CMC Cincinnati Museum Center Invertebrate Paleontology

The Invertebrate Paleontology Collection of the Cincinnati Museum Center is maintained to supplement and complement the major invertebrate fossil collections in North American museums and universities, and to advance both the mission of Cincinnati Museum Center and the science of invertebrate paleontology. The Invertebrate Paleontology Department uses the collection for research and, in close cooperation with other Museum staff, to develop educational programs and exhibits. The collection allows the Museum to play an active role in the invertebrate paleontological community by encouraging and facilitating research and exhibitions, and enhances the Department’s ability to provide professional services to, and scholarly interaction with, colleagues and students. The collection is particularly strong in Lower to Middle Paleozoic fossils of central North America. With a special emphasis on the Cincinnati Arch region of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, the Cincinnati Museum Center houses one of the best collections of Upper Ordovician fossils of the type Cincinnatian Series on national and international levels. To serve broader needs, the Invertebrate Department maintains collections representing historically and scientifically significant locations8 throughout the Phanerozoic Eon in North America, as well as notable locations around the world. The acquisition of the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State Geological Survey invertebrate collection further strengthens the collection geographically into the Upper Midwest, and stratigraphically into the Cambrian, with significant Ordovician components that complement our own local paleontology. The Invertebrate Department also houses a growing paleobotanical collection containing over 2,000 specimens, dominated by Paleozoic plants of the North American midcontinent. The dataset contains taxonomic, geographic, and stratigraphic data for over 90,000 specimen lots of major invertebrate phyla, including over 3,000 type specimens.