Restoration of Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Vertebrate Paleontology Collection, Phase II

俄克拉荷马州的古脊椎动物收藏 自然历史博物馆包括超过30，000个标本， 主要从美国南部平原采集 的 收藏品是重要的区域性化石储藏库 脊椎动物，并在美国同类收藏品中排名第15位。 大部分收藏品是在20世纪30年代和40年代收集的 在第一任董事J. Willis Stovall的指导下 博物馆 1953年他去世后，收藏品被忽视了。 年久失修，但通过理查德博士的努力 Cifelli于1986年被任命为策展人， 恢复到高水平的活动。 大约四分之一 收藏品已经恢复，编目，重组， 转移到现代化的储藏柜中。 西费利博士建议 收藏品修复的另一个阶段， 新生代的化石（主要是哺乳动物）也将被带到 高水平的策展 建议的收集改善项目将挽救一个 重要的研究收藏，并将使其易于访问 通过贷款。 自然历史 像这样的收藏品是研究 进化、地理学和全球变化。 持续增长和 这些收藏品的改进将使许多代人受益， 研究人员

The Vertebrate Paleontology collection of the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History includes more that 30,000 specimens, collected primarily from the southern plains of the U.S. The collection is an important regional repository for fossil vertebrates, and ranks 15th among U.S. collections of its type. Most of the collection was amassed during the 1930s and 1940s under the direction of J. Willis Stovall, first Director of the Museum. Following his death in 1953 the collection was neglected and fell into disrepair, but through the efforts of Dr. Richard Cifelli, appointed as Curator in 1986, the collection has been restored to a high level of activity. Approximately one-fourth of the collection has been restored, cataloged, reorganized, and transferred to modern storage cabinets. Dr. Cifelli proposes another phase in the collection's restoration, during which fossils of Cenozoic age (mostly mammals) will also be brought to a high level of curation. The proposed collection improvement project will salvage an important research collection, and will make it easily accessible to visiting investigators and through loans. Natural history collections such as this are essential resources for research on evolution, biogeography, and global change. Continued growth and improvement of these collections will benefit many generations of researchers.