Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology

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Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology
Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology.jpg
Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology
Established1968
Location Claremont, California
Coordinates 34°07′25″N117°44′20″W / 34.123545°N 117.738898°W / 34.123545; -117.738898
Type Natural history museum
DirectorAndrew Farke, PhD
CuratorMairin Balisi, PhD
Website alfmuseum.org

The Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology is a paleontology museum in Claremont, California, that is part of The Webb Schools. It is the only nationally accredited museum on a secondary school campus in the United States. [1] The museum has two circular 4,000 sq. ft. exhibition halls and 20,000 unique annual visitors. The collections number about 140,000 specimens, 95% of which were found by Webb students on fossil-collecting trips called “Peccary Trips,” expeditions usually centered in California, Utah, and Montana. The collections consist primarily of vertebrate, invertebrate, and track fossils and the museum's large track collection is widely recognized as one of the most diverse in the world. [2]

Contents

The museum has six full-time staff, two of whom are research paleontologists who conduct research with Webb students in a specialized curriculum through The Webb Schools' Science Department. [3] [4]

History

In 1929, nationally acclaimed sprinter Raymond Alf arrived in Los Angeles to run for the L.A. Track Club. After the track season ended, Alf found a job teaching science at the Webb School of California, a boarding school on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Alf's paleontology career unofficially began in 1935, when he spotted a fossil horse jaw at a photo shop and learned that it was found near Barstow. Intrigued, Alf then gathered Webb students and went in search of fossils in the Barstow desert. On that first trip, Bill Webb, son of the Webb School's founder Thompson Webb, found a fossil skull. Alf and Bill Webb took the specimen to Chester Stock, a paleontologist from the California Institute of Technology, who identified it as a new species of Miocene-age peccary. [5] Inspired by the discovery of "Dyseohys fricki", Alf began the long-standing museum tradition of leading summer and weekend paleontology expeditions (known as Peccary Trips) for Webb students to fossil-rich areas in the western United States.

On the first Summer Peccary trip in Nebraska in 1937, Alf met Professor John Clark from the University of Colorado who encouraged Alf to become a paleontologist. Alf took a sabbatical and completed his master's degree in geology at the University of Colorado in a single academic year. When he returned to Webb to teach, Alf added paleontology into his biology curriculum and established a small museum in the basement of the school's library. Alf's enthusiasm for paleontology was unrelenting and throughout the 1950s and 1960s he led hundreds of peccary trips. Consequently, the student paleontology program at Webb became a school tradition. [6] Spurred by Alf's inspirational teaching, a number of Webb students became distinguished paleontologists, including the late Malcolm McKenna [7] (Class of 1948, Columbia University/ Frick Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History) and Dwight Taylor [8] (Class of 1949, he was one of the world's foremost malacologists, specializing in gastropods), as well as David Webb [9] (Class of 1953, retired Curator of Paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History), and Daniel Fisher [10] (Class of 1967, currently a curator at the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan).

By the mid-1960s a larger space was needed to house the collections made by Alf and his students. Thus, in 1968, a new two-story circular facility was built and named in honor of Ray Alf. This facility, originally known as the Raymond M. Alf Museum, is still in use today, although the museum is now named the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology in accordance with its mission which is focused solely on paleontology.

Exhibits

Hall of Life

The Hall of Life, renovated in 2011, is located on the museum's upper floor and provides an overview of the history of life on earth. Modeled after a time spiral, the hall illustrates the evolution of beings, from the first record of life through human civilization. On display are ancient single-celled and multicellular organisms, as well as fossilized invertebrates, including a cast of the world's largest trilobite. Dinosaurs are represented by casts of skulls ( Diabloceratops , Gryposaurus , Nanotyrannus , Pachycephalosaurus , Tyrannosaurus rex ), and skeletons of Allosaurus and Centrosaurus , among others. A large collection of fossil mammals from North America, including saber toothed cats, brontotheres, and three-toed horses is also featured. The exhibit ends with a series of temporary displays which show the results of recently completed research projects of museum staff and Webb students. Currently on temporary display is “Baby Joe”, a young Parasaurolophus discovered in 2009 by students in the Kaiparowits Formation in southern Utah. [11] [12]

Hall of Footprints

The Hall of Footprints, unlike the former, it is the largest section with a diversity of fossil footprints collections that are on display in the United States of America. The display has a variety of collections such as track-ways and tracks that are made dinosaurs, camels, spiders and elephants. There are more of skeletons of camel, giant bear-dog, whose skeletons are all complete. These skeletons are mounted on top of it track-way for fossil. The display of all these fossil collections puts the museum on top in the track collection as the most fundamental legacy of life history store.

