A historic look at the University of Michigan’s rich paleontological legacy is now on view in UMMNH's rotating Collections Case exhibit.
Library of Life celebrates the centennial of the U-M Museum of Paleontology (UMMP). Formally established in 1926, UMMP was created to curate and study the university's growing fossil collection, whose origins date to the late 1930s.
Specimens as old as 504 million years are exhibited alongside archival and contemporary photographs, illustrations, publications, and field notes that contextualize UMMP’s contributions to the field of paleontology in Michigan and around the world.
The plant and animal fossils on display represent the breadth of UMMP’s collection and research—and some surprising intersections with U.S. history. Highlights include:
- 430-million-year-old cephalopods uncovered during Douglas Houghton’s famed Michigan Geological Surveys, which mapped out crucial resources that fueled the state’s 19th-century population boom
- 310-million-year-old plant fragments extracted from central Michigan’s coal basin
- A nearly complete skull of Dimetrodon, an early, sail-backed relative of mammals
- Skin impressions left behind by the duck-billed dinosaur Edmontosaurus
- Million-year-old crabs collected by a U-M physician stationed in Guam during World War II
- A mastodon tooth unearthed in the California Gold Rush
3D-printed fossils demonstrate how advances in technology lead to new discoveries about ancient life. Imaging techniques such as CT scanning help paleontologists peer inside fossils without damaging them, while virtual models allow scientists around the world to study the same specimen simultaneously..
Library of Life is located on the museum’s first floor. Museum admission is always free to individuals and families.
