British Columbia Paleontology Links
British Columbia Paleontological Alliance
The BCPA is a union of professional and amateur paleontologists working to advance the science of paleontology in the province by fostering public awareness, scientific collecting and education, and by promoting communication among all those interested in fossils.
The BCPA is the umbrella organisation for the 7 paleontological societies in BC.
The Vancouver Island Paleontological Society (VIPS)
The Vancouver Island Paleontological Society is a non-profit society of professional and amateur paleontologists based in Courtenay, British Columbia. VIPS is part of the British Columbia Paleontological Alliance.
Victoria Palaeontology Society (VicPS)
The Victoria Palaeontology Society is a group of amateur fossil enthusiasts and professional palaeontologists in Victoria, British Columbia. VicPS is part of the British Columbia Palaeontological Alliance.
The Burgess Shale Geoscience Foundation
The foundation that manages the Burgess Shale and the Mt. Stephen Fossil Beds. You can get information about the guided hikes here.
Burgess Shale Online Exhibition (Royal Ontario Museum)
The first bilingual website dedicated to the Burgess Shale. Part of the Virtual Museum of Canada, this website an immersive journey into the world of the bizarre prehistoric creatures that formed the foundation for all animal life on Earth half a billion years ago.
The Exploration Place Science Centre and Museum
Located in Prince George. Their Paleontology Gallery includes full-size dinosaur models and fossils from the area over 70 million years ago.
PALEO LAB at UBC Okanagan
The PALEO LAB at UBC Okanagan specialises in the use of midge fossils for the reconstruction of past environmental changes, including especially glacial and postglacial climates, and recent human impacts on lake ecosystems.
Associations and Societies
The Alberta Paleontological Society
A non-profit organization founded in 1986 for amateur fossil enthusiasts.
The Dinosaur Society
Based in the UK. News, events, photo gallery, publications, exhibitions.
The Palaeontological Association
Founded in 1957 to promote the study of palaeontology and its allied sciences through publication of academic journals (Palaeontology and Special Papers in Palaeontology), Newsletters, a series of field guides, regular meetings and field excursions, and a program of annual awards. The association is based in the UK.
The Paleontological Society
An international nonprofit organization devoted exclusively to the advancement of the science of paleontology. The Society was founded in 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland.
Society for Vertebrate Paleontology
Founded in 1940, the society now has more than 2,300 members representing professionals, students, artists, preparators, and others. The society is organized exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, is also concerned with the conservation and preservation of fossil sites.
Geology
Cordilleran Section of the Geological Association of Canada (GAC)
The Cordilleran Section of the Geological Association of Canada consists of a diverse group of people who have an interest in and professional affiliation with the earth sciences as they apply to the mountainous terrain of Western Canada known as the Cordillera. Their mandate is to provide a common meeting ground for their membership, which includes representatives from industry, the provincial and federal governments, educational institutions and to some extent, the general public.
The Northwest Geological Society
The Northwest Geological Society, based in Seattle, Washington, is a regional, non-profit association of roughly 250 professionals, students, retirees, and other interested persons in the field of geology. It provides a forum for the presentation and discussion of a wide range of geologic topics, emphasizing those of the Pacific Northwest or of fundamental scientific interest.
Paleontology and Geology of Missouri
This site is a Paleontological research project based in St. Louis, Missouri, devoted to the study of the geological formations in Missouri. Primary focus is the study of the geological formations in the St. Louis area.
Museums
Pacific Museum of the Earth
The Pacific Museum of the Earth is located in the Earth and Ocean Sciences building on the UBC Vancouver campus. It is the result of the amalgamation of two pre-existing Museums: The M.Y. Williams Geological Museum at UBC, and the Pacific Mineral Museum in downtown Vancouver. Displays include fossils, minerals, rocks, and meteorites. Fossils include a cast of dinosaur eggs, an archeopteryx, and the skeleton of a Lambeosaurus.
Beaty Biodiversity Museum
UBC’s rich biological collections are housed in the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, a new public museum dedicated to enhancing the public’s understanding and appreciation of biodiversity, and making the research conducted by the scientists of UBC’s Biodiversity Research Centre more accessible to the public. The fossil collection contains over 20,000 specimens, ranging from recent shells to 500 million year old stromatolites.
Royal BC Museum
The Royal BC Museum is located in downtown Victoria. Its fossil collection of approximately 55,000 specimens ranges from delicate impressions from the Paleozoic Burgess shale (nearly 600 million years old) to mammoth and mastodon bones and teeth of the last 20,000 years. Some of the oldest fossils in the RBCM collection are over 550 million years old. These are the Ediacaran fossils from Mount Robson Provincial Park. Some of the youngest fossils in the collection include clams and other invertebrates from the Victoria area that are a few thousand years old.
Royal Tyrrell Museum
The museum, located in Alberta, Canada, features excellent displays of Earth life history and fossil discoveries, year round public education programs, and the opportunity to join the field crews in dinosaur fossil excavations.
Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum
An international institution for experiential learning dedicated to Alberta’s palaeontological heritage, through research, collection, preservation, exhibition, public programming, publications and innovative outreach.
Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre
This museum, located in Morden, Manitoba, provides a great interpretation of life in the Western Interior Seaway from the late Cretaceous period of earth’s prehistory. Their extensive collection of marine reptile fossils is the largest in Canada and is very well represented in their gallery space. Their fossil collection is digitized and uploaded onto the website for perusal by researchers worldwide. They also have numerous scientific journals published, with more in progress.
The museum holds the Guinness World Record for the largest publicly displayed mosasaur, named Bruce.
Museum of the Rockies
The museum is on the campus of Montana State University in Bozeman. Exhibits include the Siebel Dinosaur Complex featuring the largest Tyrannosaurus rex skull in the world.
The Aurora Fossil Museum
The museum, located in Aurora, North Carolina, features a variety of ancient fossil from local sources, including the nearby PCS Phosphate Aurora Mine. You can also mine your own 15 million year old fossils from the museum’s fossil piles.
The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
Located on the campus of the University of Washington, the Burke Museum is a major national resource for information on the natural and cultural history of the Pacific Northwest. The Burke Museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is a member of the Washington Museum Association.
Paleontological Research Institution’s Museum of the Earth
Founded in 1932, the Paleontological Research Institution has outstanding programs in research, collections, publications, and public education. The Institution cares for a collection of nearly three million specimens (one of the 10 largest in the U.S.), and publishes Bulletins of American Paleontology, the oldest paleontological journal in the Western Hemisphere, begun in 1895.
PRI’s Museum of the Earth was established in 2003 to provide the general public with a unique opportunity to explore our world through a mix of natural history displays, interactive science features, and art exhibitions. The museum’s 8,000-square-foot permanent exhibition takes visitors on a journey through 4.5 billion years of history, from the Earth’s origin to the present day.
Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center
Woodland Park, Colorado. Displays of dinosaurs, prehistoric marine reptiles, pterosaurs, and fish of North America’s late Cretaceous, as well as a working fossil laboratory.
University of California Museum of Paleontology (at UC Berkeley)
UCMP has the largest paleontological collection of any university museum in the world. These well-curated and computerized collections include fossil and modern organisms representing prokaryotes to vertebrates collected from all continents. The Museum serves the University community in various research projects and provides support for instruction at Berkeley and other UC campuses. In addition, the collections are used by paleontologists, biologists and geologists throughout the world.
Also visit their FAQ page about paleontology and fossils.
News, Journals, and Magazines
Fossil News – Journal of Avocational Paleontology
Monthly magazine published specifically with the fossil enthusiast, or avocational paleontologist. A wide variety of articles is presented, most of them written by avocational paleontologists, on subjects ranging from field experiences to fossils of a given type or region, to paleoart, to evolutionary theory. There are also book reviews, summaries of the latest findings reported in the primary literature, and books for sale.
Palaeontologia Electronica
A Paleontology e-journal.
SciTech Daily Review
Daily science and technology coverage. Links to the science stories from many of the world’s top news sources.
Other Paleontology Related Links
Ancient Life Found in Kansas Rocks
An on-line book which is an introduction to common Kansas fossils.
Ancient Odysseys – Paleontology Digs
Join a dig to find dinosaur bones and other fossils. No experience necessary! On each fossil and dinosaur dig, you’ll be provided with the training and tools to assist paleontologists with their important work. Fossil digs are always being added, so check back regularly.
Dinosaur World
Dinosaur parks in Plant City, Florida; Cave City, Kentucky; and Glen Rose, Texas. 150 life size dinosaurs displayed outdoors, representing a variety of well-known and unusual species.
Fossils
A fun short poem by the well known American poet Ogden Nash.
The Tree of Life Web Project
The Tree of Life is a project containing information about the diversity of organisms on Earth, their history, and characteristics. The information is linked together in the form of the evolutionary tree that connects all organisms to each other. It is a multi-authored, distributed Internet project containing information about phylogeny and biodiversity.
Western Interior Paleontological Society
A nonprofit organization based in Denver, Colorado that primarily focuses on paleontology. All aspects of the earth sciences are encouraged, however, including geology, paleoarcheology and occasionally space sciences.
The Great Canadian Fossil Trail
The Great Canadian Fossil Trail is a destination corridor that links fossil sites, host communities and heritage attractions. The Great Canadian Fossil Trail is an initiative of the Great Canadian Fossil Trail society, a non-profit organization. The Society is dedicated to preserving the rich heritage of fossil sites and to promoting this natural heritage resource through educational opportunities and exciting places to visit.
Ischigualasto Provincial Park, Argentina
Fossils of some of the very first dinosaurs and mammals. This remote valley’s bizarre eroded formations and soaring cliffs harbor the only unbroken record yet discovered that spans the entire Triassic period, when dinosaurs first appeared (and suddenly took over the world for the next 160 million years), and when mammals, too, made their much more modest debut.
Also see the UNESCO World Heritage Centre description of the Ischigualasto-Talampaya site.
Paleontology and Geology of Missouri
This site is a Paleontological research project based in St. Louis, Missouri, devoted to the study of the geological formations in Missouri. Primary focus is the study of the geological formations in the St. Louis area.
Messel Pit Fossil Site – World Heritage Site
The Messel Pit is a disused quarry near the village of Messel, about 35 km southeast of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Bituminous shale was mined there. Because of its plethora of fossils, it has significant geological and scientific importance. The Messel Pit was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site on 9 December 1995.