Fossils

The Museum’s collection of fossils is wide-ranging, from invertebrate Trilobites from the Ordovician period (450 mya) to Triceratop vertebrae from the Cretaceous period (150 mya) to Mammoth bones from the ‘recent’ past, the Middle Pleistocene (735,000 years ago) or the Ice Age. Riverbluff Cave, under property acquired by the Missouri Institute of Natural Science is a rich source of fossils from the Pleistocene Epoch and you can see many fossils from this Cave in our exhibits. In the middle of the Cambrian period (544-505 mya) all of Missouri was under a shallow ‘ocean’. Geologists estimate the depth of this sea to be around 500-600 feet. Since the American landmass at that time was very close to the earth’s equator, this ocean had very warm waters. Cambrian fossils from ancient Missouri are mostly Trilobites and Brachiopods, and the museum has many specimens of these fossils. The Museum’s Invertebrate fossil collection includes Baculites, Cephalopods, Echinoids and Ammonites. Corals and Stromatolites give you a peek into the wide world of invertebrates. Vertebrate fossils include fossil bones from a Hadrosaur, Pterosaur, Triceratops, Mastodon, Mammoth, and Gomphothere.