Paleobiology
Paleobiology includes multiple fields of study, and focuses on using fossils to better understand the diversity and biology of ancient life. This selection of specimens was chosen to showcase the areas of study in the museum’s Paleobiology collection, including Invertebrate Paleontology (organisms without backbones), Paleobotany (fossilized plants), and Vertebrate Paleontology (animals with backbones).
1
Brachiopod
Mississippian (340 million years old)
Missouri
CM 65245
Brachiopod
Mississippian (340 million years old)
Missouri
CM 65246
2
Brachiopod
Mississippian (340 million years old)
New Mexico
CM 65244
3
Petrified wood
Cretaceous
South Dakota
CM 1400
4
Turtle shell
Testudine
Early Oligocene (33 million years old)
Nebraska
CM 3810
5
Various mammal microfossils
Holocene (~1,000 years old)
West Virginia
Uncatalogued
6
Fern seed
Late Pennsylvanian (300 million years old)
Pennsylvania
CM 659
7
Arthropod trackway
Diplichnites sp.
Pennsylvania
CM 53762
8
Fish choking on belemnite (squid-like cephalopod)
Tharsis dubius
Late Jurassic (150.8 million years old)
Germany
CM 4876
9
Megaraptor claw (cast)
Late Cretaceous (93.9 million years old)
Argentina
Uncatalogued
10 & 11
Vole (skulls and jaws)
Pitymys pinetorum
Holocene (1,130 years old)
Pennsylvania
CM 8429
12
Seed fern
Alethopteris sp.
Late Pennsylvanian (300 million years old)
Pennsylvania
CM 4564
13
Fly
Diptera sp.
Late Eocene (34 million years old)
Colorado
CM 40566
14
Bird feather
Eocene (48.5 million years old)
Utah
CM 9770
15
Marine snail
Worthenia tabulata
Pennsylvanian
Pennsylvania
CM 10827
16
Marine snail
Euomphalus springvalensis
Mississippian (340 million years old)
Iowa
Uncatalogued
17
Salamander-like amphibian
Late Oligocene
France
CM 4024
18
Mold of iridescent ammonite
Maorites densicostatus
Late Cretaceous (76 million years old)
Antarctica
CM 40610
19
Scallop valve
Chesapecten madisonius
Early Pliocene (5.3 million years old)
Virginia
CM 63518
Scallop valve
Chesapecten jeffersonius
Early Pliocene (5.3 million years old)
Virginia
CM 63207
20
Lycophyte trunk
Sigillaria elegans
Late Pennsylvanian (300 million years old)
Pennsylvania
CM 5502
21
Extinct pronghorn
Merycodus furcatus
Middle Miocene (15 million years old)
Nebraska
CM 19657
Anthropology and Archaeology
The Section of Anthropology and Archaeology cares for objects that help us understand how people across time and place have connected with, understood, and shaped their worlds. Our work emphasizes ethical stewardship and collaboration with descendant communities to ensure these objects are preserved and shared with respect. The objects here were selected to highlight and celebrate the diversity of the collection we are privileged to care for at the museum.
23
Figure, puppet
Javanese diaspora in Suriname, South America
Made around 1940-1960 CE
CM 34856-106
24
Cuneiform cylinder of king Nebuchadnezzar II
Marad (modern day Tell Wannat es-Sadun, Iraq)
Made around 604-562 BCE
Neo-Babylonian Period, reign of Nebuchadnezzar II
CM 6760
25
Enameled glass bottle
Persia (present day Iran)
Made around 1600-1700 CE
CM 24069-1
26
Alabaster bull’s head
South Arabia, Timna Cemetery (present day Yemen)
Made around 300 BCE–100 CE
CM 22094-3
27
Group of netsukes
Japan
Made around 1700-2000 CE
Various
28
Group of shabtis
Egypt
Made around 945-712 BCE
Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 22
CM 2983-6628 through 6652
29
Group of oracle bones
Xiatun, Anyang, Henan Province, China
Made around 1600-1046 BCE
Shang Dynasty
Various
30
Seminole doll
Florida, United States
Made around 1940-1960 CE
CM 38728-43
31
Kayapó feathered headdress
Pará, Brazil
Made around 1900-2000 CE
CM 34856-106
Mammals
Behind the scenes, museum scientists carry out important scientific research. The mammal specimens here are used in ongoing research and showcase a variety of unique display methods.
