Paleontological Society of Austin

11/03/2025

A huge thank you goes out to all of our incredible members who volunteered their time and energy to make this year’s Fossil Fest successful! We are deeply grateful to our returning vendors for continuing to share their expertise and to our new vendors for bringing fresh and fascinating fossils for the public to enjoy and purchase. And of course, thank you to every attendee who joined us to learn about terrific trilobites and beyond—your enthusiasm and support help keep our nonprofit’s mission alive and thriving.

Send a message to learn more

10/22/2025

¡T. rex: El Depredador Supremo, organizado por el American Museum of Natural History, abre hoy, 18 de octubre¡ 🦖 Planifica tu visita hoy ➤➤ https://tinyurl.com/c4d3wczw

Hasta el 8 de marzo de 2026, explora la increíble historia del dinosaurio más emblemático del mundo a través de modelos de tamaño real, moldes de fósiles y elementos interactivos que dan vida al T. rex.

Acompáñanos con toda la familia y:
🦴 Explora el árbol evolutivo del T. rex y conoce a sus parientes más pequeños y veloces.
🦴 Investiga cómo el vulnerable joven T. rex se convirtió en un adulto enorme.
🦴 Examina las características que llevaron al T. rex a la cima de la cadena alimenticia.

Una guía digital gratuita de la exposición, que incluye traducciones al español, está disponible a través de Bloomberg Connects.

¡Planifica tu visita para vivir esta increíble experiencia de Dinosaurios!

• • • • •

T. rex: El Depredador Supremo está organizado por el American Museum of Natural History, Nueva York (amnh.org).

10/22/2025

It's that time of year again! See you in Round Rock soon! Visit austinpaleo.org/fest.html for more info.

10/22/2025

https://www.facebook.com/TexasHistoricalCommission/posts/pfbid0jHrcTctmeRTetrfSXCK5CqKFVfptSzy2jmRwczQmKkcnszeaaeka1QjhWvTZ67mJl?__cft__[0]=AZUBVMe7AkCAIX2qo1oFDMrPzKKwDuetp6zqh957TkC4s34wTPQ7fJCX5GX-LnwR3ljJ5wPuE7a-DTpU7_N394LMXBLJA39sLpwHGYiTeVYHL4xxBdEGk83lSF_gJeQZCtyP26FIhExUkC7EjgCo2ZI-qKSBoYAUFgctO0fp5EMYvIkBPWkKsr13KOgWP43nxYU&__tn__=-UK-R

Hidden beneath the limestone hills north of Austin, the Gault Site continues to transform what we know about the first Texans—and some of the earliest people in the Americas. Along Buttermilk Creek near Florence, archeologists have uncovered traces of human life going back as far as 22,000 years, extending our understanding of prehistory well beyond the Clovis era.

Over years of careful excavation, researchers and volunteers have unearthed millions of artifacts, from expertly crafted stone tools to engraved limestone cobbles—recognized as the oldest known examples of portable art in North America. These discoveries reveal a story of resilience and adaptation when Ice Age hunter-gatherers made their homes along today's Texas waterways.

The site's preservation is due largely to archeologist Dr. Michael Collins, whose commitment to saving Gault spanned decades. Collins ultimately purchased the land himself so it could be protected through the Archaeological Conservancy and studied by the Gault School of Archaeological Research.

The documentary The Stones Are Speaking shares the story of Dr. Collins, the Gault Site, and how these findings continue to reshape our understanding of human history. It screens weekends through October 26 at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin.

📸: Gault Site tour led by Dr. Collins / Texas State Historical Association

11/04/2024

Thank you to everyone that helped make Fossil Fest successful this year. If you attended, helped spread the word, or were one of our fabulous vendors, speakers, or volunteers: without you our event wouldn't have been as successful as it was. We would also like to thank our Show Chair & VP Eric for pulling off his first Fossil Fest with flying colors. We hope to see everyone back at Fossil Fest in November of 2025!

