Cleveland Museum of Natural History - The Great Lakes region - Part One

On a wet April morning we drove up to the Cleveland Natural History Museum (CMNH), and what a drive it was. The main road passes under majestic bridges and what seems to be a parkland lined with monuments to numerous nations across the globe. The museum itself is not near the centre of the city but about 8km outside the city centre in a complex filled with schools and medical institutions.

What we could see of the entire precinct, it looks fantastic (it really was raining hard when we were there). There are great gardens to walk around and many items to investigate (such as a life-size stegosaurus), so please ensure you allocate some time to check the outside as well as the inside.

Entering the museum from the car-park, you pass through an atrium filled with fantastic NASA images from the Hubble space telescope. I could have just stood there for hours and peered into these, but onward we marched.

In 2015 the CMNH announced a major upgrade, with several phases of construction updating the displays and increasing the floor space of the building. This work also included a connecting car-park – and some of this work has been completed. This mean there is a real old vs new feel to the CMNH – now as you will see this is not a complaint, just an observation. What has been completed so far is great and so I will be very interested to see what else they have planned (actually you can see some concept art here https://www.cmnh.org/centennialhome/project-update/exhibit-update).

Approaching its centenary, the CMNH was planned to be an institution that concentrated on not just the education side of the natural sciences, but to research and develop collections in the fields of anthropology, archaeology, astronomy, botany, geology, palaeontology and zoology, and this it seems to have done very well as the museum is consistently ranked in the top ten natural history museums in the USA – and that’s saying a lot as this place has a lot of natural history museums.

 To me there are clear delineations in the galleries of this museum, with each carrying a distinctive feel, almost a separate personality to the rest that I will separate them here – something I never really have done before.

Kirtland Hall of Prehistoric Life

This feels like the oldest part of the museum, with some of the exhibits clearly of an older style. It is an enormous space, and lining most of the walls are small displays containing specimens from various times of Earth’s past. Though these are of an older style, they are filled with some amazing specimens. There are plenty of Miocene and Oligocene fossils, with skulls from Platybelodon, sabretooth cats, horses and a great entelodont skull.

The star of this little section though is Diatryma, a giant bird unearthed in Wyoming. There are also a number of small mural/paintings in these displays, though I could not see the artists name (to be fair, I may have just missed it so if the artists is out there, please let me know and I’ll happily re-edit this).

A large central island is behind you at this point containing those most iconic of dinosaurs, a triceratops and a T. rex (the Wankle Rex I do believe). Behind the tail of this full-sized replica is also the skull of the highly controversial Nanotyrannus. The skull (CMNH 7541) was first found in 1942 by David Hosbrook Dunkle and described four years later by Charles W. Gilmore as Gorgosaurus lancensis. This was later reinterpreted by Robert T. Bakker, Phil Currie, and Michael Williams as a new, midget tyrannosaur species as features of this small skull indicate it was from an adult – thus Nanotyrannus. Trust me, we will come back to this conversation later.

These cabinets line bookend an enormous wall where numerous fossils hang. Many of these are skulls, topping the silhouetted shape of the animal they represent. Here there is also a great mosasaur on display and I really like the way it was mounted as you get a great look inside its mouth at the palate teeth (a feature you often cannot see with museum mounts).

Out of the far corner juts another of these ‘islands’, and here you can see a real treasure. Happy the Haplocanthosaurus was a Jurassic sauropod, and at 66ft was one of the smallest found in the Morrison formation.

There are a few things to note –

1. No skull was found so this one is just a sculpted head indicating what it might have looked like.
2. This is the only mount of this species anywhere in the world.

3. It is one of the most primitive sauropods known and exactly what it was related too is still being discussed.

4. There is no getting around it...the tail.

Happy has been on display since 1963, when our view of dinosaurs was drastically different than today. The preparators placed happy in the stance of the day, with its tail dragging on the ground, and today this stance is still presence. It’s an amazing site to see, - you case how the tail would be dislocated in two places if this was how the tail was while the animal was alive.

