Overview of the Collection

• Introduction
• Collection strengths
  • Cephalopods
• Echinoderms
• Conodonts
• Fusilinids
• Corals
• Brachiopods
• Large Mammals
• Micromammals
• Paleobotany
• Stratigraphic and taxonomic collections from Iowa
• Other important collections
• Collection Statistics
  
  
  Introduction

    The collections of the University of Iowa Paleontology Repository comprise over a million specimens, including ~25,000 type and referred specimens, cited in over 750 publications, of which 6000-7000 are primary types. They consist of invertebrate, vertebrate, and plant fossils of all geologic ages, although more than 90% are Paleozoic marine invertebrates. The collections represent the fifth largest university collection in North America, and the invertebrate section ranked ninth in North America in overall significance and usefulness (CONARIP 1977).

    The Paleontology Repository is a focal point for research and educational activities within the Paleontology Program of the University of Iowa, and an important source of outreach to the scientific community and the general public. In the March 1999 US News and World Report University Rankings, the University of Iowa graduate program in paleontology placed #7 in the nation. The program is unique in its unusual blend of field-based, specimen-oriented research combined with modern quantitative and analytical methods. From 1997-2006, the Paleontology Repository also served as the editorial office for the Journal of Paleontology, the most widely distributed paleontological journal in the world and one of the two primary journals published by the Paleontological Society.

Collection strengths

Cephalopods- The cephalopod collection contains > 60,000 cataloged specimens, and represents over 60 years of collecting and exchange of Paleozoic ammonoids by A.K. Miller, W.M. Furnish and B.F. Glenister and their associates, resulting in the most comprehensive collection of Paleozoic ammonoids ever assembled. It includes 3640 types collected on several NSF-funded expeditions through Indonesia, the U.S., Europe, and North America from 1964-1995 (e.g., Miller & Furnish 1940; Ulrich et al. 1942, 1943, 1944; King et al. 1944; Miller 1947; Miller & Younguist 1949; Glenister 1958; Glenister & Furnish 1961, 1988a,b; Davis 1972; Glenister et al. 1973, 1979, 1990a,b; Spinosa et al. 1975; Manger & Saunders 1980; Frest et al. 1981; Baker et al. 1986; Mikesh et al. 1988; Work et al. 1988; Blendinger et al. 1992; Boardman et al. 1994; Saunders & Work 1996, 1997). The collection provides the basis for the cephalopod volumes of the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology (Glenister & Furnish 1964, and in prep) and for the definition of Permian boundaries by Subcommissions & Working groups of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (International Union of Geological Sciences) (Glenister et al. 1992).

Echinoderms- The echinoderms consist of more than 25,000 cataloged specimens (2,506 types), collected by H.L. Strimple in the Carboniferous of Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois, and Missouri from 1930-1980 and described in >100 publications (e.g., Strimple 1962, 1975; Strimple & Moore 1969, 1971, 1973; Warn & Strimple 1977; Frest & Strimple 1977; Frest et al. 1979; Brower & Strimple 1983; Lewis & Strimple 1990; Brower 1990, 1992a,b) including the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology (Strimple 1978). Older important collections from the Paleozoic of Iowa were donated by Calvin (assembled 1879-1911), Thomas (1922), Slocum & Foerste (1924), Laudon (1933), Laudon & Beane (1937), Springer (bequeathed a large collection of non-types collected 1860-1925), and more recently by local amateurs (C.O. Levorson, A.J. Gerk, G.C. Crossman, and B. Gossman).