32
Dog Skull, Beauchêne method
CM 156
33
Short-beaked echidna
Tachyglossus aculeatus
CM 18071
34
Arctic ground squirrel
Urocitellus parryii
CM 118229
35
Black-footed ferret
Mustela nigripes
CM 21391
75
Pygmy hippopotamus, lower jaw
Choeropsis liberiensis
CM 59646
76
Hippopotamus, lower jaw
Hippopotamus amphibius
CM 2033
Botany
The Botany collection is home to a large herbarium of over 550,000 dried, pressed, and mounted plant specimens. While today the museum preserves samples on loose herbarium sheets, the samples here are book bound herbaria, which were once popular to store and display delicate botanical specimens. Individual loose herbarium sheets became common practice in the 1700s, but book bound herbaria remained popular especially among private collectors and amateur naturalists.
36
Bound Herbarium #27
37
Bound Herbarium #26
Wildflowers from Palestine
38
Bound Herbarium #10
Specimens from Labrador, Canada from the collection of Jacob Wolle, grandfather of William Holland (Museum Director, 1901-1922)
Invertebrate Zoology
The museum’s largest collection belongs to Invertebrate Zoology, comprised mostly of insects. The specimens here show the diversity of the collection and the variety of ways they can be preserved and stored for future study. Which, given their size and physical characteristics, can vary greatly.
39
Assorted arthropods preserved in ethanol vials
40
Vinegaroon or whip scorpion preserved in ethanol
41
Traub flea collection, slide-mounted
42
Bark beetles stored in gel-caps
43
Photographs of Lymantriinae lepidoptera specimens
Stored in church donation envelopes
73
Papered lepidoptera specimens
Temporary storage in cigar box
74
Papered lepidoptera specimens
Contemporary, long-term storage
Birds
The Birds collection cares for over 200,000 specimens and encompasses numerous preparation types, each serving a distinct purpose! The specimens you see here illustrate the variety of ways we preserve specimens. All but one (the egg clutch) is from the same species, the Collared Aracari (Pteroglossus torquatus).
44
Chestnut-eared Aracari egg clutch
Pteroglossus castanotis
CM E2184
45
Collared Aracari fluid preserved
Pteroglossus torquatus
CM A4433
46
Collared Aracari study skin
Pteroglossus torquatus
CM P132634
47
Collared Aracari skeleton (same individual as wing)
Pteroglossus torquatus
CM S6587
48
Collared Aracari wing (same individual as skeleton)
Pteroglossus torquatus
CM S6587
49
Collared Aracari taxidermy mount
Pteroglossus torquatus
CM P131467
Mollusks
The mollusk collection at the museum represents both modern and ancient species. This selection of specimens shows a small sample of the diversity of mollusks, especially the variety of sizes, shapes, and colors.
50
Muricanthus radix
CM 174196
51
Xenophora sp.
Uncatalogued
52
Polymita picta
CM 155810
CM 141340
CM 141355
53
Xenophora pallidula
CM 118801
54
Haliotis fulgens
CM 62.7310
55
Spondylus sinensis
CM 75604
56
Conus geographus
CM 104392
57
Conus marmoreus
CM 62.1203
58
Mimachlamys sanguinea
CM 125126
Minerals and Earth Science
The specimens displayed here from the Minerals and Earth Sciences collection are toxic, radioactive, or have even fallen from space! They each require special care when being handled or stored for the safety of the staff and objects.
59
Refined liquid Mercury and lumps of amalgam
CM 303
60
Minium (a lead oxide)
Cantabria, Spain
CM 3072
Native Lead
Värmland, Sweden
CM 304.1
61
Cinnabar (a mercury sulfide)
Napa County, California
CM 758
62
Pennsylvania stony meteorite Bradford Woods
Found in Allegheny County in 1886
CM 31082
63
Tyuyamunite (a calcium, uranium, vanadate)
Grants, New Mexico
TC t1
64
Riebeckite variety crocidolite
South Africa
CM 6377
Chrysotile variety asbestos
Quebec, Canada
CM 9504
65
Native Arsenic
Saxony, Germany
CM 115
Amphibians and Reptiles
The amphibians and reptiles on display here are venomous, poisonous, or otherwise potentially dangerous. Whether an organism is venomous or poisonous depends on how the toxins are delivered.
66
Alligator snapping turtle
Macrochelys
CM 95359
67
Tiger keelback snake
Rhabdophis tigrinus
CM 34953
68
Gaboon viper
Bitis gabonica
CM 43817
69
Dyeing poison dart frog
Dendrobates tinctorius
CM T&E 80396
70
Mexican beaded lizard
Heloderma horridum
CM 112344
71
Gila monster
Heloderma suspectum
CM 142372
72
Bruno’s casque-headed frog
Aparasphenodon brunoi
CM 46008
