Grand Rapids Public Museum

Common Types of Body Fossil Preservation. 

Specimens are all around us; they are the plants, animals and minerals that make up the world we live in. They form our understanding of Earth and inform humanity’s role in the environment. These natural collections represent our planet’s diversity at a particular place and time. Learning to ‘read’ a specimen is a skill to be acquired through practice, just like reading a book. Specimen observations help teach us how to really look at an object and make inferences! Some questions you ask of any natural specimen are included in the document below. 

Museum Specimen Study

Take a moment to reflect on the most interesting things you've learned and any questions you still have on the topic.

Reflection

Browse this collection of fossils from the GRPM Collections. Step back on the geological timeline to explore a variety of fossilized plant and remains.

Fossil Exploration

Practice detailed specimen observations with the Fossil Observations guide! Choose one of the fossils in "Activity 4: Fossil Explorations" to use for this Fossil Observation Activity OR pick a fossil in this curator collection: https://grpmcollections.org/Detail/occurrences/331 

Fossil Observations

American Mastodon, partial skeleton. This mastodon in the GRPM's Collection, nicknamed Smitty, was found in October of 1985 in Grandville, Michigan.  A detailed study of the skeleton determined Smitty was male and around 33 years when he died. Smitty’s skeletal material has been radiocarbon dated back to ~10,920-12,160 years ago. View the complete record on the GRPM Digital Collections at https://grpmcollections.org/Detail/objects/188079 

Introduction

Calling all paleontologists! Step back on the geological timeline to explore a variety of plant and animal fossils. Learn all about the science of fossils and how prehistoric creatures lived, ate and moved about our world.

If you are located near Grand Rapids, Michigan and are interested in loaning real hands-on materials on this topic into your classroom, please visit our website at: 

Virtual_Discovery_Kit_Fossils_Final (1).pdf

Fossils Discovery Kit

Life Science

Science

Mastodon tooth_E12504.jpg

The Ameican Mastodon lived in Michigan during the Pleistocene Epoch, also known as the ice-age, around 1.5 million years ago to 10,000 years ago. It was similar in size to a modern-day African Elephant with a shoulder height of eight to nine feet and a weight of four to six tons. This specimen, which was discovered in Florida, shows how Mastodon teeth were sharp and ridged, allowing them to eat a variety of tough plant material including twigs, roots, and branches.

Mastodon fossils are abundant in Michigan and in 2002, it became the official state fossil. 

Mastodon Tooth

Description

Object Information

Appears In

Fossils Discovery Kit