Research activities

Student research

The Raymond Alf Museum of Paleontology acts as a unique resource for students of The Webb Schools as they have the opportunity to function as actual paleontologists through hands-on field, lab, and class-based activities. In addition to collecting important fossils on peccary trips, Webb students are involved in all steps of the scientific process including removal from encasing rock and eventual study in the museum's capstone science course, Honors Advanced Museum Research. With access to a fully equipped and modern research lab, students do original research on the fossils they find in collaboration with museum staff, and publish their results in peer reviewed scientific journals. Webb students also attend regional and international paleontology conferences to present their research and interact with scientists from all over the world.

Peccary trips

Since the late 1930s, fossil collecting trips for Webb students have been known as Peccary Trips. During the academic year, most Peccary Trips are centered on Southern California locales, like the Barstow and Goler formations in the Mojave Desert. [13] On these trips, students learn collection techniques such as prospecting, quarrying, and screen-washing.

Every year since 1937, the museum has offered a Summer Peccary Trip for Webb students, co-led by Museum Director Dr. Don Lofgren and Augustyn Family Curator of Paleontology Dr. Andrew Farke. This expedition leads students to collect fossils in remote areas of Utah [14] and Montana. Presently, the museum summer field research is centered on projects in the Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah [15] and the Renova Formation of southwest Montana.

Paleontology classes

As part of the freshman science curriculum, every Webb student learns the basics of the geological time, evolution, and other processes that shape our planet. In advanced paleontology electives, Honors Advanced Study in Paleontology and Honors Museum Research, students acquire the scientific background necessary to work with fossils, as they learn how museums procure, curate, exhibit, and identify fossils. Also, they are given mini research projects, which involve the review of relevant scientific literature, as well as analysis and interpretation of paleontological data. In the Honors Advanced Museum Research course (for juniors and seniors), students work on a project under the supervision of Museum Director Dr. Lofgren or Augustyn Family Curator of Paleontology Dr. Farke. Student research projects result in significant contributions to knowledge and are usually published in regional or internationals scientific journals. Since 2008, Webb students have been primary or secondary authors in more than 10 peer-reviewed scientific articles. [16] [17]

Peccary Society

The Peccary Society is the exploration and research arm of the museum and includes alumni of The Webb Schools, current students, and museum friends and supporters. The Peccary Society was named in honor of the peccary skull found by Bill Webb ’39 in 1936. For decades, Alf shared his interest in paleontology with Webb students and those who accompanied him on peccary trips were the earliest members of the Peccary Society. This interest in fossil collecting has never waned, as current Webb students still accompany museum staff on peccary trips and thus are vested as members of a unique club, the Peccary Society. For members of the Peccary Society, the museum offers international peccary trips to Mongolia, China, and Madagascar and also hosts the annual Peccary Society Dinner at which alumni and friends gather to celebrate the museum's continued success.

Collections

The Raymond Alf Museum of Paleontology acts as a center for paleontological education and research by maintaining and expanding its collection of over 140,000 specimens. The museum is home to eighteen holotypes, most notably the hadrosaur Gryposaurus monumentensis, [18] the ancient horse Megahippus mckennai, and the ancient ungulate Goleroconus alfi. Notable ichnotypes include the arachnid Octopodichnus raymondi and the bear-dog Hirpexipes alfi. Study of the museum’s collections or loan of specimens may be arranged by contacting the Augustyn Family Curator of Paleontology, Dr. Andrew Farke.