As Pointed out earlier though, there are changes coming to the museum and I assume the specimen will surely get a modern remounting – and I am not sure how I feel about that. I understand a museum will always want to place the most scientifically accurate information in front of a visitor – but – having been a museum educator for several decades in museums across the globe, I love the story a tour guide gets to present with such a feature. This is a physical opportunity to explain how science adapts to new information, technology and ideas. In a very real way it will be a lost opportunity when (if) this mount gets changed.

Next to Happy is also a mounted Allosaurus, and the way these two species are presented are great. Unearthed in the local Cleveland-Lloyd Quarry (along with 44 other specimens), Alice the Allosaurus has been mounted running along the side of its far larger victim which it seems to be preparing to attack. Originally Alice had also been built with her tail dragging on the ground – and in 2008 the fossil (which is around 50% real) was remounted with a modern stance.

The rest of the room is made up of more cabinets containing older species – such as one of the most complete Coelophysis mounted skeletons on display (sorry no image) and then a lot of Triassic and Permian species such as Dimetrodon. A great little touch is, if you look closely, it is here you will see the modern Tuatara – making the link between this living fossil and the time.

Being that this is Cleveland, there is an extensive display of Devonian fossils, especially sharks and the famous armoured-head placoderm fish like Dunkleosteus. 
As the region is known for such fossils there are numerous species and growth sizes -as well as a life-size model swimming above your head.  

Between this gallery and the next is a wide corridor filled with various displays, including a nice time line of all the different ages of the earth and the numerous fossils you can find in rocks from these times. I love it when museums organise displays that people can touch. Behind this is a physical family tree of how all the various species that have populated the world are related to each other.

It is here that you find another dinosaur specimen the museum is famous for, and this brings me to one of the real treats of my visit. The Staff at the CMNH are fantastic, warm, friendly and knowledge and they were happy to chat and show me some of the treasures they have sitting in their backrooms. 

A huge shout out to Ashley Hall (Adult Programs Coordinator) and Lee Hall (Fossil Preparator and Lab Manager) who were most fantastic hosts and later (when we bumped into the Curator and Head of the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology for the museum) Dr. Michael Ryan. You guys are the best and what a happy and fun environment to be working in. You can always get a sense of an institution by the people who work there, and thanks to you guys, as Drew Carey once noted, CLEVELAND ROCKS!

During the tour out in the storage rooms the guys explained how they run some of their education programs and what they are planning for the future I got to see a number of amazing things.

As mentioned, thanks to the Cleveland Shale, the CMNH has an extensive collection of Devonian fossils, especially from enormous predatory fish like Dunkleosteus. The museum has numerous remains from these fish in storage, and work on them is ongoing. Watch this space as one of these specimens seems to be from an enormous, fanged or sabre-toothed placoderm that could have been even more impressive than the species already described.

One of the great things I got to see was the original skull of Nanotyrannus. The fossil is a thing of beauty, the colour alone makes it one of the better-looking fossils I have seen, which brings me back to the argument about it being a valid species or just a juvenile T.rex. The dinosaur sitting in the foyer is a cast of Jane, the juvenile T.rex. Its discovery was used as proof that the museums original skull was also a juvenile and that was apparently that. Recently though there have been some scientists holding onto the idea the Cleveland skull is a separate species, and its labelling remains true to the original name.

Having bid a fond farewell to my guides Ashley and Lee, it was back to exploring.

Reinberger Hall of Astronomy and Wade Gallery of Gems & Jewels

Here is where the museum takes a series turn with its exhibits. By the feel these are new and well though out. As many of you in the industry are aware, the geology side of a display is often the least visited – sure people love the jewels and some of the more spectacular minerals, but they generally don’t spend a lot of time here.

These displays are fantastic. Not only are there numerous interactives and media displays, with great looking murals clearly and simply explaining how the planet was formed, what you would expect to see on other planets, how erosion works, how soil is formed and how you can tell the difference between various dirt, why rocks and fossils are important in this modern world, mineral properties and how mines operate.

You pass through cave systems, reconstructed mines and what looks to be the set from a Star Trek episode for the astronomy section, with space-age shaped window displays, scrolling futuristic video screens and wall to roof mounted Hubble images. These walls are colour coded, with a deep ochre for geology and a cool blue for space.

