Extinct Megafauna of the La Brea Tar Pits

Name: Extinct Megafauna of the La Brea Tar Pits
Start: 2026-10-01T19:00:00+09:30
Location: Mawson Lecture Theatre

Schedule

Thu, 01 Oct, 2026 at 07:00 pm

UTC+09:30

Location

Mawson Lecture Theatre | Adelaide, SA

Paul Curnow
University of South Australia
Abstract: The La Brea Tar Pits, located in the United States is an active palaeontological research site in urban Los Angeles, California. These tar pits are where natural asphalt (bitumen) has seeped up from the ground for tens of thousands of years. Over the many centuries, ‘megafauna’ and other smaller animals wandered into the area and were trapped in the tar. This has allowed for the remains of countless entombed animals to be preserved and has offered us a unique window into understanding many of the extinct species on the North American continent. In this talk I will take you on a behind the scenes tour of the tar pits and introduce you to some of the species that once roamed this area like sabre toothed cats; ‘Smilodon’, giant ground sloths, lions, dire wolves, and mammoths.
Bio: Paul Curnow is a world-renowned astronomer, and after 34-years is South Australia’s longest serving planetarium lecturer. He has been a member of the Field Geology Club of South Australia since 1992. In 2002, he served as a southern sky specialist for visiting U.S. and British astronomers who were in Australia for the total solar eclipse. After three decades of research, he is regarded as one of the world’s leading authorities on Australian Aboriginal night sky knowledge; and in 2004, he worked in conjunction with the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center Planetarium in Ohio, on the creation of a show that features Indigenous Australian stories of the night sky. Moreover, from 2018-2025, he has served as a consultant on Indigenous Astronomy for the Australian Space Agency.
In addition, Paul runs several popular courses for the public that focus on the constellations, planetary astronomy, meteoritics, historical astronomy and ethnoastronomy, which primarily deals with how the night sky is seen by non-western cultures. He appeared as the keynote speaker at the inaugural 2010 Lake Tyrrell Star Party in Sea Lake, Victoria and in 2011 was a special guest speaker at the Carter Observatory in Wellington, New Zealand. Since 2012 Paul has taken the role of Lecturer for the ‘Astronomy & the Universe’ course (EDUC2066); and between 2019-2021 for ‘Science’ (EDUC 2030) for the School of Education at the University of South Australia.
Moreover, since 2021 he has been a member of the Andy Thomas Space Foundation Education Advisory Committee; and in 2023 completed a U.S. lecture tour, where he was a special invited guest speaker at several planetariums, colleges, and universities. Paul appears regularly in the media and has authored over 50 articles on astronomy.
Members and visitors are warmly invited to attend.
For further information visit: www.fieldgeologyclubsa.org.au