Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology facts for kids
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| Established | 1968 |
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| Location | Claremont, California |
| Type | Natural history museum |
The Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology is a cool museum in Claremont, California, where you can learn all about paleontology (that's the study of fossils!). It's part of The Webb Schools. This museum is super special because it's the only one like it in the whole United States that's located on a high school campus!
The museum has two big, round rooms for showing off amazing fossils. About 20,000 people visit every year. The museum has around 140,000 fossil pieces. Guess what? Most of these (about 95%) were found by Webb students themselves! They found them on special fossil-hunting trips called "Peccary Trips." These trips usually happen in places like California, Utah, and Montana. The museum has lots of different kinds of fossils, including bones, shells, and especially many fossil footprints. Its collection of fossil footprints is known worldwide as one of the best!
The museum has six full-time staff members. Two of them are paleontologists who do research. They even work with Webb students in special science classes.
Contents
History of the Museum
How It All Started
The museum's story began with a man named Raymond Alf. In 1929, he was a famous runner who came to Los Angeles. After his running season, he got a job teaching science at The Webb School of California.
Mr. Alf's journey into paleontology really started in 1935. He saw a fossil horse jaw at a photo shop and found out it was from near Barstow. This made him curious! So, he took some Webb students to the Barstow desert to look for fossils. On that very first trip, Bill Webb, whose dad founded the school, found a fossil skull.
Mr. Alf and Bill Webb took the skull to Chester Stock, a paleontologist from the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Stock identified it as a brand-new type of peccary (a pig-like animal) from millions of years ago. This discovery, called "Dyseohys fricki," inspired Mr. Alf. He then started the museum's long tradition of leading summer and weekend fossil-hunting trips for students. These trips, called "Peccary Trips," went to places in the western United States that were rich in fossils.
Growing the Collection
On the first Summer Peccary Trip in Nebraska in 1937, Mr. Alf met Professor John Clark. Professor Clark encouraged Mr. Alf to become a paleontologist himself. So, Mr. Alf took a break from teaching and earned his master's degree in geology in just one year!
When he came back to Webb, Mr. Alf added paleontology to his biology classes. He even set up a small museum in the school's library basement. Mr. Alf loved paleontology so much that he led hundreds of Peccary Trips in the 1950s and 1960s. Because of his passion, the student paleontology program became a big tradition at Webb.
Many Webb students were inspired by Mr. Alf's teaching and became famous paleontologists. Some of them include Malcolm McKenna (who became a curator at the American Museum of Natural History) and Dwight Willard Taylor (who studied snails and slugs). Other notable students were David Webb (who became a curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History) and Daniel Fisher (who is now a curator at the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan).
A New Home for Fossils
By the mid-1960s, Mr. Alf and his students had collected so many fossils that they needed a bigger space. So, in 1968, a new two-story, round building was built. It was named in honor of Ray Alf. This building is still used today. It was first called the Raymond M. Alf Museum, but now it's known as the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology. This new name shows that its main goal is all about studying fossils.
What You Can See: Exhibits
Hall of Life
The Hall of Life was updated in 2011. It's on the museum's upper floor and shows the amazing story of life on Earth. It's set up like a time spiral, showing how living things have changed over millions of years. You can see everything from the very first tiny living things to human civilization.
In this hall, you'll find fossils of ancient single-celled and multi-celled organisms. There are also fossilized invertebrates, like a huge cast of the world's largest trilobite (an ancient sea creature). Dinosaurs are shown with casts of their skulls, including Diabloceratops, Gryposaurus, Nanotyrannus, Pachycephalosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus rex. You can also see full skeletons of dinosaurs like Allosaurus and Centrosaurus.
The hall also has a large collection of fossil mammals from North America. These include saber-toothed cats, brontotheres (huge rhino-like animals), and three-toed horses. The exhibit finishes with temporary displays. These show the latest research projects done by museum staff and Webb students. Right now, you might see "Baby Joe," a young Parasaurolophus dinosaur. Students discovered it in 2009 in Utah.
Hall of Footprints
The Hall of Footprints is the biggest section of the museum. It has one of the most diverse collections of fossil footprints on display in the United States! You can see many different kinds of tracks and trackways. These were made by dinosaurs, camels, spiders, and even elephants!
There are also complete skeletons of a camel and a giant bear-dog. These skeletons are mounted right on top of their fossil trackways. This display of fossil tracks and skeletons makes the museum a very important place for understanding the history of life on Earth.
