22 Texas counties
  • 1939: Texas Memorial Museum opens
  • 1915: First micropaleontology course (one of two earliest in U.S.) taught at UT (F.L. Whitney)
  • 1909: First paleontology course taught at UT (F.L. Whitney)
  • 1888-94: Dumble Survey assembles first significant paleontological collection in Texas

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For more information about the Jackson School contact J.B. Bird at jbird@jsg.utexas.edu, 512-232-9623.