The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University will permanently close its Philadelphia museum to the public on Sunday, September 27, 2026. “For nearly 200 years, the museum has been a welcoming space, creating memories for generations of families, schoolchildren, nature lovers and scientists,” an announcement made to the public says. “The Academy is more, however, than the galleries and display areas. Our collections containing more than 19 million specimens and our critical scientific research must be prioritized.” [Read more…] about One of America’s Oldest Natural History Museums Closing
Paleontology
Cinnamon Fern Through the Lens of Time
Near my home, at the bottom of a hillside, there is a shelf just above a road-cut where the soil is moist from the groundwater seeping out of the hill. Back in April the first coiled cinnamon fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum) fiddleheads pushed up through the ground.
Huddled with heads bowed in a tight group, clad in shaggy off-white wool as if anticipating the chill, their forms glinted in the morning light as they caught the dew. [Read more…] about Cinnamon Fern Through the Lens of Time
Watchable Wildlife: Chaumont Barrens Preserve
One of the last and finest examples of alvar grasslands in the world, Chaumont Barrens Preserve is a one-of-a-kind destination in New York State.
Featuring a unique landscape with flat, rocky terrain of grasslands, limestone woodlands, cedar forests, pavement barrens, and globally rare plant communities, Chaumont Barrens is home to a mosaic of natural and remarkable wonders. [Read more…] about Watchable Wildlife: Chaumont Barrens Preserve
Spectral Database Planned for Museum of Natural History Mineral Collection
![Beryl (/ˈbɛrəl/ BERR-əl) is a mineral composed of beryllium aluminium silicate with the chemical formula Be3Al2(SiO3)6.[6] Well-known varieties of beryl include emerald and aquamarine.](https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Mineral-Beryl-e1774449180809.jpg)
Wiley, which calls itself “a global leader in authoritative content and research intelligence for the advancement of scientific discovery, innovation and learning,” has announced a new collaborative project with the American Museum of Natural History to extend access to the Museum’s renowned mineral collection to scientists around the world.
This new project, a Raman spectral database, serves the museum’s mission to disseminate knowledge about the natural world “through scientific research and education.” [Read more…] about Spectral Database Planned for Museum of Natural History Mineral Collection
The Quiet Persistence of Clubmosses
Walking in our woods in early winter, I notice dense patches of clubmoss that lend a welcome splash of green to the forest floor. Some of these evergreen plants resemble miniature Christmas trees; others have fuzzy runners that creep across the ground. Despite their name, clubmosses are not true mosses.
They are the oldest group of vascular plants, which have specialized tissue called xylem that transports water and nutrients. Clubmosses evolved 410 million years ago and dominated the forests of the Carboniferous Period (roughly 350 to 300 million years ago), when they could grow up to 100 feet tall. Coal deposits contain the remains of these ancient clubmosses. [Read more…] about The Quiet Persistence of Clubmosses
The First Adirondackers: 12,000 Years of Indigenous History
The First Adirondackers: 12,000 Years of Indigenous Peoples in the Adirondack Upland (Globe Pequot/North Country Books, 2025) challenges the widespread, long-standing belief that the Adirondacks of Northern New York were uninhabited before the arrival of European colonizers.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. Through local indigenous traditions and supporting findings by natural science, authors David Fadden and Curt Stager expose, document, and honor the long human presence in the Adirondacks, helping not only to redefine what it means to be an Adirondacker, but also contributing to a more complete understanding of America itself. [Read more…] about The First Adirondackers: 12,000 Years of Indigenous History
Gyttja: Lake Mud Beneath Your Feet Reveals the Past
Most people know that the bottom of a northern lake or large pond is a mucky, muddy mess of weeds, decayed leaves, some rocks, and a few crayfish to avoid stepping on while wading.
This area is known as the lake shelf. Just beyond the shelf is often a steep drop-off – usually 20 feet deep or more – known as the slope, followed by a longer and much less steep rise leading to the deepest part, known as the basin. With every storm and footstep, most of the muck is re-suspended, moving and settling again on the rise and basin. [Read more…] about Gyttja: Lake Mud Beneath Your Feet Reveals the Past
Winifred Goldring: America’s Female First State Paleontologist
The latest episode of the A New York Minute in History podcast digs into the life and career of Winifred Goldring (1888-1971), an incredibly prolific scientist who overcame prejudice to become the first female New York State Paleontologist at the New State Museum.
Goldring was born in Kenwood, now part of Albany, NY, and she would eventually go on to become the fifth State Paleontologist of New York and the first female State Paleontologist anywhere in the country. She was also a highly successful educator and innovative exhibit designer and would spend 40 years as a scientist at the State Museum. [Read more…] about Winifred Goldring: America’s Female First State Paleontologist
Species Spotlight: Longnose Gar
With long, toothy snouts, and torpedo shaped bodies, native longnose gar (Lepisosteus osseus) are often seen cruising just below the water’s surface in lakes, rivers, and streams from the St. Lawrence River all the way south to Florida and Texas. [Read more…] about Species Spotlight: Longnose Gar
Glacial Lakes in the Ausable River Valley
At the close of the last Ice Age about 13,200 years ago glacial ice formed a dam across the valley of the East Branch Ausable River creating a series of lakes that overflowed into adjacent watersheds through mountain passes.
