Thursday, February 11, 2010 7:30 p.m.

China holds the “mother lode” of feathered-dinosaur fossils. The skeletal remains there are the link between extinct dinosaur raptors and living birds. This image-rich presentation will explore the connection between dinosaurs and today’s birds, and outline new and exciting discoveries. Dr. Philip Currie has carried out fieldwork all over the world in search of dinosaurs. He has discovered and named many new dinosaurs – especially those from China.

The speaker:
Dr. Philip Currie is a palaeontologist with the University of Alberta. His research on dinosaurs focuses on problems with growth and variation; the anatomy and relationships of carnivorous dinosaurs, and the origin of birds. His long-term goal is to understand the rich Cretaceous ecosystem of Alberta’s Dinosaur Provincial Park and other sites in western North America. Dr. Currie is also interested in what can be learned about dinosaurian behaviour, including annual and intercontinental migrations. Interested in dinosaurs since childhood, he finds that the excitement of discovery constantly renews his interest.

Dr. Currie’s fieldwork has been concentrated in Alberta, British Columbia, the Arctic, Argentina and China. His work on the Centrosaurus bonebed, the origin of birds, "feathered" dinosaurs, hadrosaur nesting sites and the Canada-China Dinosaur Project have attracted the greatest international attention.

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