Paleontology

At A Glance

Carthage students who are interested in paleontology — the study of the history of life on Earth through fossils — have the opportunity to study under a vertebrate paleontologist and get hands-on field experience that is unusual in undergraduate programs.

Special Program

Paleontology

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Learn from a leading paleontologist

Paleontology courses at Carthage are taught by Prof. Thomas Carr, assistant professor of biology. Prof. Carr is a vertebrate paleontologist and recognized expert on tyrannosaurid dinosaurs. (Vertebrate paleontology is the study of fossils of animals with backbones.)

<div class="lw_widget lw_widget_type_blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"><div class="blockquote__image"><picture class="lw_image"> <source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/134/width/183/height/183/crop/1/src_region/0,0,400,400/36629_Nathan-C.rev.1673024212.webp 1x, /live/image/scale/2x/gid/134/width/183/height/183/crop/1/src_region/0,0,400,400/36629_Nathan-C.rev.1673024212.webp 2x"/> <source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/134/width/183/height/183/crop/1/src_region/0,0,400,400/36629_Nathan-C.rev.1673024212.jpg 2x"/> <img src="/live/image/gid/134/width/183/height/183/crop/1/src_region/0,0,400,400/36629_Nathan-C.rev.1673024212.jpg" alt="Nathan Cochran ?23" width="183" height="183" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/134/width/183/height/183/crop/1/src_region/0,0,400,400/36629_Nathan-C.rev.1673024212.jpg 2x" data-max-w="400" data-max-h="400" loading="lazy"/> </picture> </div><div class="blockquote__content"><div class="blockquote__quote"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="icon icon-round-left-quote" width="48" height="33"><use xlink:href="#icon-round-left-quote"/></svg><p> “Carthage has one of the few undergraduate paleontology programs in the country. With a field course, fossil preparation lab, and a museum full of giant predatory dinosaurs, Carthage seemed like a no-brainer.”</p></div><footer class="blockquote__footer"><span class="blockquote__author"><a href="/live/profiles/2243-">Nathan Cochran</a> ’23</span></footer></div></blockquote></div>
<div class="lw_widget lw_widget_type_blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"><div class="blockquote__image"><picture class="lw_image"> <source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/134/width/183/height/183/crop/1/src_region/0,0,600,600/36599_Chloe-W.-Harper-23.rev.1671468074.webp 1x, /live/image/scale/2x/gid/134/width/183/height/183/crop/1/src_region/0,0,600,600/36599_Chloe-W.-Harper-23.rev.1671468074.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/134/width/183/height/183/crop/1/src_region/0,0,600,600/36599_Chloe-W.-Harper-23.rev.1671468074.webp 3x"/> <source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/134/width/183/height/183/crop/1/src_region/0,0,600,600/36599_Chloe-W.-Harper-23.rev.1671468074.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/134/width/183/height/183/crop/1/src_region/0,0,600,600/36599_Chloe-W.-Harper-23.rev.1671468074.jpg 3x"/> <img src="/live/image/gid/134/width/183/height/183/crop/1/src_region/0,0,600,600/36599_Chloe-W.-Harper-23.rev.1671468074.jpg" alt="Chloe W. Harper ?23" width="183" height="183" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/134/width/183/height/183/crop/1/src_region/0,0,600,600/36599_Chloe-W.-Harper-23.rev.1671468074.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/134/width/183/height/183/crop/1/src_region/0,0,600,600/36599_Chloe-W.-Harper-23.rev.1671468074.jpg 3x" data-max-w="600" data-max-h="600" loading="lazy"/> </picture> </div><div class="blockquote__content"><div class="blockquote__quote"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="icon icon-round-left-quote" width="48" height="33"><use xlink:href="#icon-round-left-quote"/></svg><p> “Paleontology is just awesome. If you really have your heart set on the subject, you won’t regret coming to Carthage; you’ll finish your undergrad degree with graduate-level research and understanding in the subject.”</p></div><footer class="blockquote__footer"><span class="blockquote__author"><a href="/live/profiles/2234-">Chloe W. Harper</a> ’23</span></footer></div></blockquote></div>

Prof. Carr is also the senior scientific advisor for the Dinosaur Discovery Museum in downtown Kenosha, which houses the Carthage Institute of Paleontology. A noted professional speaker on dinosaurs, Prof. Carr has been featured on the National Geographic Channel, in popular publications, and as curator for museum exhibits including the “Feathered Dinosaur” exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum.

Collect the bones of a baby T.rex

The Carthage Institute of Paleontology conducts an annual month-long dinosaur-hunting expedition to southeastern Montana, led by Prof. Carr. Carthage students have the opportunity to locate and collect fossils in the Hell Creek Formation, a unit of rock deposited in Montana and adjacent states at the end of the age of dinosaurs.

So far, Prof. Carr and his crews have located four partial dinosaur skeletons, including a rare juvenile specimen believed to be the smallest T. rex ever found. It is the only active excavation of a baby Tyrannosaurus rex. Bones collected in the expedition are brought back to the Institute of Paleontology, where the fossils are prepared and conserved by Prof. Carr and his student volunteers.