Conodonts- The conodonts include over two million specimens (~ 3875 types) collected by W.M. Furnish and G. Klapper with NSF support in the Ordovician through Pennsylvanian of North America, Europe (France), and Australia from 1938-1998 (e.g., Furnish 1938; Miller & Youngquist 1947; Ethington 1959; Ethington & Furnish 1959, 1962; Klapper 1966, 1971, 1989, 1990, 1997a,b; Klapper & Murphy 1975; Klapper & Johnson 1980; Klapper & Lane 1989; Klapper & Foster 1993; Klapper et al. 1995; Becker et al. 1989; Metzger 1989; Day, 1990; Over 1992; Ritter & Baesmann 1991). The collection provides the basis for the ‘Catalog of Conodonts’ (Klapper et al. 1977; Klapper & Ziegler 1991), the conodont volume of the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology (Klapper 1981), and the definition of Devonian boundaries by Subcommissions & Working groups of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (Klapper et al. 1994; Chernykh & Ritter 1997). In 1998, the AMOCO Production Company transferred its entire conodont collection and associated data (electronic database and paper file folders) making the Univ. Iowa collection one of the largest held by a university. The collection, valued at over $1.3 million, consists of more than 20,000 slides from 1339 Paleozoic localities in the U.S., Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and Central and South America.

Fusulinids- The fusulinid collection is one of the largest single collections of its kind, and the U. Iowa was designated by the Paleontological Society as one of four approved U.S. repositories for fusulinid types. It includes: (a) the M.L Thompson collection of fusulinids, including over 15,000 glass slides, including more than 3500 type and referred specimens (Thompson 1948, 1954; Groves 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988; Douglass & Nestell 1984; Brenckle and Groves 1986; Groves & Boardman, 1999; Groves & Wahlman 1997), and (b) the Bissell collection of 7500 glass slides (adopted in 1989; including several hundred referred specimens cited in theses from Brigham Young Univ. including: Marshall 1969; Robinson Jr. 1961; Wright 1961; Slade 1961; Hodgkinson 1961).

Corals- The Neogene scleractinian corals consist of ~5000 specimens (300 types) collected over the past 20 years by A.F. Budd as part of NSF funded research (most recently EAR-9219138, EAR97-25273) in the Caribbean (Costa Rica, Jamaica, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Bahamas) and Europe (France, Austria, Bulgaria). The material is described in four monographs (Foster 1986, 1987; Budd 1991, Budd & Johnson 1999a) and one edited volume (Jackson et al. 1996), and also serves as the basis for >15 articles since 1994 (e.g., Budd et al. 1994, 1995, 1996a-b, 1998, 1999; Budd & Johnson, 1996, 1997, 1999b; Budd & McNeill 1998; Collins et al. 1996; Jackson et al. 1996; Johnson et al. 1995; Johnson & Budd, 1996; McNeill et al. 1997). Also included are >2000 specimens of Recent agariciids and faviids collected in Panama and Belize as part of Ph.D. dissertations by Stemann (1991) and Johnson (1991).

The Paleozoic coral collection consists of >2000 specimens collected by Calvin (1879-1911), Belanski (1920s) and Stainbrook (1940-1950), but only a small fraction are types (Calvin 1893; Easton 1944; Ladd 1929; Thomas 1917; Stainbrook 1940, 1946; Sorauf 1974, 1998; Edwards 1988; Webb 1993) and the majority remain unstudied.

Brachiopods- The brachiopods consist of >10,000 specimens and 1850 types studied by Wang (1949), Stainbrook (1945), and Belanski (1928a,b,c). The non-type brachiopod collection is mostly uncataloged. Recent studies (Day 1988, 1989; Day & Copper 1998; Rogers & Pitrat 1987; Lescinsky 1995, 1997) are based on the Belanski and Stainbrook material and Day has added new specimens from Iowa, New Mexico and Canada.

Large Mammals- The large mammal collection contains ~500 Pleistocene-age specimens described by Calvin (1909), Hay (1914), and Clement (1932, Univ. Iowa unpublished thesis). Most of these specimens are from species that are now extinct or extirpated from Iowa. In an attempt to better understand the Pleistocene megafauna extinction, many of these specimens are being dated. Additional large mammal material includes ~1000 Holocene-age specimens. Bison bones from local peat bogs and archaeological sites comprise the bulk of the Holocene material (Whittaker 1998). Specimens were used during summer 1999 to make "Ice Age Mammals of Iowa", an educational video for distribution to 17 local elementary schools.

