connorp Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 (edited) Over the weekend I spent some time at the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, Illinois. My primary reason for visiting was to check out their local Ordovician fossils, but I was quite surprised by how large and comprehensive the museum was. Lots of great fossils and cool dioramas, definitely worth a visit if you're in the area. Diorama of the Ordovician sea Trilobites Crinoids and an edrioasteroid Cephalopods Bivalves and gastropods Receptaculitids Edited December 21, 2021 by connorp 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connorp Posted December 21, 2021 Author Share Posted December 21, 2021 Miscellaneous items on the first floor 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connorp Posted December 21, 2021 Author Share Posted December 21, 2021 Here are some Mazon Creek fossils and dioramas. The dioramas were really spectacular, better than the Field Museum I think, Tully monsters Arthropleura model and a large tergite 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connorp Posted December 21, 2021 Author Share Posted December 21, 2021 Dinosaurs 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connorp Posted December 21, 2021 Author Share Posted December 21, 2021 Green River specimens 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connorp Posted December 21, 2021 Author Share Posted December 21, 2021 Miscellaneous items on the second floor 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connorp Posted December 21, 2021 Author Share Posted December 21, 2021 There's a lot of archaeology related exhibits but I didn't spend much time looking at those. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connorp Posted December 21, 2021 Author Share Posted December 21, 2021 Finally there were a lot of live animals on the third floor, mostly reptiles and amphibians. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntonia Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Wow!! What an amazing museum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Thanks for the tour. This museum is definitely worth a visit. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 11 hours ago, connorp said: Over the weekend I spent some time at the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, Illinois. My primary reason for visiting was to check out their local Ordovician fossils, but I was quite surprised by how large and comprehensive the museum was. Lots of great fossils and cool dioramas, definitely worth a visit if you're in the area. I went there a couple years ago and it does have a lot of nice fossils and dioramas. The one thing I did not like was the lack of proper lighting. It was so dark in the museum I had trouble making out any detail of the fossils on display. Was it dark when you visited or was it just a fluke on the day of my visit? I have heard that electricity is a major expense for museums and I think they were trying to cut some costs by not lighting many of the displays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connorp Posted December 21, 2021 Author Share Posted December 21, 2021 3 hours ago, Al Dente said: I went there a couple years ago and it does have a lot of nice fossils and dioramas. The one thing I did not like was the lack of proper lighting. It was so dark in the museum I had trouble making out any detail of the fossils on display. Was it dark when you visited or was it just a fluke on the day of my visit? I have heard that electricity is a major expense for museums and I think they were trying to cut some costs by not lighting many of the displays. It seemed fine to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kgbudge Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Spectacular receptaculid. (Try saying that three times fast.) 1 My Blog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 15 minutes ago, kgbudge said: Spectacular receptaculid. (Try saying that three times fast.) Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 1 hour ago, connorp said: It seemed fine to me. They must have been having lighting issues the day I went. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 Thank you for the report, I should really get back there. I haven't visited since I went to PaleoFest there around 20 years ago (I suppose I should also try to go to PaleoFest again too!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilNerd Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 Nice report! I’ll have to put it on my list of museums to visit. Nice specimens and I love the dioramas. Thanks for sharing! The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. -Neil deGrasse Tyson Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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