Visit the Alabama Museum of Natural History on October 28, 2023 from 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM for a free National Fossil Day event to celebrate the rich fossil record Alabama has to offer! This year’s theme is mosasaurs, ancient predators of up to ~50 ft long that lived in the ocean covering most of Alabama during the Cretaceous.
 

There is something to see and do for everyone! Several activities will be available for kids, tables with a variety of fossils will be showcased, and various special events are scheduled. These events include a keynote talk about mosasaurs, the presentation of an award to an avocational paleontologist, and the unveiling of a new 6 x 2.5 ft mosasaur exhibit. Nobody has to go home empty handed: choose your free fossil at the Department of Museum Research and Collections tables.

SCHEDULE:

Kids Activities (1:00 pm – 2:30 pm)

In Smith Hall Room 123, we will have a fossil dig at 1:00 pm until 1:30 pm, an art activity from 1:45 pm until 2:05 pm, and a Paleontology Show and Tell from 2:15 pm until 2:30 pm.

Alabama Avocational Paleontologist Award Presentation and Keynote Talk (2:30 pm – 3:45 pm)

At 2:30 pm until 3:45 pm, we will have a special presentation for the 2023 Alabama Avocational Paleontologist Award hosted by Dr. Adiel Klompmaker, followed immediately by Keynote talk by Dr. Jon Bryan (Northwest Florida State College) entitled “Alabama mosasaurs I have known”.

New Mosasaur Exhibit Unveiling (3:45 pm)

Inside the Grand Gallery at 3:45 pm, there will be an unveiling of a new mosasaur exhibit for the Alabama Museum of Natural History!
 

Grand Gallery Tables (1:30 pm – 4:00 pm)

From 1:30 pm until 4:00 pm, there will be tables with many different fossils in the Grand Gallery. At the Department of Museum Research and Collections’ table, we are giving away 1 free fossil per person!