Micromammals- This collection contains more than 60,000 specimens from over 50 paleontological and archaeological sites in Iowa and the Midwest, making it amongst the largest in the world (Semken 1974, 1980, 1984; Anderson & Semken 1980; Shutler et al. 1980; Falk & Semken 1990; Folk & Semken, 1991; Semken & Falk 1991; Semken & Graham 1996; Stafford & Semken, 1990). The material was collected primarily by graduate students and has served as the basis for over 20 theses and dissertations (e.g., Croft & Semken 1994; Foley 1984; Jenkins & Semken 1972; Rhodes 1984; Davis 1987; Jans 1993). The faunas from all Quaternary sites are included in FAUNMAP, a comprehensive database documenting the Late Quaternary distribution of mammalian species in the U.S. (FAUNMAP 1996; Semken 1994).

Paleobotany- The pollen and plant macrofossils from more than 25 Quaternary sites in Iowa and the Midwest have been used for paleoecological interpretations (e.g., Van Zant 1979; Van Zant & Hallberg 1976; Baker 1976, 1983; Baker et al. 1980, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993a,b, 1995, 1996, 1998; Baker & Van Zant 1980; Bettis et al. 1990; Chumbley et al. 1990; Garry et al. 1990; Rogers et al., 1992; Baker & Drake 1994; Zhu & Baker 1995). The collection is unique because it preserves material from an interval of time (the last 1 million years) that has not been previously documented in North America. Also present are Paleozoic and Mesozoic palynologic samples (~1500 slides) from Iowa coals (Ravn 1979, 1983; Ravn & Witzke 1995), and plant macrofossil specimens (~1000 Pennsylvanian Mazon Creek and ~500 Dakota Sandstone). In addition to fossil specimens, the repository contains two important reference collections used in Quaternary studies. A pollen reference collection contains about 1250 slides of modern pollen from mainly midwestern and Rocky Mountain taxa. The plant macrofossil reference collection contains about 3000 specimen boxes of seeds, fruits, and other plant parts from taxa from the same regions. Both of these collections are used in identifying fossil specimens, and the macrofossil collection is thought to be the largest in the Midwest.

Stratigraphic and taxonomic collections from Iowa formations—Unique segments of the collection include: Calvin Collection (assembled 1874-1911; Calvin 1878; White 1880); Belanski Collection (1925-1929, Devonian) (Strimple & Levorson 1969); Ladd and Kay Collections (1920s, Ordovician); Thomas Collection (assembled 1920-1930 Paleozoic; Walter 1923); Laudon Collection (1930s and 1975, Mississippian); Stainbrook Collection (1940s, Devonian); Fitzpatrick Collection (1890s, Devonian); Orr Collection (1950s, Ordovician); Van Tuyl Collection (1920s, Mississippian); Silurian (Llandoverian), Hopkinton Fm; Levorson, Gerk, Crossman, and Gossman (1960-1990s, Ordovician and Mississippian); and Paleozoic fish (Eastman 1907).

Other important stratigraphic and taxonomic collections— Several collections of predominantly non-Iowan material are under-utilized because they are incompletely cataloged [e.g., Springer Collection (1920) Paleozoic echinoderms; AMOCO Production Co. Florida Bay samples (assembled from 1965-1985, Holocene invertebrates of South Florida, Bahamas Platform and Caribbean); Guest thesis material, Cretaceous-Pliocene, Mississippi] or because they are inaccessible [e.g., Strimple Collection (1930-1980) Midcontinent Paleozoic echinoderms; Nutting and University Expedition Collections (1890-1922; Calvin 1892; Caribbean Neogene and Recent); Shimek (assembled 1878-1936; Quaternary non-marine molluscs; Frest 1981, 1982; Frest & Dickson 1986)]. Several studies using Univ. Iowa specimens not covered in the above categories have been published recently (e.g., gastropods- Rohr 1992; Day 1987; arthropods- Hesselbo 1993, Feist & Petersen 1995; conulariids- Van Iten 1991, 1992a,b; Van Iten et al. 1992).

Collection Statistics