Max's Mobile Museum
Help us make our new Mobile Museum exhibit a reality!
Sinister snails
In spite of the name, being sinistral doesn't mean that you're sinister.
Big fossil whelk
This October Western Science Center is opening a new temporary exhibit, Life in the Slow Lane: The Secret Lives of Snails and Slugs. As the title implies, we'll be looking at all things gastropods, including their diversity, behavior, and fossil record. I love doing this kind of exhibit
Ribs on the wing
A story of hidden fossils, microCT scanners, and a tiny dragon.
More whale rib strangeness
Thanks to Hurricane Camille, we discovered an odd set of whale ribs.
Dense ribs aren't just for sea cows
Sea cows aren’t the only animals with dense ribs.
Heavy ribs
Sometimes you just have to pack on the weight.
Rib connections
My friend Eric loves a good meal, so to encourage him to read the posts and recognize how awesome ribs are, I'll be starting each post on rib anatomy with an example of ribs from restaurants near the museum!
A celebration of ribs
Ribs don’t need barbecue sauce to be interesting!
More alligator lizards...this time with teeth!
The Western Science Center's alligator lizard (Elgaria multicarinata) moved into its new habitat earlier this week, beside our display of Pleistocene microvertebrate fossils from Diamond Valley Lake. As I mentioned last week, these lizards are native to the area, and have been for a long time. We actually
Armor-plated lizard
Pest control is a big deal for museums, as they can severely damage certain types of collections. But despite our best efforts wildlife will occasionally make its way into the museum, sometimes even including small vertebrates. Generally we release these back into the wild, but we do have a small
167 years of California mastodons
Some years ago I was making numerous trips to museums all over California documenting mastodon remains across the state, a project that eventually led to the description of the Pacific mastodon (Mammut pacificus). The four largest mastodon collections in the state are at the Western Science Center (where I work)