Yale Peabody Museum

The Yale Peabody Museum (YPM) collection includes over 1,000 notable type specimens of Carpenter, Tillyard and Handlirsch. The majority of non-type material in the YPM-IP was collected by Dr. H.F. Becker while at the New York Botanical Garden, and includes material from the Ruby Basin, Beaverhead Basin, Metzel Ranch, and York Ranch. This material was deposited in the NYBG and was included in the accession of the NYBG fossil collection to the YPM in 1983 (along with 157 drawers of Beaverhead Basin specimens, 87 drawers of Metzel Ranch, 76 drawers of York Ranch, 98 drawers of Ruby River Basin, and 63 drawers of Mormon Creek specimens housed in the Paleobotany Division). Other YPM fossil insect collections originated as graduate student projects (the fossil plant and insect collection of Christopher Durden, Yale Ph.D. 1971), small acquisitions over the years, and a collection donated by amateur collectors (most notably the Triassic Rift Valley insects collected by Simsbury, CT high school teacher Nick MacDonald). YPM will take a leadership role in the development and testing (with students and educators) of iDigPaleo, which will be a 4-year process. The YPM will digitize 1,558 specimens and image 8,343 specimens.