This was during the late Wisconsinan glaciation in the final stages of the great continental Laurentide Ice Sheet’s retreat north from the Adirondack Mountains. [Read more…] about Glacial Lakes in the Ausable River Valley
The Hidden History of Cyanobacteria
Perhaps you saw the flyers at your town office or a warning sign posted at your favorite swimming hole.
The smell might have driven you home, but maybe you crept closer – unable to see anything wrong but unnerved by the deserted shoreline on such a hot and inviting day. [Read more…] about The Hidden History of Cyanobacteria
CT Scan To Reveal Inside of State Museum Dinosaur Egg, Giant Beaver Fossils
It’s the ultimate prehistoric time capsule — and the New York State Museum and Albany Medical C enter are teaming together to unlock it. The Museum and Medical Center are planning to look inside two of its most interesting fossils, including a 70–80 million-year-old dinosaur egg.
Believed to be from a species of Hadrosaur — a duck-billed dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period — the egg likely originates from Asia. [Read more…] about CT Scan To Reveal Inside of State Museum Dinosaur Egg, Giant Beaver Fossils
Rare New York Fossil Highlights Decline of Naraoia Arthropod
A newly published scientific paper is revealing insights into a rare fossil from the Silurian Period (the third period of the Paleozoic Era), estimated to be around 420 million years old. Part of the New York State Museum’s collection, this specimen of Naraoia bertiensis is one of only two known fossils of its kind ever discovered from this era. [Read more…] about Rare New York Fossil Highlights Decline of Naraoia Arthropod
Mastodon Remains Discovered in Upstate New York
A remarkable discovery in Orange County, New York, has unearthed a complete mastodon jaw, marking the first such find in the State in over 11 years. The jaw, along with additional bone fragments, was recovered by researchers from the New York State Museum and SUNY Orange from the backyard of a residence near Scotchtown, in the Town of Wallkill. [Read more…] about Mastodon Remains Discovered in Upstate New York
The Old State Museum: Old Bones, Extinction & Climate Change
To commemorate the start of another school year, the New York State Museum posted a series of photos on social media from field trips to the original museum, now occupied by the New York State Education Department.
That building, completed in 1912 and distinguished by a colonnade of pillars facing the capitol building, is the place where many of us first saw the State Museum’s zoological collection, which famously included fossils, skeletons and life-sized reconstructions of extinct ice age mammals. [Read more…] about The Old State Museum: Old Bones, Extinction & Climate Change
The Ecological Benefits of Ferns
Ferns have grown on Earth for longer than trees and flowers, and existed well before Homo sapiens. In our region, the oldest lineage, emerging 200 million years ago, is the royal fern family (Osmundaceae), including royal, cinnamon, and interrupted ferns.
Named for the fertile, spore-producing pinnae that “interrupt” the rest of the leafy frond, Osmunda claytonia illustrates the many qualities ferns have evolved after so much time on this planet: tough spores that drift on the wind and can remain viable for decades; a separate, tiny reproductive form, called a gametophyte, tolerant of drought and flood; a special light receptor that enables photosynthesis in the shadiest environments. [Read more…] about The Ecological Benefits of Ferns
John Boyd Thacher State Park Designated National Natural Landmark
The National Park Service has designated John Boyd Thacher State Park at National Natural Landmark (NNL) on December 11, 2023, one of 604 across the nation.
NNL designation recognizes the site’s significant natural features and the State’s commitment to stewardship of this national treasure. [Read more…] about John Boyd Thacher State Park Designated National Natural Landmark
Mystery Tusk: Searching for Elephants in the Maine Woods
Mystery Tusk: Searching for Elephants in the Maine Woods (North Country Press, 2022) chronicles Gary Hoyle’s search for the identity of a tusk found in the collection of an old, dismantled museum, when the author was the Curator of Natural History at the Maine State Museum. [Read more…] about Mystery Tusk: Searching for Elephants in the Maine Woods
Early Inhabitants of the Finger Lakes Region
According to archeological records, groups of nomadic Paleo-Indians traveled through the Finger Lakes region approximately 8,000 to 9,000 years ago. Small bands of these hunters and gatherers followed large game during the last stages of the Ice Age when the glaciers that formed the area’s notable lakes were receding.
Somewhat more recent early archaic archeological sites scattered across Western New York reflect a culture that was highly mobile and left little in terms of an archeological record. [Read more…] about Early Inhabitants of the Finger Lakes Region
Geologic Formation of the Finger Lakes
Approximately 600 million years ago, during the Neoproterozoic Era, the Earth’s supercontinent began to break apart, and an ocean formed between land masses that roughly correlate to Europe and North America today. For the next 100 million years, this ocean continued to widen until the continents changed course and began to move back towards each other.
The eventual collision of these land masses formed a tall mountain range now known as North America’s Appalachians. [Read more…] about Geologic Formation of the Finger Lakes