04/25/2024

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/paleontologists-unravel-secrets-of-enigmatic-33-foot-prehistoric-shark-after-fossil-discovery-180984218/

Scientists didn't know much about Ptychodus, an ancient shark genus, because its remains were usually just fragments. Now, complete fossils reveal its body shape and hunting habits

11/06/2023

Thank you to all of those that participated in Fossil Fest this year! You all helped make our annual show a huge success and we hope to see you again in 2024!

09/13/2023

Join us September 19th to learn all about the once Texas Memorial Museum and soon to be Texas Science and Natural History Museum!

Texas Memorial Museum is a museum devoted to the natural sciences on the main campus of The University of Texas at Austin. Reopening to the public in September 2023, it is a vital educational resource for all communities, exhibiting outstanding fossil specimens and facilitating connections between the public and the work of scientists. From the early campaigns for a major museum in Texas, a statewide paleontological-mineralogical survey, and the Centennial celebrations, the Museum is rooted in deep time and continues to evolve. We will explore the past, present, and future of the newly renamed Texas Science & Natural History Museum, including recent renovations and plans for new experiences and stories from our natural world.

Speaker Bio:
Pamela R. Owen, PhD (she/her).
The University of Texas at Austin Associate Director, Texas Science & Natural History Museum, College of Natural Sciences Research Associate, Texas Vertebrate Paleontology Collections, Jackson School of Geosciences.

Dr. Pamela R. Owen is Associate Director of Texas Science & Natural History Museum (formerly known as Texas Memorial Museum), the museum of natural sciences on the main campus of The University of Texas at Austin. She is a mammalogist and vertebrate paleontologist as well as an informal science educator, providing preK-12+ teacher professional development and specimen-based public outreach programs in the natural sciences for more than 23 years. Dr. Owen is a NAI Certified Interpretive Guide and a Project WILD Facilitator. Her formal education includes a BA and MS in Biology from California State University, Long Beach. Dr. Owen conducted her master’s thesis research on saber-toothed cats, American lions, coyotes and dire wolves at La Brea Tar Pits & Museum in Los Angeles, California. In May 2000, Dr. Owen was awarded a PhD from The University of Texas at Austin. Her research focused on the evolution of American badgers, and included the description and naming of a new fossil badger species, Chamitataxus avitus. Dr. Owen is spending much of her time this year working toward the public reopening of the Museum. She continues to provide annual training in mammalogy and paleontology for several chapters of the Texas Master Naturalists.

07/13/2023

Join us on Tuesday, July 18th at 7:00 pm and enjoy a talk by PSoA's President: Erich Rose. If you're new to amateur fossicking or just want to learn some tips and tricks on preparation, documentation, and identification this meeting is 100% for you! Our meetings are open to the general public so ALL are welcome! The meeting will be held at the Austin Gem & Mineral Society (6719 Burnet Lane, Austin, TX).

Speaker Bio:
Erich has been collecting fossils since he was 10 growing up in Southwest Ohio. His collection includes Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic material from Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado and of course Texas. He has written field guides for the NYPS as well as many articles on collecting in various newsletters. Currently he is busy reworking major parts of his collection making sure they are properly stored and copying paper catalogs into computer databases.

Talk Details:
Since then the club has picked up a number of new members and many are new to the hobby. And amongst them I often hear the same “how did you, how do you and how would I's" suggest we need to offer some basics on what for many of us has now become old hat. I hope to briefly cover the following topics and then open the meeting up to questions and maybe even some demonstrations.
• Where to look for fossils
• What tools do I need?
• How to clean or preserve fossils
• How do we identify them?
• How to catalog your collection
• Why is all of this important?
I will use examples from my own collection and experiences but we will count on also hearing the collected wisdom of many of our other members as we answer questions and give advice to those who ask.

07/03/2023

An Astrapotherium taking it easy in the shade.
These ungulate mammals lived during the late Oligocene to middle Miocene in South America.
It was about 2.5 meters long and stood 1.2 meters tall.
They are thought to have been a semi aquatic animal that foraged around wetlands and swamps.
by Gabuded

06/28/2023

Wow 🤩

AUSTIN, Texas — A team led by scientists at The University of Texas at Austin has filled a major gap in the state’s fossil record – describing the first

06/20/2023

Unfortunately the power is out at our venue and tonight’s meeting has been cancelled.