Educational outreach

The museum offers daily tours of its exhibits to school groups. Special hands-on learning activities are offered to the public on Family Science Discovery Days, which occur on the second Saturday of each month. Each family day features a different topic with learning stations and related crafts. Past themes have included "Ancient Sea Life", "Mighty Dinosaurs", and "The Ice Age". The museum also hosts an annual "Fossil Fest", an event that celebrates the excitement of paleontology through hands-on learning for visitors of all ages. Festivities include behind-the-scenes tours of the museum's laboratory, crafts for children, and talks by staff paleontologists which highlight recent museum research projects. The museum also makes available “classroom fossil kits” that include fossils and fossil replicas that can be borrowed by teachers from local schools for their classroom use.

Related Research Articles

<i>Parasaurolophus</i> Hadrosaurid ornithopod dinosaur genus from Late Cretaceous Period

Parasaurolophus is a genus of hadrosaurid "duck-billed" dinosaur that lived in what is now western North America and possibly Asia during the Late Cretaceous period, about 76.9–73.5 million years ago. It was a large herbivore that could reach over 9 metres (30 ft) long and weigh over 5 metric tons, and were able to move as a biped and a quadruped. Three species are universally recognized: P. walkeri, P. tubicen, and the short-crested P. cyrtocristatus. Additionally, a fourth species, P. jiayinensis, has been proposed, although it is more commonly placed in the separate genus Charonosaurus. Remains are known from Alberta, New Mexico, and Utah, as well as possibly Heilongjiang if Charonosaurus is in fact part of the genus. The genus was first described in 1922 by William Parks from a skull and partial skeleton found in Alberta.

<i>Gryposaurus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Gryposaurus was a genus of duckbilled dinosaur that lived about 80 to 75 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous of North America. Named species of Gryposaurus are known from the Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta, Canada, and two formations in the United States: the Lower Two Medicine Formation in Montana and the Kaiparowits Formation of Utah. A possible additional species from the Javelina Formation in Texas may extend the temporal range of the genus to 66 million years ago.

<i>Kritosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Kritosaurus is an incompletely known genus of hadrosaurid (duck-billed) dinosaur. It lived about 74.5-66 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous of North America. The name means "separated lizard", but is often mistranslated as "noble lizard" in reference to the presumed "Roman nose".

<i>Hagryphus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Hagryphus is a monospecific genus of caenagnathid dinosaur from southern Utah that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now the Kaiparowits Formation of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument. The type and only species, Hagryphus giganteus, is known only from an incomplete but articulated left manus and the distal portion of the left radius. It was named in 2005 by Lindsay E. Zanno and Scott D. Sampson. Hagryphus has an estimated length of 2.4–3 metres and weight of 50 kilograms.

James Ian Kirkland is an American paleontologist and geologist. He has worked with dinosaur remains from the southwest United States of America and Mexico and has been responsible for discovering new and important genera. He named Animantarx, Cedarpelta, Eohadrosaurus, Jeyawati, Gastonia, Mymoorapelta, Nedcolbertia, Utahraptor, Zuniceratops, Europelta and Diabloceratops. At the same site where he found Gastonia and Utahraptor, Kirkland has also excavated fossils of the therizinosaur Falcarius.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Webb Schools</span> Private preparatory schools in California

The Webb Schools are private schools for grades 9–12, founded by Thompson Webb, located in Claremont, California. Up until 2022, it was separated into The Webb School of California for boys and the Vivian Webb School for girls. It is primarily a boarding school, but also enrolls a limited number of day students. The Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology is a part of Webb.

The Kaiparowits Formation is a sedimentary rock formation found in the Kaiparowits Plateau in Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, in the southern part of Utah in the western United States. It is over 2800 feet thick, and is Campanian in age. This Upper Cretaceous formation was formed from alluvial floodplains of large rivers in coastal southern Laramidia; sandstone beds are the deposit of rivers, and mudstone beds represent floodplain deposits. It is fossiliferous, with most specimens from the lower half of the formation, but exploration is only comparatively recent, with most work being done since 1982. It has been estimated that less than 10% of the Kaiparowits formation has been explored for fossils. The Natural History Museum of Utah has conducted most fieldwork.

