Carnegie Museum of Natural History - Paleobotany

The Paleobotany collection at Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CM) includes slightly over 16,000 cataloged specimens from all continents except Asia and that range in age from Precambrian to Late Cenozoic. There are 100 type specimens, of which 43 are holotypes. Fossil plants from the Late Paleozoic of the USA dominate the collection, and the majority of these are from Pennsylvania. The European portion of the collection is small but significant, and it includes fossil plants from numerous localities including Monte Bolca, Italy, for which CM has the largest holdings in the USA. Additionally, there are collections made by CM vertebrate paleontologists (e.g., Earl Douglass, J. LeRoy Kay) in conjunction with their collection of animal fossils from the western USA. Highlights are numerous fossils from various localities in the Paleogene Green River Formation of the western USA and two modest collections from Montana—Willow Creek, Fergus County (Late Cretaceous) and Bear Creek, Madison County (Cretaceous/Paleocene). The most recent additions to the collection are fossil plants from the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene of the Antarctic Peninsula. One caution in using this database is that many of the taxonomic identifications are antiquated and may need to be verified before use.