20-million-year-old tusked sea cow is Central America’s oldest marine mammal
Steven Manchester didn’t set out to discover Central America’s oldest known marine mammal. He was hoping to find fossil plants….Read More
Oldest-known ancestor of modern primates may have come from North America, not Asia
About 56 million years ago, on an Earth so warm that palm trees graced the Arctic Circle, a mouse-sized primate…Read More
Jonathan Bloch appointed chair of department of natural history
Jonathan Bloch has been appointed chair of the Florida Museum of Natural History department of natural history. In the new…Read More
Florida Museum doctoral student wins $15,000 scholarship
The Philanthropic Educational Organization Sisterhood (P.E.O.) has awarded a $15,000 scholarship to Natasha Vitek, a doctoral student in vertebrate paleontology…Read More
Fossils show ancient primates had grooming claws as well as nails
Humans and other primates are outliers among mammals for having nails instead of claws. But how, when and why we…Read More
NSF grant will improve digital access to museum vertebrate fossils
The Florida Museum of Natural History recently received a $500,000 collections grant from the National Science Foundation to improve online…Read More
Odd couple: Florida mouse, gopher tortoise have been rooming for centuries
The Florida mouse and gopher tortoise have been in a serious relationship for thousands of years. Theirs is a commensal…Read More
Calling aspiring fossil hunters: Levy County excavation opens to volunteers Oct. 5
Volunteers can channel their inner paleontologist by digging alongside museum scientists at the Florida Museum of Natural History’s Montbrook fossil…Read More
News: Saber-Tooth Cat Skull Find in Montbrook
A volunteer at our Montbrook dig site unearthed what appears to be a 5-million-year- old saber-tooth cat skull. Volunteer Bill…Read More
Searching for red pandas in an elephant graveyard
Elephant-like tusks. A toe bone of an ancient condor. Even a snapping turtle with a smaller turtle coming out of…Read More