University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
The University of Iowa Museum of Natural History, founded in 1858, is a museum on the University of Iowa campus at Iowa City, Iowa. The museum is known for its extensive collection of birds, mammals, and Native American artifacts.[1] Major research collections include the Kallam Collection of prehistoric stone tools, the Talbot and Jones Bird Collections, the Frank Russell Collection of Inuit and Native Arctic artifacts, and a large collection from the Philippines from the 1904 World's Fair.
Museum of Natural History, Macbride Hall, University of Iowa | |
Established | 1858 |
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Location | 17 N Clinton St. University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa, US |
Type | Natural history museum |
Website | Official website |
The museum houses several galleries and exhibits. Iowa Hall covers 500 million years of Iowa's geological, cultural, and ecological history. Mammal Hall exhibits the adaptation and diversity of nearly every mammalian order, from the aardvark to the zebra. The Hageboeck Hall of Birds displays more than 1,000 specimens, including the historic Laysan Island Cyclorama.[2] The Diversity of Life exhibits describe major plant and animal groups, and the art of taxidermy. The newest gallery, the Biosphere Discovery Hub, investigates the complex relationships between culture and the environment.
Tarkio Valley sloths
From 2002 until 2010 the museum coordinated excavations of at least three Jefferson's ground sloths, Megalonyx jeffersonii, along the West Tarkio Creek near Shenandoah, Iowa.[3] Most recently, a fourth giant sloth of a different species, Paramylodon harlani, has been identified from the excavation site. This is the first confirmed specimen of Paramylodon to be discovered in Iowa.[4]
References
- "Our First Hundred Years". The University of Iowa Museum of Natural History. University of Iowa. Archived from the original on 2009-07-17. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
- "100 years of 'going to the birds' for UI Museum". Iowa Now. June 9, 2014. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
- "Project Summary". The Tarkio Valley Sloth Project. Archived from the original on 2009-01-01. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
- "Fourth Sloth Discovered". The Tarkio Valley Sloth Project. 8 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-06.