Alabama employs about a dozen professional paleontologists, but there are many more people who search and study fossils as a hobby. These avocational or amateur paleontologists uncover a vast amount of knowledge about Alabama’s prehistory each year.
News
Virtual National Fossil Day
This year, the Alabama Museum of Natural History is celebrating National Fossil Day online! On October 14, 2020, we will be hosting free livestream broadcasts about Paleontology, Paleozoic Oceans, and a special presentation about the Alabama Avocational Paleontologist Award.
Towards Global Volunteer Monitoring of Odonate Abundance
Provocative headlines such as “Insectaggedon,” “Insect Apocalypse,” and “The Great Insect Dying” have directed the world’s attention to a purported widespread decline of insects and elicited calls for immediate action
Dr. Kocot Awarded NSF Grant to Digitize ALMNH Invertebrate Zoology Collection
Dr. Kocot received a grant as part of a large collaborative project entitled “Digitization TCN: Collaborative Research: documenting marine biodiversity through Digitization of Invertebrate collections (DigIn).” This project is led by Dr. Regina Wetzer (Los Angeles County Museum); and the UA share is $33,235; project total: $1,776,008).
UA Part of National Project to Study Dragonfly, Damselfly Evolution
An international team of researchers that includes The University of Alabama are collecting and analyzing data for the insect order Odonata that contains dragonflies and damselflies to share through an online database available to all researchers.
New Holotype of Fossil Shark for Paleontology Collection
On June 16, paleontologists published a scientific article describing a new fossil angel shark genus and species named Cretasquatina americana. Among those paleontologists is former University of Alabama curator of paleontology Dana Ehret. The team used two specimens from the paleontology collection of UA Museums’ Department of Museum Research and Collections.
Bama Bug Fest Goes on the Web
Bama Bug Fest: On the Web is crawling your way in July 2020! This virtual, all-things-bug event has a little something for all ages and will take place every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from July 7 to July 25.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Along with the rest of the Nation, The University of Alabama Museums has watched as recent events including the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor have fractured our communities.
UA Museums Closed Until Further Notice
Due to the updates relating to COVID-19, all of the University of Alabama Museums (Alabama Museum of Natural History, The Gorgas House Museum, the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum, and the Jones Archaeological Museum at Moundville Archaeological Park) will be closed until further notice.
UA Museums Update Concerning COVID-19
Due to the updates relating to COVID-19, all of the University of Alabama Museums (Alabama Museum of Natural History, The Gorgas House Museum, the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum, and the Jones Archaeological Museum at Moundville Archaeological Park will now be closed until March 30. For more information about Coronavirus prevention, visit: healthinfo.ua.edu/prevention