Trace fossils in two North American museums: the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science

Abstract

Ohio and New Mexico are rich in trace fossils (ichnofossils), and both states have longstanding traditions of ichnological research. The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, founded in 1920, has a substantial collection of ichnofossils that includes figured specimens from Ohio, West Virginia and New Jersey. Donations and intensive collecting of trace fossils followed the founding of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in 1986. This has resulted in North America's largest collection of Permian trace fossils, as well as important collections of trace fossils from several other geological systems. Trace fossils are on exhibit at both museums; both have exhibits showing a model of a large trace maker (a tetrapod in the case of the Cleveland Museum; Arthropleura in the case of the New Mexico Museum), either on or juxtaposed with a real fossil trackway. Among specimens brought to these museums for identification by members of the general public are trace fossils, although not usually identified as such, as well as concretions, which are erroneously thought to be fossil eggs. Trace fossils are also encountered and discussed during urban geological field trips in Cleveland. This article falls under our Open Access policy