Buena Vista Museum of Natural History & Science

Last updated
Buena Vista Museum of
Natural History & Science
Buena Vista Museum Exterior.jpg
Buena Vista Museum Exterior from Chester Ave.
Buena Vista Museum of Natural History & Science
Established1995 (1995)
Location Bakersfield, California
Coordinates 35°22′39″N119°01′06″W / 35.3776°N 119.0184°W / 35.3776; -119.0184
Type Natural history museum
Public transit access GET Rt. 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 14 (Downtown Transit Center)
Website www.sharktoothhill.org

The Buena Vista Museum of Natural History & Science is a natural history museum in Bakersfield, California. It is located downtown in the Arts district. The museum focuses on three areas: geology, anthropology, and paleontology. [1]

Contents

History

The museum was founded in 1995. The museum was centered on the Bob and Mary Ernst Collection of Miocene fossils from Shark Tooth Hill (in Kern County). It is the largest collection of Miocene fossils from that location. [2] Originally the museum was housed out of a small space in the California Living Museum (CALM). The collection would continue to grow, encompassing areas outside of Kern County. Because of the growth, the museum would move several times before arriving at the current location in downtown.

Description

The centerpiece of the museum is the Mary Ernst Collection of Miocene fossils from Shark Tooth Hill. Other exhibits include: collection of taxidermy animals from Africa, replica of a triceratops skull, replica of a yokuts Indian village, and a model of Yosemite Valley complete with roads, buildings, and trails. Several of these items are not owned by museum, but are on long term loan. The museum also contains an interactive section known as the "Oh Zone". There is also a Paleo Lab, which is equipped to clean, repair, preserve, and reconstruct fossils and other artifacts. [3]

Related Research Articles

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Carcharodon is a genus of sharks within the family Lamnidae, colloquially called the "white sharks." The only extant member is the great white shark. The extant species was preceded by a number of fossil (extinct) species including C. hubbelli and C. hastalis. The first appearance of the genus may have been as early as the Early Miocene or Late Oligocene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megalodon</span> Extinct giant shark species from 23 to 3.6 million years ago

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<i>Pelagiarctos</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

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<i>Livyatan</i> Extinct genus of sperm whale from the Miocene epoch

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<i>Carcharodon hubbelli</i> Extinct species of shark

Carcharodon hubbelli, also known as Hubbell's white shark, is an extinct species of white shark that evolved between 8 and 5 million years ago during the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene epochs. This shark is a transitional species, showing intermediate features between the extant great white shark and the fossil white shark, Carcharodon hastalis. C. hubbelli appears to be geographically restricted to the Pacific Ocean, with fossils of C. hubbelli recovered from Peru, Chile, California, and New Zealand. This exclusive distribution suggests a Pacific origin for the great white shark.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capistrano Formation</span> Geologic formation in coastal southern Orange County, California

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<i>Cosmopolitodus</i> Extinct genus of mackerel shark

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<i>Alopias palatasi</i> Extinct species of shark

Alopias palatasi, commonly referred to as the serrated giant thresher, is an extinct species of giant thresher shark that lived approximately 20.44 to 13.7 million years ago during the Miocene epoch, and is known for its uniquely serrated teeth. It is only known from such isolated teeth, which are large and can measure up to an excess of 4 centimetres (2 in), equating to a size rivaling the great white shark, but are rare and found in deposits in the East Coast of the United States and Malta. Teeth of A. palatasi are strikingly similar to those of the giant thresher Alopias grandis, and the former has been considered as a variant of the latter in the past. Scientists hypothesized that A. palatasi may have had attained lengths comparable with the great white shark and a body outline similar to it.

References

  1. Home Page. Buena Vista Museum of Natural History & Science. Accessed: 03-27-2011.
  2. Shark Tooth Hill. Buena Vista Museum of Natural History & Science. Accessed: 03-27-2011.
  3. Paleo Lab. Buena Vista Museum of Natural History & Science. Accessed: 03-27-2011.