Research and Learning
Student Research
The Raymond Alf Museum of Paleontology is a special place for students at The Webb Schools. They get to act like real paleontologists! They do hands-on work in the field, in the lab, and in their classes. Besides finding important fossils on Peccary Trips, Webb students are involved in every step of the scientific process. This includes carefully removing fossils from rock and studying them in a special advanced science class.
Students have access to a modern research lab. They do original research on the fossils they find, working with museum staff. Their findings are even published in scientific journals! Webb students also go to paleontology conferences. There, they present their research and meet scientists from all over the world.
Peccary Trips
Since the late 1930s, the fossil-collecting trips for Webb students have been called Peccary Trips. During the school year, most trips are to places in Southern California, like the Barstow and Goler formations in the Mojave Desert. On these trips, students learn how to find fossils, dig them up carefully, and even sift through dirt to find tiny pieces.
Every year since 1937, the museum has offered a Summer Peccary Trip. Dr. Don Lofgren (the Museum Director) and Dr. Andrew Farke (the Augustyn Family Curator of Paleontology) lead these trips. Students go to remote areas in Utah and Montana to collect fossils. Currently, the museum's summer research focuses on projects in the Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah and the Renova Formation of southwest Montana.
Paleontology Classes
As part of their first-year science classes, every Webb student learns the basics of Earth's history, how life has changed over time, and other processes that shape our planet. In advanced paleontology classes, students learn the science needed to work with fossils. They learn how museums get, care for, display, and identify fossils. They also do mini-research projects. These involve reading scientific papers and analyzing fossil data.
In a special class for older students, they work on a project under the guidance of Dr. Lofgren or Dr. Farke. The research projects done by students often add important new information to what we know about fossils. Their work is usually published in scientific journals. Since 2008, Webb students have been authors on more than 10 scientific articles!
Peccary Society
The Peccary Society is a group that supports the museum's exploration and research. It includes former Webb students, current students, and friends of the museum. The society is named after the peccary skull found by Bill Webb in 1936. For many years, Raymond Alf shared his love for paleontology with Webb students. Those who went on Peccary Trips with him were the first members of this society.
The interest in fossil collecting is still strong today. Current Webb students still go on Peccary Trips with museum staff. This makes them part of the special Peccary Society. For members of the society, the museum offers international Peccary Trips to places like Mongolia, China, and Madagascar. The museum also hosts an annual Peccary Society Dinner. At this event, alumni and friends celebrate the museum's ongoing success.
Collections
The Raymond Alf Museum of Paleontology is a hub for learning and research about fossils. It does this by keeping and growing its collection of over 140,000 fossil specimens. The museum is home to eighteen holotypes. A holotype is the single, original specimen used to describe a new species. Some famous holotypes here include the hadrosaur Gryposaurus monumentensis, the ancient horse Megahippus mckennai, and the ancient ungulate Goleroconus alfi.
The museum also has important ichnotypes. These are original specimens of fossil tracks or traces. They include the arachnid Octopodichnus raymondi (a spider track) and the bear-dog Hirpexipes alfi (a bear-dog track). If scientists want to study the museum's collections or borrow specimens, they can contact Dr. Andrew Farke, the Augustyn Family Curator of Paleontology.
Learning for Everyone
The museum offers daily tours of its exhibits to school groups. Special hands-on learning activities are available to the public on "Family Science Discovery Days." These happen on the second Saturday of each month. Each family day has a different topic with learning stations and related crafts. Past themes have included "Ancient Sea Life," "Mighty Dinosaurs," and "The Ice Age."
The museum also hosts an annual "Fossil Fest." This event celebrates the excitement of paleontology with hands-on learning for visitors of all ages. Fun activities include behind-the-scenes tours of the museum's lab, crafts for children, and talks by staff paleontologists. These talks highlight the museum's latest research projects. The museum also has "classroom fossil kits" that teachers from local schools can borrow. These kits include real fossils and fossil replicas for use in their classrooms.
Images for kids
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Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology Facade
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Hall of Life Entrance
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The beginning of the Hall of Life Exhibit
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The holotypeGryposaurus monumentsis skull
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Skeletal cast of the giant bear-dog, Amphicyon
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Variety of trackways displayed in the Hall of Footprints
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Skeletal cast of the dinosaur, Allosaurus
