Geological Collections

Collections

The Department of Geology and Geophysics curates three major collections, the Collection of Fossil Vertebrates, the Collection of Fossil Invertebrates, and the Collection of Rocks and Minerals. Additionally, the collections include several smaller collections that include ore samples, rock cores, paleobotanical materials, and various teaching and research related collections. Fossils within our collection have served uniquely important roles in paleobiological research. Many of the sub-collections are one-of-a-kind and scientifically unique and have been especially useful in interpreting the late Phanerozoic geologic and biologic history of the Rocky Mountain region.

The Collection of Fossil Vertebrates

The Collection of Fossil Vertebrates represents an integral research and teaching component of the Department of Geology and Geophysics. With over 45,000 cateloged specimens, the collection is a nationally recognized, public scientific resource that emphasizes the late Mesozoic and Cenozoic fossil record of Wyoming's Laramide basins and High Plains. The collection has roots that extend back to 1887, when The University of Wyoming's Geological Museum was founded.

The Collection of Fossil Vertebrates is fully cataloged, databased, globally accessible, and is in the process of being digitized. The collection hosts 5-10 visiting researchers and loan an average of 200 specimens to other research organizations annually.

The UW Vertebrate Fossil Collection include a significant portion of the country’s Paleocene vertebrate fossils, housing over 40 mammalian holotypes. The collection offers high-fidelity snapshots into past ecosystems like the Eocene Green River Lagerstatten and the Pleistocene Animal Trap Cave deposits.  The Paleozoic, Mesozoic collection holdings include many significant holotypes and an abundance of pre-Cenozoic mammalian and mammaliformes fossils.

The Collection of Fossil Invertebrates

The University of Wyoming collection of macroinvertebrate fossils includes large, diverse taxonomic groups that include mollusks (e.g., bivalves and gastropods), brachiopods (e.g., lamp shells), corals, arthropods (e.g., crabs, shrimps, and barnacles), echinoderms (e.g., sand dollars, sea urchins, and sea stars), sponges, annelids (worms), foraminifera (single-celled protists), and bryozoans (moss animals).

These are all animals that, throughout most of Earth's geological history, lived in a multitude of habitats, including marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. The fossils in these collections are based on the existing trace of a previously living organism, and although invertebrates do not have "true" bones, they leave behind evidence of their past in the form of shells, molds and casts, tubes, fossilized fecal pellets and exoskeletons. 
Fossil invertebrates are useful across a broad range of scientific studies but are of particular interest to pure systematics, applications in stratigraphy, and studying and reconstructing prehistoric environments.

The University of Wyoming's Invertebrate Fossil Collection is primarily composed of fossil invertebrates from the Paleozoic to Mesozoic eras. The collection's general focus is of the Wyoming region but includes a broad selection of specimens from around the world. The collection is composed of five parts: The Systematic Collection, the Stratigraphic Collection, the Teaching Collection, the Micropaleontology Collection, and the Type and Figured Collection. An estimated 45,500 specimens exist within the cataloged collection. Approximately 16,000 specimens remain uncataloged.

The Collection of Rocks and Minerals

The Collection of Rocks and Minerals is an important tool used to teach classes in mineralogy and igneous and metamorphic petrology (branches of geology that studies rocks and the conditions under which they form.). The Collection today surpasses 25,000 cataloged specimens, is cataloged as a single entity but is physically organized into several subcollections. Notable holdings include the Laramie Anorthosite Complex (LAC) amassed over 15 years by faculty and students of the University of Wyoming and the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and a collection that originates from contact metamorphosed Biwabik iron formation. This was collected in 1977 and, with recent closure of the mines in the area, provides the best suite of such rocks available. 

The Collection includes an assorment of mineral and rock specimens on display in the Department of Geology and Geophysics public Geological Museum.

History

The collection has roots that extend back to 1887, when The University of Wyoming's Geological Museum was founded; it was led by early curators William H. Reed and Wilbur C. Knight. After William H. Reed’s death in 1914, Samuel H. (Doc) Knight was hired and made significant contributions to the collections.

The collections early curatorial focus was on the collection of large Mesozoic specimens of dinosaurs and marine reptiles, but in the 1950’s emphasis shifted to focus on the collection of mammal specimens.

Since the 1950’s the collection has been curated by members of the UW Department of Geology and Geophysics faculty including Drs. Samuel H. Knight, Paul McGrew and Jason Lilligraven. During their tenure, the Cenozoic collections were significantly enhanced. In the 1990’s, the UW vertebrate fossil collections was moved into a new space in the Geology and Geophysics Dept., where the collection currently resides. Storage and organization of the collections significantly improved at the time of moving due to an NSF Collections Improvement grant awarded to Drs. Lilligraven and Cassiliano.

Today the collection the collection is recognized as one of the most important research collections on the geological and biological history of the Rocky Mountain region. The collections are currently curated by faculty member Dr. Mark Clementz and managed by Dr. Laura Vietti.

Questions & Answers

We’ve compiled answers to some of the most common questions we receive. Have another question that you need help with? Contact us.

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