DinoFest Speaker: John Foster, Ph.D.
Saturday, January 31, 2026 | 2 p.m. – 2:25 p.m. | Swaner Forum, NHMU
About Dr. John Foster
John Foster is the Curator of Collections at the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum in Vernal, Utah. He has studied the Morrison Formation of the Rocky Mountain region for almost 35 years now, and full understanding of the unit continues to be an ever-more-distant mirage. He has been working the Jurassic Salad Bar plant locality in the Morrison since 2017, and insects, while extremely rare, still show up occasionally. When not chasing Morrison fossils, he takes any opportunity be on or in the water whether it is river, lake, or ocean.
About the Lecture
Jurassic Buzz: Insects of the Morrison Formation (Late Jurassic) and Beyond
Among fossil types, the last thing the Late Jurassic-age Morrison Formation of the Rocky Mountain region is known for is insects. Dinosaur bones, tracks, and wood and logs literally fall out of the hillsides of the Morrison, but insect body fossils weren't even reported from the unit until 2011. Trace fossils have hinted at a diversity of insect types in the Morrison, but actual body fossils are elusive. However, several new types have emerged since 2020, and this local example is just the beginning. Most insect groups had arisen by the Mesozoic, and the record of Jurassic insects worldwide is impressive. We'll see what has been found so far in the Morrison and then what may yet be in the rocks, based on what is already known from Europe, Asia, and other continents.