Invertebrate Paleontology – Sam Noble Museum

With nearly one million specimens from every major invertebrate fossil group, the invertebrate paleontology collection is among the most scientifically important in North America. It contains nearly 3,000 primary type specimens and about 7,000 figured specimens. The majority of samples in the collection include detailed ancillary information on geographic and stratigraphic occurrence. The collection represents the combined efforts of the staff and students at the University of Oklahoma, including the Sam Noble Museum, the School of Geology and Geophysics, and the Oklahoma Geological Survey. A large donation of fossils from BP-Amoco expanded the invertebrate paleontology collection into a unique resource for research. Much of the collection comprises Paleozoic age specimens from Oklahoma and surrounding states, with significant material from Alaska. We also house specimens from Canada, Britain, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Russia and Poland. Current research focuses on the systematics, biostratigraphy, paleoecology and macroevolutionary patterns of Cambrian and Ordovician trilobites. Trilobite collections have grown significantly in recent years with additions from Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, the Upper Mississippi Valley, the Great Basin and Wyoming.