<i>Velafrons</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

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<i>Diabloceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Diabloceratops is an extinct genus of centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur that lived approximately 81.4-81 million years ago during the latter part of the Cretaceous Period in what is now Utah, in the United States. Diabloceratops was a medium-sized, moderately built, ground-dwelling, quadrupedal herbivore, that could grow up to an estimated 4.5 metres (15 ft) in length and 1.3 metric tons in body mass. At the time of its discovery, it was the oldest-known ceratopsid, and first centrosaurine known from latitudes south of the U.S. state of Montana. The generic name Diabloceratops means "devil-horned face," coming from Diablo, Spanish for "devil," and ceratops, Latinized Greek for "horned face." The specific name honors Jeffrey Eaton, a paleontologist at Weber State University and long time friend of the lead author Jim Kirkland. Eaton had a big role in establishing the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument where the specimen was found. The type species, Diabloceratops eatoni, was named and described in 2010 by James Ian Kirkland and Donald DeBlieux.

<i>Utahceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Utahceratops is an extinct genus of ceratopsian dinosaur that lived approximately 76.4~75.5 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now Utah. Utahceratops was a large-sized, robustly-built, ground-dwelling, quadrupedal herbivore, that could grow up to an estimated 4.5–5 m (15–16 ft) long.

<i>Kosmoceratops</i> Dinosaur genus from the Late Cretaceous period

Kosmoceratops is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur that lived in North America about 76–75.9 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. Specimens were discovered in Utah in the Kaiparowits Formation of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument in 2006 and 2007, including an adult skull and postcranial skeleton and partial subadults. In 2010, the adult was made the holotype of the new genus and species Kosmoceratops richardsoni; the generic name means "ornate horned face", and the specific name honors Scott Richardson, who found the specimens. The find was part of a spate of ceratopsian discoveries in the early 21st century, and Kosmoceratops was considered significant due to its elaborate skull ornamentation.

<i>Teratophoneus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

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<i>Acristavus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Acristavus is a genus of saurolophine dinosaur. Fossils have been found from the Campanian Two Medicine Formation in Montana and Wahweap Formation in Utah, United States. The type species A. gagslarsoni was named in 2011. Unlike nearly all hadrosaurids except Edmontosaurus, Acristavus lacked ornamentation on its skull. The discovery of Acristavus is paleontologically significant because it supports the position that the ancestor of all hadrosaurids did not possess cranial ornamentation, and that ornamentation was an adaptation that later arose interdependently in the subfamilies Saurolophinae and Lambeosaurinae. It is closely related to Brachylophosaurus and Maiasaura, and was assigned to a new clade called Brachylophosaurini.

<i>Nasutoceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Nasutoceratops is genus of ceratopsid dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous period, about 76.0–75.5 million years ago. The first known specimens were discovered in Utah in the Kaiparowits Formation of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument (GSENM) from 2006 onwards, including a subadult skull with a partial postcranial skeleton and rare skin impressions and two other partial skulls. In 2013, the subadult was made the holotype of the new genus and species Nasutoceratops titusi; the generic name means "large-nosed horned face", and the specific name honors the paleontologist Alan L. Titus for his work at the GSENM. The dinosaur was noted for its large nose in news reports, and later featured in Jurassic World films.

Talos is an extinct genus of carnivorous bird-like theropod dinosaur, an advanced troodontid which lived during the late Cretaceous period in the geographic area that is now Utah, United States.

<i>Lythronax</i> Genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period

Lythronax is a genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur that lived in North America around 81.9-81.5 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. The only known specimen was discovered in Utah in the Wahweap Formation of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument in 2009, and it consists of a partial skull and skeleton. In 2013, it became the basis of the new genus and species Lythronax argestes; the generic name Lythronax means "gore king", and the specific name argestes originates from the Greek poet Homer's name for the wind from the southwest, in reference to the specimen's geographic provenance in North America.

<i>Machairoceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Machairoceratops, previously known as the "Wahweap centrosaurine B", is an extinct genus of centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous Wahweap Formation of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, southern Utah, United States.

