Virtual Tour: Paleontology

Paleontology | Anthropology | Birds | Collections

You can learn about our skeletons and fossils here.

Skeletons are the hard structural bones in animals. Muscles will attach to them and allow movement. We have skeletons both of contemporary and ancient animals in our museum. If we find a dead squirrel or owl, we can preserve its skeleton. We'll put it in a big box with the larvae of a flesh-eating beetle known as a Dermestid. These beetles will eat all everything but the bones of the animal. We'll freeze the whole box to kill the beetles, and then wash off the bones and put them together like a big puzzle. Sometimes, such as during our Open Houses, we'll even let people watch!

Fossils are made when animals or plants are preserved for thousands and millions of years. The decomposing body will leave a cavity which is filled in by dissolved materials, like minerals. One good place to look for fossils is the rock cut on Route 27 south of Richmond. Indiana is rich in fossils, so you could look anywhere layers of rock are exposed, such as in a creek or a quarry.

Modern Skeletons | Ancient Skeletons | Fossils