Databases & Research Tools
The fossil vertebrate collection contains approximately 100,000 cataloged specimens and the collection continues to grow through the field research of the curator and their students as well as research associates of the Paleontology Section. Most of the collection was collected from the Rocky Mountain Region, with exceptional collections of Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, and Miocene-aged mammals. Faunal assemblages from the Denver, Ft. Union, DeBeque, Wasatch, Willwood, Bridger, White River, and Troublesome Formations are especially well represented. Other important vertebrate collections include Neogene-aged vertebrates from North Africa and Cretaceous-aged marine reptiles from the Pierre Shale.
All the fossil vertebrate collection records are available online through Arctos. Access to the database as well as information on data use licenses and polices and how to use Arctos can be found on the Databases page.
The fossil vertebrate collection records have also been shared with biodiversity data aggregators, making the data accessible to researchers and the public in a standardized format.
Some fossil vertebrate specimens have been imaged in 3D via CT scanning, XRD scanning, photogrammetry, or laser scanning. All 3D data is available for researchers and the public to download (some need permission) through MorphoSource or CU Norlin Library’s 3D Natural History Collection.