CMC Cincinnati Museum Center Vertebrate Paleontology

The Vertebrate Paleontology Collection of Cincinnati Museum Center is maintained to supplement and complement the fossil vertebrate collections of the world, and to advance both the mission of Cincinnati Museum Center and the science of vertebrate paleontology. The collection is the region's largest and most significant and serves as a major research and educational resource. It furthermore preserves a unique natural heritage as part of the public domain. The Vertebrate Paleontology Department uses the collection for research and, in close cooperation with other Museum staff, to develop educational programs and exhibits. The collection allows the Museum to play an active role in the vertebrate paleontological community by encouraging and facilitating research and exhibitions, and enhances the Department’s ability to provide professional services to, and scholarly interaction with, colleagues and students. The collection is particularly strong in local Pleistocene and Holocene fossils, including material from Big Bone Lick, Kentucky (the birthplace of American vertebrate paleontology), and microvertebrate and other remains from Sheriden Pit (Wyandot County, Ohio). Growing strengths include collections of the Devonian and Pennsylvanian of Ohio, the Mississippian of Kentucky, the marine Triassic of Nevada, the marine Cretaceous of Kansas, and the continental Mesozoic of the US Western Interior, particularly from the Morrison and Hell Creek formations. The acquisition of the University of Minnesota collection has added many microvertebrates from Montana’s Bug Creek Anthills and nearby localities, as well as other historic vertebrate fossil specimens.