These galleries lead you to the temporary exhibit display, where the CMNH is currently housing a touring pterosaur display. I will cover this later in its own page.

   

“Set a course for adventure in this Museum-created exhibit celebrating the fabled voyage of the Blossom. Explore tales of mutiny, adventure and discovery as you experience the expedition that built the Museum’s collections nearly a century ago.”  That’s how the museums website describe another exhibit focusing on the history of not just the collection, but how it was collected. There are numerous historical items, including journals, tools, maps and artworks from the CMNH’s voyage of exploration in the 1920s.

Sears Hall of Human Ecology

Wow. For many museums the issue is often how do you create space to display all the items you have in storage that visitors might wish to see? Well the CMNH has come up with a novel way of achieving this, double-stacking.

Though this room is not the largest, it has a high ceiling, and so it seems the exhibits designers hit on the novel idea of just stacking one exhibit on top of another. This is a unique approach, and yes there are other museums that have done something similar, none have taken it to this extent. I personally loved it, it was almost like looking at a children’s popup book, with each angle creating a new way to see the items displayed.

The display cleverly uses animals in dynamic poses, cultural backgrounds, and recreated environments – placed within the continents or surroundings where they live. This sort of display also creates something new, a two tier visit dynamic. While some are busy looking at the items on display within the lower cabinets, others move into the middle of the room so they can see what is above better. 

Apparently these displays date back several decades and have not been upgraded, they were just so well done the first time around that they have been kept. This is a surprise to me as they really did feel new and cutting edge.
At various times there were also staff members walking around with live animals that visitors could interact with. This included a snapping turtle and a skunk that comes out at set times throughout the day. 

Ohio Archaeology and Human Origins Gallery

A small display of local archaeological items leads you towards the end of your visit inside with a visit to the museums new Human Origins gallery. The CMNH has a long history of anthropology and primatology and its collection is vast. The Human Origins Gallery is one of those that has recently been upgraded, and focuses on Lucy, that tiny little Australopithecus that had been unearthed by the museum’s curator, Donald Johanson, and his team in 1874 while they were exploring Ethiopia. This was arguably the world’s most famous anthropology discovery and a real feather in the museum’s cap – so its no wonder this display was one of the first to get an upgrade.

As with most African fossils of this sort, the originals are stored in Ethiopia, but a displayed replica skeleton cast from the original bones is on display, standing alongside a lifelike sculpture created by renowned paleoartist, John Gurche.

And that was about it for our visit. There are many other places to explore in the museum, such as a walk through the Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center & Woods Garden (which I missed due to the rain).

Overall, the museum deserves its place in the top ten US natural history museums and I encourage you all to visit and say hi.

Other items either soon to be placed on display or I missed due to time.

•          BALTO - The hero dog of Nome, Alaska, who in 1925 helped led a team of sled dogs through the snow to this distant outpost, carrying much needed medical supplies.
•          The Nathan and Fannye Shafran Planetarium & Ralph Mueller Observatory. Here you can learn about astronomy and on certain nights visit the observatory to peer at the universe (check their website for opening times). 
•       On the way back into the city there is a fantastic whale mural that covers a large building, so keep an eye out for that. 

A parade of elephants (the Fossil Freeway -pt1)

When you think of natural history and dinosaur museums, Nebraska is likely one of those places that doesn’t immediately spring to mind. Surrounded as it is by some of the richest fossil bearing lands on the planet (South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Kansas for example), it’s easy to see how Nebraska has, if not been overlooked in paleo-circles, at least overshadowed. The tragedy is, if the state was located in any other country it would be considered a national treasure as boy, does it have some great stuff.

