Big Muddy Speaker Series presents:

Just west of the Missouri River in South Dakota is the Badlands, a semi-arid region of spires, buttes and inaccessible cliffs in southwestern South Dakota adjacent to the Pine Ridge Reservation. Drained by the White, Bad and Cheyenne Rivers, the region is also the final resting place for the skeletal remains of a vast array of mammals that lived in the Late Eocene Epoch about 30 million years ago. At that time, the climate was sub-tropical, with lush vegetation and sluggish meandering streams.

Geological layers represented in the South Dakota badlands. Courtesy of "Earth Science in our National Parks".

Classes of budding paleontologists from the Dept. of Geosciences, UMKC have for many years collected specimens from the Badlands near Scenic, S.D. under Special Use permits issued by the U.S. Forest Service. The finds include the skeletal remains of tiny mouse-sized creatures to massive rhino-sized beasts and numerous tortoises.

Drawing courtesy of National Park Service.

The specimens from the Badlands are on display at the Richard L. Sutton, Geoscience Museum, Rm 271, Flarsheim Hall, Volker Campus, UMKC. The Museum is open to the public at no charge from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on days when classes are in session.