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North Museum of Natural History and Science


FossilBaron

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The North Museum in Lancaster, PA,  is a relatively small museum near me that's mostly aimed at kids but I enjoy still enjoy visiting. The exhibits are nice and I've seen a good variety over the years, though the limited space means that some exhibits don't always last too long. The whole museum was remodeled in 2014/2015 so there will be a discrepancy between some of the photos. I much prefer the older version I grew up with, since now the exhibits are a lot more generic-looking and less interesting in my opinion.

 

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A fossil Psaronius stump sits outside:


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Upon entering, visitors were greeted by some arctic animals:


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These were removed during the remodeling, leaving a rotating display case in its place, though more recently the wolves have been put back on exhibit on their own.


Fortunately, the pteranodon above the lobby is still there, having gotten a repaint during the remodeling:


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There's also a case now with pteranodon fossils on the upper gallery overlooking the entryway:


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Now, for the old dinosaur hall:


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The T. rex skull was actually a new exhibit back in 2010 when it replaced a phacops trilobite cast and sculpture to join Tony McVey's T. rex.


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This moa is real. Pachyornis elephantopus, though billed as Dinornis. Several ostrich vertebrae were added to the neck before the correct number of vertebrae was known. This case was redone in 2011 from a dinosaur nest display to dinosaur skulls:


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There was also a hologram set up of a T. rex skull. I don't know why it's gone or where it went but it was rather unique.

 

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Unfortunately, the triceratops skull isn't on display anymore. I don't know its whereabouts but I'm assuming and hoping its still in the museum collections.


This section of diplodocus vertebrae was donated to the North Museum by The Carnegie:


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The door in the upper photo once led into a blacklit room with all kinds of fluorescent minerals and other objects. It was really cool; I'm not sure why the museum did away with it. The wall was taken down and that corner is basically empty now. More recently, a fluorescent booth was added with some rocks inside, but it still doesn't compare to what they had.


I took this photo before the skulls went out on exhibit. By chance I was in the downstairs gallery, saw the open door, and was invited into the prep room to see them:


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Now the dinosaur hall is on the other side of the building and looks like this:


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Interestingly, the tibia and fibula on the Camarasaurus leg are upside down. The signage even explains the mistake though I don't think there are plans to fix it anytime soon.


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The North Museum is home to the holotype of Sphodrosaurus pennsylvanicus.


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This megaloceros was on loan from the ANSP for a couple years. It was re-mounted for the Academy's 200th anniversary exhibit:


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There are also some cases with fossils which have migrated from the cabinet museum downstairs. Notice the lack of locality information on the signs; I'm not sure why they went without it but it would be more interesting for those unfamiliar to know where they came from.

 

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Skolithos linearis, probably from Chiques Rock in Columbia, PA.

 

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The room adjacent to the original dinosaur hall was mostly a Native American exhibit, though since it was more open this is also where the museum hosted traveling exhibits. The native American exhibit started with the origins of man, and traced the history of the local Susquehannock Indians through the different time periods. The North Museum has an impressive collection of local artifacts, but unfortunately the exhibit was taken down and the room was left mostly empty with some remnants of the exhibits that once passed through. This is one of the very few photos I've taken of the exhibit.


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The live animal room was once the first area you could visit from the entrance. It was since moved to the back of the museum.


From the old live animal room:


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And the new one:


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On one of my visits, an upstairs room was open for quantum levitation demonstrations, and in one of the cases there were these old wood models:


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After the renovation some were in a case at the beginning of the exhibits but were removed so the space could be used to promote museum events.


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I think they may have been carved by H. Justin Roddy. He had a portrait painted in which he was holding the mastodon.


This nautilus is in a case bordering the discovery room, mostly aimed at young kids with toys and some specimens they can handle.


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There are some other miscellaneous creatures in that case as well:


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The downstairs cabinet museum was left almost untouched by the renovation. Half the room has cases with birds and the other half is where most of the rock and mineral displays are.


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This case of exotic birds has been down in the stairwell for as long as I can remember. There are two of most species as well as a chipmunk. The birds were collected in Honduras and Guiana in 1892.