Flying into Kansas, we were headed for the Black Hills in South Dakota and the shortest route would have been directly north through Nebraska to either Sioux City or Sioux Falls, and along this path is the university town of Lincoln. We, however, chose to visit Lincoln then drive west towards Wyoming on interstate 80. The 80 was built along the former Great Platte River Road, itself the convergence point for many of the most famous old west migration paths like the Oregon, Mormon and California Trails- as well as a primary Pony Express route- so it’s a journey steeped in history. Passing Ogallala, we intend to take a right and head north to the Black Hills along what’s being called the Fossil Freeway. Between Interstate 80 and 90 (in South Dakota) there’s a windy path you can follow with a number of fossil sites, museums and tourist stops along the way (basically follow Highway 71, 28, then back onto 71)…and we’ll be visiting some of these in later posts.

With Nebraska’s state government and the University of Nebraska located in Lincoln you’d expect a few local museums, but the University of Nebraska State Museum was a real eye opener.  Founded in 1871 and located today within Morrill Hall on campus grounds, along with a decent planetarium (WARNING- the planetarium, and I’m not sure if this goes for the entire museum, is closed during the University football teams home games, so keep that in mind when planning a visit) and the usual zoological galleries with mounted US animals within their natural environments, for a paleo-fan the reason for visiting the museum is the Elephant Hall.

From the museums service desk you catch a glimpse of what this hall has to offer, but once you pass through the arched entry (it being far too large and grand to be called a simple doorway), you enter a true gem. Long and corridor-like, the vaulted, maybe 50ft ceiling should dwarf the creatures on display, and perhaps if the room only had two or three specimens this would be the case, but lining both sides of this spectacular hall are two lines of elephant skeletons covering the majority of pachyderm evolution.

Amongst the recessed alcoves containing mastodons, platybelodons, stegomastodons and gomphotheres is one of the world’s largest mammoth skeletons. The beast is huge, and though rumours are there's a new, even larger mammoth about to go on display somewhere else, for now this guy is the biggest. In comparison, standing next to the 14ft bull Imperial mammoth is a tapir-sized Dwarf mammoth (pictured above). The difference between the two is startling, I mean the dwarf would be tiny for a baby, but this specimen was fully grown and is about the size of a single foot of the behemoth towering over it.

The hall also contains a display of modern elephants, but these are almost invisible thanks to the life-size mural covering the far wall of the hall that continually draws your gaze away. Painted by local artist, Mark Marcuson, this mural depicts a herd of Imperial mammoths (in the process of shredding their winter coats) crossing the Platte river, and is one of the best of its kind I have ever seen. I could have spent all my time in this hall, changing angles and humming the ‘baby elephant walk’ tune from that John Wayne movie, to the annoyance of all I’m sure, but there was more to see.

In the main corridor I spotted something that would become more common as we passed through this part of the US, a sign pointing downstairs to the Hall of Nebraskan wildlife and the buildings tornado shelter. Its weird how something so simple can make you feel like an alien in a very strange land- especially one of such extremes.

Through yet another arch you can see a large frill, and next thing you knew you’re standing before a very impressive Chasmosaurus. Marcuson is a talented guy and proves it once again here with his Cretaceous mural behind the ceratopsian. The other wall of this small room recreates a section of the Great Plains stretching far off to the horizon, with a Triceratops skull (I think) weathering out of an overhang. The display has been created as though a paleo-team has just taken a break for tea and biscuits (that’s what Americans like isn’t it?) and they’ll be back shortly to complete their excavations.

Though there technically isn’t a lot here, you’ll find yourself none-too concerned as the dynamic chasmosaur; his frill poised at an angle as though challenging you, the visitor to his domain, looks magnificent in front of its mural. Another thing I really liked was the museums lighting here. Too many institutions throw strong light at their displays, often blinding their visitors (and making it near impossible to get a decent picture), and so much light often gives the sense of sanitation- like a hospital. The warm, mood lighting in these displays I found was just right. Enough to illuminate the specimen and get about safely, but not too much that you felt on display yourself.

Around the corner visitors enter the Niobrara Sea. With limited room the curators have been clever and placed many of their fossils in the floor under durable Plexiglas. The largest of these is the 20ft long, snake-like head and neck of the plesiosaur, Thalassomedon, whose 62 depressed, illuminated vertebra you walk along as you move further into the room. Along the wall above Thalassomedon is a 30ft mosasaur called Tylosaurus, unearthed by Charles F. Sternberg, which dwarfs the equally impressive fish, Xiphactinus. I really like the way all these fossils are displayed, especially the ones underfoot and the others that have been pushed into the wall, making the place feel hand crafted and a little like Luke Skywalkers home on Tatooine.

