ENHS Nature Trails October 2005 Article 1

This month's speaker: William Orr

We welcome the return of a favorite speaker to the Eugene Natural History Society, Dr. William Orr, currently curator of the Condon Museum at 1680 East 15th Avenue, Eugene. Though retired from his teaching duties in the Geology Department at the University of Oregon, his energy and enthusiasm for work has not ebbed. Most recently Bill and his wife Liz sent to press a book-length manuscript on the environmental history of Oregon's water. Previously they coauthored Oregon Fossils (1999), Geology of Oregon (1992) and Geology of the Pacific Northwest (1995). I forgot to ask, but I suspect the fine drawings included in this issue of Nature Trails are those of Liz. One of the superb features of these books are the drawings by Liz Orr, notably, block diagrams that illustrate the structure and development of Oregon's complex geological history in the clearest manner. Her trademark combinations of skeleton and reconstruction of Oregon's extinct animals invite close attention.

Now, just a little about Dr. Orr from his previous interview that you may not remember: As a tike He was an "inveterate collector of animals and rocks," especially the skeletons of insects, snakes and mammals. This interest continued in his youth and he seemed fated to find a career in rocks and bones. The impetus to pursue paleontology came from a professor at the University of Oklahoma where Dr. Orr earned his BS degree. He earned his MS at the University of California and his Ph.D. at Michigan State University. He retired a Professor Emeritus from the University of Oregon in 1997 where his special interests included micropaleontology and biostratigraphy.

In his last talk (1999) before the ENHS he illuminated the relationship between volcanics and fossils. "Oregon's superb fossil record is the direct result of the volcanic overlay of the state," according to Bill. This next Friday evening, 2005, Bill will tell us about "the largely unsung but superb fossil assemblage of vertebrates preserved in rocks along the Oregon coast. These include a diverse assemblage of seals and sea lions, whales of both the toothed and baleen variety, sea otters, fish including both bony fish and sharks and some taxa without a modern counterpart."

Recently, Dr. Orr has made headlines in Baker City where a fossilized skull of ichthyosaur resides in limbo. The limestone skull was found by a high school student of Bill's on a summer field trip to Eagle Creek in the Wallowas where Bill and some university students had previously found the vertebrae and ribs. "After examining the skull, Orr concluded that it was indeed an Asian species--a 'Shastasaur,' a type of ichthyosaur named for the Mount Shasta region of Northern California where specimens of that species had been found."* In a news article by Jayson Jacoby in the Baker City Herald, September 16, 2005, Jacoby states that according to paleontologists, "the piece of limestone [found by Bill's student] encases part of the skull from a half-ton, dinosaur-like reptile that swam and gulped fish in an Asian sea." This fossilized ichthyosaur ate fish off the coast of Asia more than 120 million years ago. Geologists state that the "find" supports the theory that the peaks of the Wallowa Mountains were formed beneath a lukewarm Asian sea millions of years ago.

The Baker City article offers additionally a look at why the fossilized skull is now in limbo--a problem primarily between the forest service and scientists. It's hoped that the fossil will soon be placed in a traveling exhibit and be available both for the public to view and scientists to study.

*Jacoby, Jayson. Baker City Herald, September 16, 2005.

The Condon Museum in Eugene: Fossils can easily capture the minds of both young and old as humans continue to ponder the mysteries of origin. In Oregon we have an in-depth fossil record, partially due to our violent geological past. The Condon Museum in Eugene has a collection of over 70,000 specimens, the largest collection of fossil vertebrates in the Pacific Northwest. The museum is named for Thomas Condon, a well-respected and widely known lecturer on Oregon's geology and fossil record by 1876. Condon worked as the Oregon's first official geologist but later resigned that position to accept a professorship teaching natural history at the University of Oregon. His extensive collection of Oregon's fossil record grew and invited study from scientists all over the West and beyond. Upon his death in 1907 it became a permanent part of the University where it has continued to grow, particularly during A. Shotwell's term as curator of the Condon Museum in the 1950s and 60s. "Today it is the only professionally curated collection of its kind in Oregon, and it ranks twelfth in the United States in numbers of specimens of curated fossil vertebrates. The collection includes historic photographs, notebooks, and other artifacts as well as many recent animals, fossil plants and rock and mineral specimens."**

Since the Condon Museum operates within limited space and without a budget, tours of the facility must be prearranged in small groups only. The ENHS is extremely fortunate that Bill Orr has arranged with ENHS President David Wagner to have ENHS members visit the museum on the Friday afternoon of the talk and the following Monday afternoon, October 21 and 24. Please call David to sign up for this special opportunity. Phone, 344-3327 or email davidwagner@mac.com.

** From the Condon Museum website. Easiest to Google "Condon Museum University of Oregon" to access site. It offers neat links to all sorts of fossil information. Save this employment for a rainy day or you'll never get out of your chair.

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