MEDIA ADVISORY

TO:                      News Directors

FROM:                 UA Museum of the North, Fairbanks

SUBJECT:            12-year-old Discovers Ice Age Lion's Skull, Reception and Presentation Ceremony

LOCATION:         Southcentral Alaska Museum of Natural History, Parkgate Building, Old Glenn Highway, Eagle River

DATE & TIME:     Friday, October 20, 6 p.m.

In July 1995, 12-year-old Devan Foster of Wasilla, Alaska discovered the skull of an extinct North American lion (Panthera leo atrox) while on a canoe trip with his family on Birch Creek, west of Eagle Summit, about 90 miles east of Fairbanks.

The lion species was probably common 18,000 - 40,000 years ago. Fossils of this species are quite rare and this skull is in excellent condition. (Note: a photo of the skull is available.)

After discovering the skull, Foster and his father went to the University of Alaska Museum on the University of Alaska campus to have the skull identified and as a result, UAF graduate assistant Gary Grassi and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) scientist John Cook returned to the discovery site and found another mammal's fossil. Because the fossil was discovered on Birch Creek, which is on federal and state land, the BLM and State of Alaska Archaeologist Robert Shaw helped confirm the find. It was assigned to the UA Museum of the North, which is the state's natural history repository, where Curator of the Earth Science Collections at the UA Museum of the North Roland Gangloff confirmed the identification.

The Southcentral Alaska Museum of Natural History will host a reception and ceremony honoring Foster's discovery on Friday, Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. at the museum in Eagle River. The skull will be displayed there for a year before being returned to the UA Museum of the North, its permanent home.

Gangloff said, "We want to honor Devan and remind the public of the importance of seeing to it that the state's fossil heritage is preserved for scientific research and exhibits that all Alaskans can enjoy."

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CONTACT: Roland Gangloff, UA Museum of the North, (907) 474-7862 or Suzanne Bishop, UAF Public Information Officer, (907) 474-6443.

SSB/10-19-95/96-025 med.adv.