Museum Research & Collections – The University of Alabama

Welcome to the Department of Museum Research and Collections.This department is a new addition to the University of Alabama Museums. It was created in 2016 and under the Direction of Dr. John C. Abbbott, it is responsible for overseeing the management and curation of the University of Alabama Museums collections and developing interdisciplinary research programs across the University that focus on museum-based research. The department is made up of five full-time staff and works closely with 14 Curators across six different university departments.

News

MothFest 2018

This year’s MothFest was a huge success! The attendance more than tripled from last year, and there were more activities Read More
“Sweetie” the Mosasaur Makes Her Debut Appearance

In February of 2018, paleontologists Dr. Takehito Ikejiri and Dr. Lynn Harrell delved into UA’s Natural History Collection to Read More
Stolen Moundville Archaeological Park Pottery

In 1980, 264 pottery vessels were stolen during a break-in at the Erskine Ramsay Archaeological Repository at Moundville Archaeological Read More

Publications

Feeding Traces on a Pteranodon (Reptilia: Pterosauria) Bone from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) Mooreville Chalk in Alabama, USA

Ehret, D. and T.L. Harrell, Jr. 2018. Feeding traces on Pteranodon (Reptilia: Pterosauria) bone from the late Cretaceous (Campanian) Mooreville Chalk in Alabama, USA. PALAIOS …
Development of polymorphic microsatellite markers for a rare dragonfly, Cordulegaster sarracenia (Odonata: Cordulegastridae), with notes on population structure and genetic diversity

Kendra K. Abbott, John C. Abbott, Jeffrey D. Lozier, Rochelle R Beasley & Stacey L. Lance (2018) Development of polymorphic microsatellite markers for a rare …
Complete Ichthyornis skull illuminates mosaic assembly of the avian head by D.J. Field, M. Hanson, D. Burnham, L.E. Wilson, K. Super, D. Ehret, J. Ebersole & B.-A.S. Bhullar, published in Nature, volume 357, 3May2018.

The skull of living birds is greatly modified from the condition found in their dinosaurian antecedents. Bird skulls have an enlarged, toothless premaxillary beak and …