Museum Hours
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
year round
Glossary
- Ammonite
- a shelled organism belonging to the cephalopod grouping.
- Avian
- meaning bird.
- Cartilage
- an elastic tissue in the body. (Example: the outer ear).
- Cervical vertebrae
- backbones in the neck region.
- Chitin
- a hardened supportive external covering of an organism (hardened skin), common in invertebrates.
- Consolidant
- a liquid compound used to harden or join a specimen, giving it strength.
- Cranial elements
- items pertaining to the skull or head.
- Data
- numerical and factual information compiled for study/research purposes.
- Dentary
- a bone in the lower jaw, closest to the front of the mouth.
- Elasmosaurs
- a group of long necked Plesiosaurs.
- Excavated
- the process used to expose and remove (by digging) ancient remains from the ground.
- Extinction
- the disappearance of a type of organism or group of organisms.
- Genera
- a grouping of organisms (species) with shared characteristics.
- Humerous
- the upper arm bone between the elbow and shoulder.
- Hypothesized
- to make an assumption or educated guess.
- Invertebrate
- an organism with no backbone or spinal column.
- Ossified
- a material or item of the body changed into bone. (Example: cartilage to bone).
- Overburden
- material deposited on top of the remains of specimens.
- Pneumatic
- a cavity inside a bone filled with air.
- Pterygoid
- a bone comprising a portion of the roof of the mouth in a reptile skull.
- Polycotylids
- a group of short necked Plesiosaurs.
- Regression
- a decrease in sea level where the shoreline retreats.
- Rock formations
- a unit of rocks subdivided into smaller units.
- Rock Sequence
- a given set of rock units in a specific order of succession.
- Sediments
- small particles or pieces of rocks that have been weathered and deposited.
- Shale
- a rock composed of many fine grained sediment layers.
- Speciment
- a solitary item representing an organism.
- Tectonic forces
- forces or processes causing the Earth's crust to deform and physically change.
- Undulations
- a wavelike movement, moving from side to side.