Celebrating a decade of 'Dino Shindiggery'

It’s been happening now for a decade.

The 10th Annual Dino Shindig is set to take place this weekend in Ekalaka. Visitors will be in town from all over the world to hear lectures from leading paleontologists, partake in kids activities, dance the night away, hike at Medicine Rocks State Park, join a fossil field expedition and much more.

Beginning at 9 a.m. this Saturday, July 23, families can check out an array of children’s activities, demos and ‘Ekalaktic Dome’ Shows at Carter County Museum. Admission is $7 for kids and $10 for adults. Additionally, animals from Zoo Montana will be in Ekalaka and can be seen from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. At 9 p.m., a bat walk with Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks will take place and a dance on Main Street will begin at 8 p.m.

In addition to all of the family fun on Saturday, there will also be twelve lectures from leading paleontologists taking place at the Lutheran church in Ekalaka. The lectures are around 20 minutes long and are open to the public.

On Sunday, those who pre-registered for the annual dig will be on an active dig site. More lectures, learning and a hike will also be taking place, beginning at 10 a.m. on Sunday at the group use area of Medicine Rocks State Park.

Don't miss out on a fun, educational weekend in Ekalaka. Stop in at the museum or visit cartercountymuseum.org for a full schedule of Shindig events. A graphic showing Shindig events can also be found on page 4 of this issue.

10th Annual Dino Shindig speaker lineup

1. Nathan Carroll and Sabre Moore: “A Decade of Dino Shindiggery!”

2. Josh Mathews: “The Homer Site: The First Documented Triceratops Bonebed from Carter, County Montana”

3. Cary Woodruff: “The Anti Shrink-Wrapped Revolution”

4. Lydia Tackett: “Why Chicxulub Caused Mass Extinction... and Why Other Asteroid Impacts Don’t”

5. Daigo Yamamura: “Chemistry of the Fossil: Insight to the Cretaceous Paleoclimate”

6. John Scannella: “Collecting ‘Captain Chuck’: A New Triceratops from Custer County, Montana

7. Jingmai O’Connor: “Why Did Only Avian Dinosaurs Survive the End Cretaceous Mass Extinction?”

8. Matteo Fabbri: “ Subaqueous Foraging Among Predatory Dinosaurs”

9. Kallie Moore: “Under the Sea 325 Million Years Ago: Montana’s Bear Gulch Limestone”

10. Greg Wilson Mantilla: “Our Earliest Primate Ancestors from Montana”

11. Jasmina Wiemann: “Fossil Biomolecules Reveal the History of Life on Earth and Beyond”

12. Thomas Holtz: “Tyrant Kings, Queens, and Emperors, and What is a Species, Anyway?”