Meteorite-surviving crab genus now contains species honoring Nick Saban
Carapace of the new, ~65-million-year-old crab Costacopluma nicksabani. Photo: Dr. Adiel Klompmaker| Research & Collections
Month: September 2025| collections.museums.ua.edu
Carapace of the new, ~65-million-year-old crab Costacopluma nicksabani. Photo: Dr. Adiel Klompmaker| Research & Collections
Much of Alabama’s prehistory would be unknown, if it were not for the activities by avocational (or amateur/hobby) paleontologists. As defined here, these are people who do not have a degree in paleontology and do not have a paid job in this field. People interested in fossils often join one of the two paleontological societies in the state. The Alabama Paleontological Society (APS) is one of the two societies and has been in existence since 2003. Jointly, members of the [...]| Research & Collections
“Alabama Fossil Fest”, hosted by the Alabama Museum of Natural History (ALMNH) and UA Museums’ Department of Museum Research and Collections, is a free and perfect opportunity to explore paleontology! Visit Smith Hall on The University of Alabama campus on Saturday, September 20, 2025, from 1:00 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. for a tabling event, the Alabama Avocational Paleontologist Award presentation, exciting talks by Drs. Ron Buta and David Schwimmer, a new exhibit unveiling, and hands-on le...| Research & Collections
On July 26, 2025, Dr. John Friel (Director, Alabama Museum of Natural History) found a tooth of a hadrosaur, more commonly known as a duck-billed dinosaur, on a gravel bar in a creek in Greene County, Alabama. Hadrosaurs were among the most dominant herbivores during the Late Cretaceous Period in Asia and North America. The fossil site that the Alabama Museum of Natural History visits is a beautiful creek on private property that yields fossils from a part of the [...]| Research & Collections
While the Alabama Museum of Natural History houses UA’s public-facing collection of natural history specimens and exhibits, a much larger collection resides nearby in the Alabama Museum of Natural History Collections. It is to these shelves that many of the donated specimens collected during fossil hunts go. Dr. John Abbott is not only UA’s resident dragonfly expert, but he is also the chief curator and director of the Department of Museum Research and Collections. Alongside three othe...| Research & Collections
Cyclida are an enigmatic, extinct group of crustaceans. They lived in the oceans from the Carboniferous Period till the end of the Cretaceous Period (~360 – 66 million years ago). How they relate to other groups of crustaceans has been debated for more than a century. Cyclids are small (mostly < 2 cm) and thus hard to recognize. As a result, this group remains understudied in terms of diversity (55 species only) and ecology. Smaller individuals may have been parasites, [...]| Research & Collections
Predation can be seen everywhere today, but it is much more difficult to detect for ancient ecosystems. The majority of attacks are recorded by trace fossils, a separate category of fossils showing animal behavior. These trace fossils are usually preserved within the remains of the prey. Common examples are bite marks on bones, drill holes in mollusk shells, and repair scars in mollusks. Ammonites, very common but now extinct cephalopod mollusks distantly related to modern-day Nautilus, were ...| Research & Collections
Alabama’s National Fossil Day is back this year with an afternoon full of activities on Saturday November 2nd on the University of Alabama campus! The theme of this year are Dinosaurs. Watch a free dinosaur documentary, ask your questions during a Q&A session, come to the exciting tabling event with lots of fossils including true dinosaur fossils, and see the presentation of the 2024 Alabama Avocational Paleontologist Award. This event is presented by The University of Alabama Museums and...| Research & Collections
Crinoids or sea lilies are a member of the phylum Echinodermata, a group that also includes sea cucumbers, sea urchins, sea stars, and brittle stars. Most crinoids live on the bottom of the ocean where they filter the water for plankton and other particles to eat, whereas others swim in search for food. They are commonly found in Mississippian rocks in northern Alabama. As crinoids are also abundant in marine rocks elsewhere during the Mississippian, this subperiod is often referred [...]| Research & Collections
Since its inception in 2020, the Alabama Avocational Paleontologist Award (ALAP Award) has been handed out each year based on a variety of criteria. This award honors an individual or a group of individuals whose contributions to Alabama paleontology have been exceptional. The recipient of the 2024 ALAP Award is the Birmingham Paleontological Society (BPS). The BPS is the oldest paleontological society in Alabama and has been in existence for 40 years as of September. “The award committee c...| Research & Collections
Fossil decapod crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters, and shrimps, have an extensive but understudied fossil record of close to 4,000 species. They originated in the Devonian, but did not become diverse until the Jurassic when they diversified in reef environments and in other environments subsequently. They all share five pairs of legs or 10 in total (hence deca-poda) and two pairs of antennae, but differ vastly across species in many other aspects such as the morphology of the carapace (or sh...| Research & Collections
Alabama Paleontological Society to receive the 2025 Alabama Avocational Paleontologist Award| collections.museums.ua.edu
The Alabama Avocational Paleontologist Award honors an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the field of paleontology in Alabama. This person is an avocational (amateur) paleontologist defined here as someone who does not have a formal education in paleontology and does not have a paid job in this field. The individual does not necessarily have to live in Alabama. In rare cases, the award may be offered to groups of people. This annual award is made available by UA Museums’ ...| Research & Collections
History| Research & Collections
Field Station of the University of Alabama Museums| Research & Collections
On Saturday, March 26, a class field trip was scheduled for students enrolled in the undergraduate Paleontology & Society course offered through the selective Blount Scholars Program at the University of Alabama. The classic fossil locality Harrell Station Paleontological Site in Dallas County was the destination of this trip. Here, Cretaceous-aged (~82 million-year-old) marls of the Mooreville Chalk are exposed in a series of gullies on this 132.5 acre property owned by The University of Ala...| Research & Collections
