NORMAN – The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is excited to host renowned paleontologist Dr. Matt Wedel for a free public event at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 8. Titled Crowns of the Cretaceous: The Horned Dinosaurs, Wedel’s presentation will focus on ceratopsian dinosaurs and the world class fossil specimens preserved at the museum — including a new Hollywood celebrity he helped to discover.
A leading sauropod specialist and co author of several landmark dinosaur discoveries, Wedel will discuss the origins and evolution of horned ceratopsian dinosaurs, including the famous Triceratops as well as the breakout star Aquilops americanus — the earliest known ceratopsian dinosaur in North America and most recently cast as “Dolores,” the pet like backpack dinosaur in Jurassic World: Rebirth. The program will also highlight the museum’s world famous Pentaceratops skull, the largest skull of any land animal ever discovered.
“Aquilops is such a great animal to have in the Sam Noble Museum because it’s a complete contrast to the gigantic Pentaceratops in the same exhibit hall,” Wedel said. “Here we have the smallest and earliest horned dinosaur in North America, just across from one of the largest and latest.”
Though the little dinosaur is now a household name with a big screen debut and its own toys and merchandise, Wedel says that during the process of describing and naming the specimen, the research team never anticipated their discovery would become world famous.
“We published the paper describing Aquilops americanus in 2014, and it got some press, including a nice write up in the LA Times, but it definitely didn’t achieve worldwide fame right away. Then Jurassic World: Rebirth came along and after a decade of relative obscurity, our tiny little dinosaur was everywhere. Just last week I was wandering around a local store and saw Aquilops toys on a shelf. I thought, ‘How crazy is it that kids all over the world are playing with our dinosaur?’” He added, “I think it’s probably best that we didn’t know how big the dinosaur would become while we were working on it. Science is hard enough to get right when you’re writing primarily for your fellow scientists, and I think adding the stress of global scrutiny would have been way too intimidating.”
Dr. Wedel’s May 8 lecture is free and open to the public, but advance registration is highly encouraged through the museum’s online event calendar to reserve seating. Walk-in seating will be available on a first come, first served basis, with doors opening just before 5:30 p.m.
In addition to the May 8 lecture, Wedel will make an appearance on Saturday, May 9, for the museum’s latest “Curiousiday” event — a large, fair like public program featuring scientific showcases, games and activities. Wedel will help present the museum’s original fossil specimen of Sauroposeidon proteles, thought to be the world’s tallest dinosaur and currently under consideration to become Oklahoma’s new official state fossil. The Curiousiday event is open to the public, runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is included with standard museum admission..