Another impressive item in this room is a mosasaur skull belonging too M. missouriensis, which possesses the teeth marks from the mosasaur that killed it. From here you exit the room and pass though a display of early Palaeozoic life, like the Cambrian and Ediacaran, before emerging once more in the main corridor- and probably means I travelled through these galleries the wrong way.

The rest of this floor has smaller, less spectacular fossil displays, with two rooms containing local fossils. The first has a large paleo-camel (Titanotylopus or
Camelops I believe) and a number of marine fossils like ichthyosaurs, crocodiles and turtles.

The second mirrors the Elephant Hall, though on a far smaller scale. Laid out in a similar way, again the two longest walls contain rows of fossils, with one showing the evolutionary progress of horses and the other of rhinos. Clever, creative, and through no fault of its own, a little underwhelming as you enter the room through the fantastic Elephant Hall.

The main corridor linking all these galleries is another matter entirely as here you find the fossil mammals you’d expect to see in an American museum like glyptodonts, giant sloths and brontotheres. All are great, but what really caught my eye was the museums enormous entelodont. These killer hogs are a favourite of mine, and this specimen is impressive- I mean I'm not a small guy but this beast’s shoulders were as high as my own, and that head, that giant, toothy head, was easily as big as a hippos.

The third floor contains the recently refurbished Native American gallery and the display ‘First Peoples of the Plains: Traditions Shaped by Land & Sky’- along with a small gallery on the process of evolution. The strangest exhibit the floor (and the museum for that matter) contains, however, is the Jurassic dinosaur room.

The exhibits Allosaurus, which they claim was ‘one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs of North America’ (now I like Allosaurus, but lets be fair here, almost every tyrannosaur was larger), retains the classic ‘kangaroo-stance’, with its tail dragging along the ground. There is a paragraph of scripting explaining how our views on dinosaurs mobility has changed thanks, in part, to the study of dinosaur footprints, and goes on to explain that, though the skeleton retains the old pose, the ‘reconstructed allosaur model (next to it) is closer to the new pose’.

The thing is, it really isn’t. I think someone has tried to salvage the situation of having their dinosaurs in the wrong pose, not by actually (and expensively) reposing them but simply by writing they have done this on purpose in their scripting.

The room also contains a Stegosaurus that, peculiar for this museum, was not very well lit- especially if it’s real (or partly real), which I suspect it is. I think the museum had originally planned to highlight these dinosaurs by putting their darker forms in front of a white wall, making their features easier to see. Personally I don’t think it works as the room has a real gloomy feel and seems to emotionally push you out of the gallery as quickly as you enter. The few people sharing the museum with me this day seemed to agree as I watched them either not enter this room at all or pass through it as quickly as possible.

Out front of the museums entrance is a giant bronze statue of Nebraska’s state fossil, the Columbian mammoth -which I’d originally thought the giant specimen inside was. I later found out you can tell the difference between a Columbian and Imperial mammoth by the curvature of their tusks (M. imperator’s curve in more and often cross over- making Manny from Ice Age an Imperial Mammoth now that I think about it).

Standing on its podium, the colossal statue (nick-named ‘Archie’) with his trunk raised and foot poised to smash down and crush a puny human underneath is magnificent and, if the day hadn’t been absolutely freezing (the wind off the great plains cuts right through you when it carries a chill) I’d have gladly clowned around a little longer- but we had to move on as Nebraska had more to show us…and I was already half-frozen by the time I reached the car.

Directions.

Morrill Hall is located just south of 14th and Vine Streets on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. To reach Morrill Hall from Interstate 80 or Nebraska Highway 2, take 27theet, then turn west on Vine Street.

There is designated visitor parking out the front of the museum, which is located right next to what we believed was the entrance to the universities stadium. Be careful here as the 180 highway splits this part of the town and our GPS thought the roads on either side still connect.

The Museum does have an entry fee.