Visit Invertebrate Paleontology Collections

We can provide you with desk space and access to mains power. Free public WiFi is available throughout the department. If arranged in advance with your collections host, we may also be able to provide the following: 

• Copy stand, tripod, and lights 
• Microscope 
• Clay and/or sand box for positioning specimens for photography 

Other imaging equipment, including cameras, GIGAmacro, RTI dome, and UV set-up, is primarily for Museum staff use, but may be available subject to prior approval from the Curator-in-Charge. 

Please bring everything else required for your work, including your camera, spare batteries, laptop leads, any travel adapters if you’re visiting from outside the US, measuring equipment, scale bars, and backdrops. Where possible, we ask visitors to use vernier calipers with carbon fiber tips rather than metal, to help protect the specimens. 

If you’d like to borrow material during or after your visit, please let us know as soon as possible. All loans are approved by the Curator-in-Charge. Depending on the complexity of the loan and staff availability, it may not always be possible to arrange everything before you leave.

In those cases, we may be able to send specimens to your institution by courier at a later date. If the loan is large, we may ask you to help us prepare the loan for transport. In this case, we may ask you to add some extra time to the end of your visit. See Loans for full details on our loans process. 

2D photography of specimens is welcome for scientific use only. Please note, images must not be used for social media or commercial purposes without written consent from AMNH and may incur a fee.  

Some types of work require advanced approval before your visit where possible. These are covered by separate application processes: 

• 3D data generation (including CT scanning, photogrammetry, structured light scanning, laser scanning, laser scanning, and synchrotron X-ray computed microtomography) requires advance application and approval. Please see 3D Imaging for details and how to apply. 
• Destructive Sampling and Specimen preparation (including molding, casting, and whitening for photography) also require advance approval. Please see Destructive Sampling and Specimen preparation for details and how to apply.  

*If you are planning to generate 3D data, or carry out destructive sampling, specimen preparation (including molding, casting and whitening for photography), we recommend applying well before your visit so that approvals can be in place when you arrive. 

If you use our collections in a publication, please cite specimens using the standard format: AMNH-FI-12345. Suffixes, where they exist, should be separated from the main catalog number by a dash (e.g. AMNH-FI-12345-1). Specimens from the Columbia University sub-collection may sometimes carry an additional prefix (e.g. AMNH-FI-CU-12345). 

If any specimens you wish to publish are cataloged as part of a lot and do not have individual catalog numbers, please contact Museum Specialist Peter Daly ([email protected]) before publication so we can assign unique numbers. Please give us as much notice as possible. Please do not publish specimens using your own numbering system. 

 Please email us a PDF of any publication citing AMNH specimens as soon as possible after publication. 

Collections staff in Invertebrate Paleontology can only provide access to the Invertebrate Paleontology collections. If you’d like to visit collections held by other departments, including Vertebrate Paleontology and Invertebrate Zoology, please contact those departments directly to arrange access.

Access to specimens currently on display requires opening display cases, which involves significant cost and coordination. For this reason, it can only be considered in exceptional circumstances. Please contact us to discuss if you believe your research requires access to specimens on display.