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Eared Grebe - From our Bird and Egg Collection

The Eared Grebe is a common waterbird easily identifiable by their dark throats, golden ear tufts, and bright red eyes, though depending on the age and season, their plumage can be duller and include more blacks and grays. They are quite small, usually around a foot long with a wingspan of about 20 inches (between the size of a robin and crow).

They can be found mostly in the western United States and Mexico, though they’ve also been spotted in areas throughout Europe. They live in lakes and ponds and build their nests on the edges of marshy wetlands. However, during migration season and winters they are likely to be found in saltwater areas.

They are excellent swimmers and divers which helps them catch all sorts of aquatic prey such as brine shrimp, flies, and amphibians. Though graceful in the water, these birds tend to be quite awkward on land. Their legs are located towards the back of their bodies, making it difficult to walk.

Apatite - From Our Rock and Mineral Collection

Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals with a hardness of 5 on the Mohs scale, making it too soft to be commonly used in jewelry.

Apatite can appear in various forms, ranging from transparent to translucent. The most common colors are green and blue, but it can also be colorless, yellow, violet, pink, or brown.

Apatite is typically a transparent stone, but if it exhibits a vibrant color, it may be cut into a gemstone. The most common sources of apatite are Brazil, Burma, and Mexico.

Trilobite (Odontochile) with well-preserved eyes from our fossil collection. Devonian Period (414 to 391 million years ago).

Discovered in Morocco.

Trilobites first appeared 520 million years ago during the Cambrian Period and are the earliest known organisms to have developed eyes.

These early eyes were crescent-shaped, provided nearly 360-degree vision, and were made entirely of calcite.

Fifty million years later, during the Ordovician Period, trilobite eyes became more complex. Some were attached to "stalks" like those of snails, while others developed huge eyes with advanced vision similar to that of insects.

By the Middle Devonian Period—100 million years later—trilobite eyes became some of the most complex to ever exist.

Allosaurus Shed Teeth and Skull Plate from Vernal, Utah.

Because theropod dinosaurs like Allosaurus had thin, serrated teeth meant for slicing rather than crushing, they were more prone to breaking and regrowing. It is fairly common to find shed teeth like these in North American Jurassic sediments, such as those around Vernal, Utah.

From our fossil collection.

Ammonites and Baculites from our fossil collection.

Ammonites were an incredibly diverse group of cephalopods that first appeared during the Devonian Period, around 400 million years ago, and lasted until the end of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 66 million years ago, when most dinosaurs went extinct.

It’s estimated that over 10,000 different species of ammonites have been discovered so far. They have been found all over the world and come in a variety of shapes and patterns, like the ones you see here.

Want to see this collection in person? It’s on display here at the Hutchings Museum!