DinoFest 2019 Speaker: Kathleen Ritterbush
Floating Fortresses of the Jurassic Seas by Kathleen Ritterbush, Assistant Professor of Geology & Geophysics, University of Utah
![A portrait of a paleontologist in the field.](/sites/default/files/styles/2x_small_320w/public/embedded_images/nhmu_dinofest_Ritterbush.jpg?itok=CI-ofqdO)
A global mass extinction paved the way for dinosaurs to conquer the land, and for strange – and lazy – creatures to fill the oceans. Seafloors hosted meadows of sponges, as large spiral-shelled ammonites swam above. New research tests the possible swimming speeds of these extinct squid-relatives, and suggests that the most abundant ammonites probably only swam fast during emergencies. Their shells were floating fortresses, lurking beneath the surface.