The fossil collections of the Section of Vertebrate Paleontology are accessible for qualified scientists who wish to use the collections for research. Please arrange your visit with the curatorial staff in advance.  Contact Alan Tabrum for visits to mammal fossils, and Amy Henrici for visits to non-mammal fossils.

The collection of fossil vertebrates at Carnegie Museum of Natural History is the fourth largest in North America. It currently has more than 103,000 specimens from the Silurian to the Pleistocene with a worldwide geographical distribution, and is still growing at a healthy pace. This diverse collection boasts specimens representing all vertebrate classes, including 376 type specimens, such as that of Tyrannosaurus rex. This extensive record of the extinct vertebrates offers fascinating insight into the history of the earth and its biota, and has inestimable scientific value.

This outstanding fossil vertebrate collection has been accumulated by more than 100 years of field work by the Vertebrate Paleontology staff and acquisition by the Museum. It began in 1895 with the sponsorship of Mr. Andrew Carnegie. In the early 20th century, the Carnegie Corporation supported the Museum’s numerous expeditions to the American West, building one of the best dinosaur collections in the world. More recent efforts by the Carnegie staff have concentrated on collecting mammals of the Cenozoic and tetrapods and amniotes of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic. These field expeditions and the curation of fossil collections have been supported by the National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, American Chemical Society, L. S. B. Leaky Foundation, and the M. Graham Netting Fund of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Collection facilities have been completely renovated since 1992 through grants from the National Science Foundation. Most specimens are housed in fireproof and secure metal cabinets. User-friendly compactors have been installed to conserve space and allow easy access to all specimens. The collection database has been computerized and the catalogue can be searched electronically. The catalogue will soon be put online on this World Wide Web page.

Other Highlights of the Vertebrate Fossil Collections

• Permian and Pennsylvanian fishes, amphibians and reptiles of the southwestern United States and the Dunkard Basin in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.
• Bony (Osteichthyes, Acanthodii) and cartilaginous (Chondrichthyes) fishes of the Mississippian of Montana.
• Permian reptiles (ancestral plesiosaurs and others) from Madagascar.
• Jurassic dinosaurs, especially sauropods, of Utah and Wyoming, the finest in the world—a discovery that led to the creation of Dinosaur National Monument of Utah.
• Jurassic bony fishes and reptiles (pterosaurs, rhynchocephalians, and chelonians) from Bavaria and France, and Eocene teleost fishes from Monte Bolca, Italy—the best collections of these fossil vertebrates in the Western Hemisphere.
• Eocene mammals, reptiles, and amphibians from central Wyoming and Utah—among the best in the world.
• Late Eocene and Oligocene vertebrates, especially mammals, from the Sage Creek, Three Forks, and Kishenehn basins of western Montana.
• Miocene vertebrates from western Nebraska, a site now preserved as Agate Springs Fossil Beds National Monument.
• Miocene mammals from Montana—the best from this time and area.
• Miocene mammals from Samos, Greece—the finest surviving collection from this locality.
• Pleistocene vertebrates of the Appalachian region.
• High-altitude Rocky Mountain Pleistocene cave faunas.