Vertebrate Paleontology

The Yale Peabody Museum vertebrate fossil collections are worldwide in scope. In addition to holdings of over 55,000 catalogued specimens, in 1985 the Division of Vertebrate Paleontology acquired Princeton University’s fossil vertebrate collection of some 15,000 catalogued specimens.

The core of Yale’s collection owes its existence to the efforts of Othniel Charles Marsh. In the early 1870s, Marsh himself led expeditions to the western United States that amassed historically — and scientifically — important collections of fossil mammals, mosasaurs, pterosaurs and toothed birds. The Peabody’s famous dinosaur and Mesozoic mammal collections were made later by such notables as Arthur Lakes, Benjamin Mudge, William Reed, John Bell Hatcher, O.A. Peterson, Sam Smith, and Samuel Wendell Williston. Even George Wieland, of cycadeoid fame, collected vertebrate fossils for Marsh in the late 1890s, including the Peabody’s giant sea turtle, Archelon.

The collection continued to grow under Marsh’s successors: Richard Swann Lull, Malcolm R. Thorpe, G. Edward Lewis, J.T. Gregory, Elwyn Simons, and most recently, John H. Ostrom have all added significant collections to the museum.

The Division maintains a large archive of field notes, maps, photographs and correspondence, as well as the Marsh–Lull Reprint Library of publications from the late 1700s to the present.

The Princeton Collection houses an important Paleocene mammal collection from Wyoming, a significant collection of lower vertebrates and tracks from the East Coast of the United States and Canada, and an unusual collection of Devonian fishes from Wyoming collected by Erling Dorf. It is famous for several especially noteworthy specimens, including beautifully preserved sabre-toothed cat skulls, one of the earliest and most complete fossil bats, a Green River fish slab with one fish devouring the other, and the original “baby” Maiasaura material. There are also important collections of Miocene mammals from Patagonia, and Oligocene mammals from Bolivia.

The Yale Peabody Museum’s collections are available to legitimate researchers for scholarly use. Loans are issued to responsible individuals at established institutions. Loans and access to the collection can be arranged through the Collections Manager.

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Mailing Address

Division of Vertebrate Paleontology
Peabody Museum of Natural History
Yale University
P.O. Box 208118
New Haven, CT 06520-8118 USA

Shipping Address

Division of Vertebrate Paleontology
Peabody Museum of Natural History
Yale University
170–210 Whitney Avenue
New Haven, CT 06511 USA
 
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