The Department of Vertebrate Paleontology holds approximately 15,000 specimens in its collection, including fish—primarily placoderms and sharks; amphibians; and reptiles, including dinosaurs, marine reptiles and pterosaurs.
Access to the collection is free to all qualified investigators for non-commercial use. For more information, contact the
collection manager.
Collection Highlights
Among the collection are these notable specimens, on exhibit at the Museum:
Dunkleosteus terrelli
One of the fiercest creatures from the Devonian “Age of Fishes,” this predator measured up to 20 feet and two tons. It is named for Dr. David Dunkle, former curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Museum.
Haplocanthosaurus delfsi
This massive plant-eating sauropod from the Late Jurassic was discovered by a Museum team in 1954 in Red Canyon, Colorado, and is the only known adult specimen of its kind that is complete enough to display in its entirety.
Nanotyrannus lancensis
This skull belongs to a juvenile tyrannosaurid. Some scientists believe that represents a juvenile
Tyrannosaurus rex, while others believe it to be the separate taxon,
Nanotyrannus. It was discovered in Montana in 1942 by Museum Curator Dr. David Dunkle, in the Late Cretaceous Lance Formation of Montana.
Coelophysis bauri
From the Late Triassic, this is the Museum’s oldest dinosaur at approximately 225 million years old. It is the most complete mount of its kind in the world and required nine years of painstaking preparation before going on display in 2001.