Laboratory of Quaternary Paleontology

Director: Jim I. Mead
Preparator and Collections Manager: Sandra L. Swift

Fossil and Modern Comparative Collection

Fossils in this collection include non-National Park Service specimens. Over 14,000 specimens include resin casts of fossil Mesozoic and Cenozoic mammals, fossils from various projects on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service, the large collection from Kartchner Caverns State Park, modern and fossil terrestrial and aquatic mollusks from the Arid Southwest, modern and fossil dung and hair, and modern skeletons of amphibians, reptiles, and mammals from around the world. This collection is designed for teaching and research.

National Park Service Repository

The NPSR contains over 13,000 specimens and specimen-numbered bulk items from the following park units: Arches, Black Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Capital Reef, Canyonlands, Colorado, Dinosaur, Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon, Hovenweep, Mesa Verde, Natural Bridges, Oregon Caves, Pipe Springs, Wind Caves, and Zion. All specimens are curated and archived according to the regulations set forth by NPS.

The collections contain a variety of specimens including the unique finds such as dry-preserved mammoth dung, skulls of the extinct Harrington's mountain goat, dry-preserved dung of the extinct Shasta ground sloth, fossil condor skeletons, salamander bones, all housed in a secure room with some climate control. Many of the specimens curated in the collection cannot be found represented in any other North American museum. The NPSR contains some truly rare and unique specimens.

Support Areas

Matrix from various research and contract projects is screen-washed and air-dryed. Concentrate material is all handpicked with the aid of a microscope to permit the recovery of even the smallest of skeletal elements or snail shells. The comparative collection of modern skeletons is in constant growth with the rendering of frozen carcasses (zoo deaths, road-kills, pet trade deaths - all under permit). Fossil specimens are cleaned, repaired, and readied for archiving.

Student workers and volunteers learn all aspects of field paleontology, preparation, lab analyses, and museum care, which can be carried thru to their academic work and future employment. Most of the 26,000+ specimens archived in the LQP are relatively small in size and therefore adequately fit into the room, but this will be changing as the new, large research/middle school project in Mexico (hopefully beginning in 2002, Jim I. Mead) will uncover fossils of gomphotheres (elephant-like beasts), camels, horses, pronghorns, lizards, frogs, turtles, rodents, and other middle Pleistocene (Ice Age) animals.