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This cabinet has some exotic birds but since it's in the corner the light isn't that great for photos.


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There's a wolverine down here as well:


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The North Museum's collections are old enough that a few extinct species are present.


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The mineral display begins with Pennsylvania minerals. The case starts with minerals found in Lancaster County on the left and moves on to those from farther away.

 

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Other minerals are organized by classification.

 

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There was also a fossil display, but much of it was moved upstairs into the cases in the new dinosaur hall. The fossils which remained downstairs disappeared recently in favor of a gemstone display.

 

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Acidaspis cincinattiensis from Swatara Gap, Lebanon County, PA

 

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Cryptolithus bellulus, also from Swatara Gap.

 

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Wanneria walcottana from Getz's Woods, Lancaster.

 

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I've visited the North Museum from time to time since I first went on a class trip there in second grade. It's nice to see the older style displays, especially in the cabinet museum downstairs. While it isn't as great as it used to be, it's certainly worth visiting if you're in the area. I'll try to update this post periodically since there's much more that I have photos of from my visits.

 

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23 minutes ago, jpc said:

Nice report. 
Did i miss it?  Where is this?

Check the tags. ;) 

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...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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On 12/27/2021 at 4:37 PM, FossilBaron said:

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Great trip report and it looks like a great museum! I know you said they didn’t provide locality information in the display this fish was in, but did they happen to show the genus, and possibly species, of it? 

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On 12/28/2021 at 7:25 AM, jpc said:

Nice report. 
Did i miss it?  Where is this?

 

Lancaster, Pennsylvania, located next to (but not part of) Franklin & Marshall College.

 

9 hours ago, thelivingdead531 said:

Great trip report and it looks like a great museum! I know you said they didn’t provide locality information in the display this fish was in, but did they happen to show the genus, and possibly species, of it? 

 

I found a photo of it from when it was in the downstairs gallery. It's billed as Redfieldia ptycolepis, from the Triassic of Licking Creek, VA. The genus is actually Redfieldius, and the species is a misspelling of another fossil fish, Ptycholepis. Interestingly, both types of fish were exhibited together in the old dinosaur hall, next to the megalodon jaws, and accompanied by models. Both genera are misspelled there, too. Some of the tags in the basement had misspellings and inaccuracies, but this is the most interesting I've seen yet.

 

I have one of these myself, though it's not as complete. It's Redfieldius gracilis from the Triassic of The Newark Formation, Faquier County, Virginia-- collected in the late 1970's.

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10 minutes ago, FossilBaron said:

 

I found a photo of it from when it was in the downstairs gallery. It's billed as Redfieldia ptycolepis, from the Triassic of Licking Creek, VA. The genus is actually Redfieldius, and the species is a misspelling of another fossil fish, Ptycholepis. Interestingly, both types of fish were exhibited together in the old dinosaur hall, next to the megalodon jaws, and accompanied by models. Both genera are misspelled there, too. Some of the tags in the basement had misspellings and inaccuracies, but this is the most interesting I've seen yet.

 

I have one of these myself, though it's not as complete. It's Redfieldius gracilis from the Triassic of The Newark Formation, Faquier County, Virginia-- collected in the late 1970's.

That is wild, and pretty funny actually. Someone definitely got things a bit mixed up with their labels. 
 

I thought the one pictured looked like a Redfieldius gracilis, but I wasn’t 100% sure. I just received some nice small bits, but also some larger and impressive (in my eyes) plates of these guys. They are quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

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On 12/29/2021 at 7:36 PM, FossilBaron said:

 

Lancaster, Pennsylvania, located next to (but not part of) Franklin & Marshall College.

 

well, dangit.  I just drove through Lancaster over Xmas vacation.  

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Great post thank you. I love the old school museum look, wooden cabinets, felted displays broads , old labels and cool models of the critters that are represented in the collection . The charm of this curiosity cabinet style displays is lost to modern museums and their technology , I am not saying old is better but a matter of taste the remodelled displays are great too . Cheers Bobby 

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