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<i>Akainacephalus</i> Ankylosaurid dinosaur genus from Late Cretaceous Utah

Akainacephalus is a monospecific genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur from southern Utah that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now the Horse Mountain Gryposaur Quarry of the Kaiparowits Formation. The type and only species, Akainacephalus johnsoni, is known from the most complete ankylosaur specimen ever discovered from southern Laramidia, including a complete skull, tail club, a number of osteoderms, limb elements and part of its pelvis, among other remains. It was described in 2018 by Jelle P. Wiersma and Randall B. Irmis. It is closely related and shares similar cranial anatomy to Nodocephalosaurus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Dunkle</span> American paleontologist and biologist

David Hosbrook Dunkle was an American paleontologist. Dunkle was curator of vertebrate paleontology for the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and later associate curator for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

References

  1. ↑ "New Director Appointed at Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology, Current Director Transitions to Emeritus". PR Newswire . Jan 8, 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  2. ↑ Lofgren, Donald (2006). "Fossil Tracks at the Raymond Alf Museum of Paleontology and Management of Tracks on Public Lands" (PDF). Fossils from Federal Lands, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. 34. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  3. ↑ Bhanoo, Sindya (28 October 2013). "Student Uncovers Baby Dinosaur Specimen". New York Times. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  4. ↑ Mohan, Geoffrey (22 October 2013). "High school student found youngest, most complete crested dinosaur fossil". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  5. ↑ Stock, Chester (1937). "A Peccary Skull from the Barstow Miocene, California" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 23 (7): 398–404. Bibcode:1937PNAS...23..398S. doi: 10.1073/pnas.23.7.398 . PMC   1076948 . PMID   16588172.
  6. ↑ "About Us". 2015-02-25.
  7. ↑ Bell, Susan (2004). "Malcolm C. McKenna: A Biography and Bibliography" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 285: 10–24. doi:10.1206/0003-0090(2004)285<0011:C>2.0.CO;2.
  8. ↑ Kabat, Alan; Johnson, Richard (2008). "Dwight Willard Taylor (1932–2006): His Life And Malacological Research". Malacologia. 50 (1): 175–218. doi:10.4002/0076-2997-50.1.175. S2CID   85307629.
  9. ↑ MacFadden, Bruce (2005). "S. David Webb- Paleontologist, Scholar, and Colleague" (PDF). Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History. 45 (4): 129–141.
  10. ↑ "Daniel Fisher | Museum of Paleontology | University of Michigan". www.lsa.umich.edu. Archived from the original on 2013-04-18.
  11. ↑ Farke, Andrew; Chok, Derek; Herrero, Annisa; Scolieri, Brandon; Werning, Sarah (2013). "Ontogeny in the tube-crested dinosaur Parasaurolophus (Hadrosauridae) and heterochrony in hadrosaurids". PeerJ. 1: e182. doi: 10.7717/peerj.182 . PMC   3807589 . PMID   24167777.
  12. ↑ "Joe the Dinosaur".
  13. ↑ Lofgren, Donald; Anand, Rajsavi (2011). "Partial skull of Zygolophodon (Mammalia, Proboscidea) from the Barstow Formation of California". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (6): 1392–1396. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.605192. S2CID   86845027.
  14. ↑ Titus, Alan (2013). At the Top of the Grand Staircase: The Late Cretaceous of Southern Utah. Indiana University Press. ISBN   9780253008961.
  15. ↑ Farke, Andrew; Patel, Priyanka (2012). "An enantiornithine bird from the Campanian Kaiparowits Formation of Utah, USA". Cretaceous Research. 37: 227–230. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2012.04.002.
  16. ↑ Zheng, Rachel; Farke, Andrew; Kim, Gy-Su (2011). "A Photographic Atlas of the Pes from a Hadrosaurine Hadrosaurid Dinosaur". PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology. 8 (7).
  17. ↑ Herrero, Lucia; Farke, Andrew (2010). "Hadrosaurid Dinosaur Skin Impressions from the Upper Cretaceous Kaiparowits Formation of Southern Utah, USA". PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology. 7 (2).
  18. ↑ "New Dinosaur Species, Gryposaurus Monumentensis, Unearthed In Utah". 3 October 2007.
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