Condon Paleontological Curators Complete Oregon Fossils Book

In December, 2009, Elizabeth and William Orr, Curator and Codirector of the Condon Paleontological Collection, completed the second edition of their book, Oregon Fossils. This work is a very thorough review of Oregon’s fossil plant and animal remains, first published in 1999. Richly illustrated with several hundred photographs and line drawings, the book relies heavily on the Condon paleontology collection for its history and details of prehistoric specimens.

In drawings by the Orrs, the bodies of reptiles, fish, and mammals are reconstructed to bring these fossils “to life.” Almost 300 pages in length, Oregon Fossils includes an extensive bibliography as well as scores of maps showing fossil sites in the state.

What sets this work apart from similar efforts are the sketches of the lives and research of dozens of paleontologists, who created Oregon’s fossil record. While Thomas Condon himself is an obvious centerpiece, other workers such as Earl Packard, John C. Merriam, Arnold Shotwell, and Ewart Baldwin are included for the quantity and quality of their contributions. The lives of these paleontologists bring out a wealth of information on earth science as it was practiced in Oregon from the late 1800s to the present day.

New discoveries fill every chapter. We are told that there is but a single dinosaur found in the state, collected from Cape Sebastian on the coast. Remarkably, that animal lived and was entombed in the vicinity of Sacramento, California, before being moved to the Oregon coast by the magic of continental drift. A significant portion of our fossil plants and animals reached our shores by the process of plate tectonics. Oregon’s oldest fossils, dating back 400 million years in the past, are microscopic fish teeth, while some of the most abundant and best-preserved are elephants (mastodon and mammoth) buried less than 12,000 years ago in the Willamette Valley.

This is a book for anyone interested in the state’s past and in where it is headed in the future. The book is available at the UO Museum of Cultural History’s Past and Presents store.

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