Carnegie Museum Of Natural History
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The Carnegie Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as CMNH) is a
natural history museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
in the Oakland neighborhood of
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. It was founded by Pittsburgh-based industrialist
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
in 1896. Housing some 22 million specimens, the museum features one of the finest
paleontological Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of foss ...
collections in the world.


Description and history

The museum consists of organized into 20 galleries as well as research, library, and office space. It holds some 22 million specimens, of which about 10,000 are on view at any given time and about 1 million are cataloged in online databases. In 2008 it hosted 386,300 admissions and 63,000 school group visits. Museum education staff also actively engage in outreach by traveling to schools all around western Pennsylvania. The museum gained prominence in 1899 when its scientists unearthed the fossils of ''
Diplodocus carnegii ''Diplodocus'' (, , or ) was a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaurs, whose fossils were first discovered in 1877 by S. W. Williston. The generic name, coined by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1878, is a neo-Latin term derived from Greek Î´Î¹Ï ...
''. Notable dinosaur specimens include one of the world's very few fossils of a juvenile ''
Apatosaurus ''Apatosaurus'' (; meaning "deceptive lizard") is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic period. Othniel Charles Marsh described and named the first-known species, ''A. ajax'', in 1877, ...
'', the world's first specimen of a ''
Tyrannosaurus rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' live ...
'', and a recently identified species of
oviraptorosaur Oviraptorosaurs ("egg thief lizards") are a group of feathered maniraptoran dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period of what are now Asia and North America. They are distinct for their characteristically short, beaked, parrot-like skulls, with or w ...
named ''
Anzu wyliei ''Anzu'' (named for Anzû, a bird-like daemon in Ancient Mesopotamian religion) is a monospecific genus of caenagnathid dinosaur from North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana that lived during the Late Cretaceous (upper Maastrichtian stage, 67.2 ...
''. Research teams including former Carnegie scientists made critical discoveries such as '' Puijila darwini'', '' Castorocauda lutrasimilis'', and '' Hadrocodium wui''. Dinos at Carnegie - IMG 0718.jpg , Portion of the
dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
exhibit. File:Dinosaurs at CMNH 52.JPG, Fossil fish File:Anaethalion knorri cm5079.jpg, Fossil specimen of '' Anaethalion knorri'' from the Solnhofen limestone File:Carnegiemummy.jpg,
Mummies A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furt ...
from the Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt. Other major exhibits include Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems, Alcoa Foundation Hall of American Indians, Polar World: Wyckoff Hall of Arctic Life, Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt, Benedum Hall of Geology, Dinosaurs in Their Time, and Powdermill Nature Reserve, established by the museum in 1956 to serve as a field station for long-term studies of natural populations. The museum's active curatorial departments are:
Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
,
Bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s,
Botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
, Herpetology ( Amphibians & Reptiles),
Invertebrate Paleontology Invertebrate paleontology (also spelled invertebrate palaeontology) is sometimes described as invertebrate paleozoology or invertebrate paleobiology. Whether it is considered to be a subfield of paleontology, paleozoology, or paleobiology, this d ...
,
Invertebrate Zoology Invertebrate zoology is the subdiscipline of zoology that consists of the study of invertebrates, animals without a backbone (a structure which is found only in fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals). Invertebrates are a vast and very di ...
, Mammals,
Mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...
s,
Mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000  extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...
s ( Malacology), and
Vertebrate Paleontology Vertebrate paleontology is the subfield of paleontology that seeks to discover, through the study of fossilized remains, the behavior, reproduction and appearance of extinct animals with vertebrae or a notochord. It also tries to connect, by us ...
. These departments work collaboratively under strategic centers created to re-frame how the museum leverages its research, exhibitions, and public programming to meet the challenges and issues of today. In late 2013, however, the museum's parent organization and interim administration eliminated multiple scientific positions, seriously reducing its capacity to conduct original research.


Scientific publications

Carnegie Museum of Natural History publishes scholarly journals and books including '' Annals of Carnegie Museum'', which offers peer-reviewed articles in organismal biology, earth sciences, and anthropology; ''Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History'', offering monographs or collections of related papers from symposia; and ''Special Publications of Carnegie Museum'', documenting special topics or areas of research.


See also

*
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh are four museums that are operated by the Carnegie Institute headquartered in the Carnegie Institute complex in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Carnegie Institute complex, which includes th ...
*
Carnegie Collection The Carnegie Collection was a series of authentic replicas based on dinosaurs and other extinct prehistoric creatures, using fossils featured at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History as references. They were produced by Florida-based company Safar ...
* List of museums in Pennsylvania *
Andrey Avinoff Andrey Avinoff (14 February 1884 – 16 July 1949); was an internationally-known artist, lepidopterist, museum director, professor, bibliophile and iconographer, who served as the director of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh ...
*
Rudyerd Boulton Wolfrid Rudyerd Boulton (April 5, 1901 – January 24, 1983) was an American ornithologist who worked extensively in Africa. Boulton held positions at the American Museum of Natural History and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and travele ...
*
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
* Benjamin Preston Clark * Mary R. Dawson * Carl H. Eigenmann *
John Bell Hatcher John Bell Hatcher (October 11, 1861 – July 3, 1904) was an American paleontologist and fossil hunter known as the "king of collectors" and best known for discovering ''Torosaurus'' and ''Triceratops'', two genera of dinosaurs described by O ...
*
William Jacob Holland Rev William Jacob Holland FRSE LLD (August 16, 1848 – December 13, 1932) was the eighth Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh (1891–1901) and Director of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. He was an accomplished zoologist and paleonto ...
* Lion Attacking a Dromedary *
Bradley C. Livezey Bradley Curtis Livezey (June 15, 1954 – February 8, 2011) was an American ornithologist with scores of publications. His main research included the evolution of flightless birds, the systematics of birds, and the ecology and behaviour of steame ...
* M. Graham Netting *
Arnold Edward Ortmann Arnold Edward Ortmann (April 8, 1863 – January 3, 1927) was a Prussian-born United States naturalist and zoologist who specialized in malacology. Biography Ortmann was born in Magdeburg, Prussia on April 8, 1863. A student of Ernst Haeckel, h ...
* Albert Schwartz *
Richard Shine Richard Shine (born 7 June 1950) is an Australian evolutionary biologist and ecologist; he has conducted extensive research on reptiles and amphibians, and proposed a novel mechanism for evolutionary change. He is currently a Professor of B ...
*
James L. Swauger James L. Swauger (November 1, 1913 – December 18, 2005) was an American archaeologist known for his work on the petroglyphs of the Ohio River valley of the United States. A native of West Newton in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania,Murphy, ...
*
Walter Edmond Clyde Todd Walter Edmond Clyde Todd (Smithfield, Ohio, September 6, 1874 – June 25, 1969) was an American ornithologist who worked at the Carnegie Museum. He collected specimens mainly in the arctic zone and was the author of several books. Biography In ...
* Richard Vogt


References


External links

*
Carnegie Museums
* Coleman J. Goin * LeRoy Kershaw Henry * Kenneth C. Parkes {{Authority control Andrew Carnegie Dinosaur museums in the United States Egyptological collections in the United States Institutions accredited by the American Alliance of Museums Museums established in 1896 Museums in Pittsburgh Natural history museums in Pennsylvania Paleontology in Pennsylvania Tourist attractions in Pittsburgh