NEW ROOM: CRAMER HALL 53. January 9, 2015: Dr. Orr’s talk will address some of the issues and items that keep paleontologists awake late at night. An example is wings of fish, amphibians, mammals and birds as well as arachnids and insects. For the vertebrates, the wing won't work until it meets very stringent requirements as an airfoil. Dr. Orr will also address some of the other unlikely structures we see on fossils that seem impossibly complex and sophisticated.

Dr. Orr received his BS, MS and PhD at Oklahoma, Univ. of California and Michigan respectively. He retired from The University of Oregon in 1997 after 30 years there and still runs the state collection of fossils (The Condon Collection) in Eugene as director. With his wife Elizabeth, he has co-authored the standard texts and references for Oregon and the Pacific NW, geology, and paleontology and are presently working on a book on the Willamette valley.