Collections News – Research & Collections

Students discover rare fossils during Blount Scholars course field trips

April 23, 2024

Tyler Posey, Sumlin Pate, and Ellie Stevens showing off the fossil vertebrae they discovered at Harrell Station Paleontological Site.

Paleontology speaks to the imagination of many people, including students at The University of Alabama. Over the last few years, the course Paleontology and Society has been offered in the spring semester via the selective Blount Scholars Program. This course for undergraduate students is taught by Dr. Adiel Klompmaker, UA Museums’ Curator of Paleontology. An important part of this course is focused learning outside the classroom. During several field trips students got a chance to experience fossil collecting and interpreting […]

New fossil shark records from Alabama

February 14, 2024

Illustration of Glikmanius careforum (foreground) and two Troglocladodus trimblei (background). Credit: Benji Paynose and National Park Service.

Paleozoic rock formations outcrop throughout northern Alabama and have been studied heavily due to their invertebrate diversity and abundance. Despite this heavy invertebrate literature base, vertebrates have been understudied. Recently, the Bangor Limestone of northern Alabama has had multiple new ~330 million-year-old shark species discovered within it. These investigations have led to further fieldwork and museum studies of previously collected shark teeth, including specimens discovered by University of Alabama Museums’ Research Associate of Paleontology Gabe Ward during his undergraduate degree […]

Student develops new fossil exhibit for Blount Scholars Program

December 13, 2023

Seven vertebrae of the mosasaur Tylosaurus next to a small mosasaur model

The course Paleontology and Society (BUI 301) has been taught through the selective liberal arts Blount Scholars Program for undergraduate students since 2021 by Dr. Adiel Klompmaker, UA Museums’ Curator of Paleontology. Additionally, several students have taken the new Blount Scholars museum internship (BUI 399) focusing on various aspects of paleontology such as curation, exhibit development, and research. During the last couple of years of the course, students visited and collected fossils at key sites in Alabama while also interacting […]

New mosasaur species from Alabama discovered

November 21, 2023

Caitlín R. Kiernan showing off mosasaur bones

Alabama is a global hotspot for mosasaurs. These extinct relatives of lizards were the top predators in the oceans during the late part of the Cretaceous Period.

IMLS Inspire! Grant Award

October 17, 2023

Drs. John Abbott and Milt Ward were awarded an IMLS Inspire! grant for $47,575 to rehouse an historically and scientifically significant beetle collection. The proposed project will result in the rehousing of an historically and scientifically significant collection at the Alabama Museum of Natural History (ALMNH), bringing it up to modern collection standards. Additionally, the collection of beetles will be imaged and data digitized making it accessible to an international community. The Löding Beetle Collection consists of ~ 50,000 specimens […]

National Fossil Day

October 11, 2023

Visit the Alabama Museum of Natural History on October 28, 2023 from 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM for a free National Fossil Day event! The museum will be celebrating the rich fossil record Alabama has to offer with this year’s theme featuring mosasaurs, ancient predators of up to ~50 ft long that lived in the ocean covering most of Alabama during the Cretaceous. “National Fossil Day at the Alabama Museum of Natural History is the largest event in Alabama where people with an interest in […]

Bing Blewitt to receive the Alabama Avocational Paleontologist Award

September 29, 2023

For many decades, avocational (hobby/amateur) paleontologists have made very substantial contributions to this fascinating science in Alabama.

Alabama Mussels Poster

July 11, 2023

A new poster about Alabama Mussels has been designed by Kendra Abbott in collaboration with the Geological Survey of Alabama, Department of Biological Sciences, and The University of Alabama Museums’ Department of Museum Research & Collections. This poster highlights the diversity of mussels in Alabama (more than in any other state) with photos of some rare and common species.

Fossils from collection feature in children’s TV show

July 11, 2023

Full of enthusiasm and humor, Steve Trash educates children about science in the aptly named Steve Trash Science show.

The Alabama Museum of Natural History Hosts Fossil Track Meet

March 30, 2023

On Saturday, April 8, 2023, the Alabama Museum of Natural History and the Alabama Paleontological Society will be hosting a free fossil Track Meet from 11 am until 3:30 pm. During this event, paleontologists will be bringing in fossil trackways, fossil invertebrates, and fossil plants found in mines and other places from Alabama’s Coal Age for temporary display and photography on tables in the Grand Gallery of Smith Hall. In addition to seeing the existing exhibits, people can see the […]