Latest News

The Fossil Collection participated in multiple "science nights" over the last few weeks, including Pioneer Elementary School on March 4th and Birch Lane Elementary on March 10th. It was a pleasure sharing some of our collection with hundreds of students. Is your Yolo County school doing a science night? Feel free to contact us.

UC Davis Biodiversity Day 2026 has come and gone, and it was a huge success! Over 1,100 visitors came over four hours to view the collection, with lines out the door the whole time. Thank you to Nick Thurber for spearheading the event, along with 30 gradaute and undergraduate volunteers, including: Eduardo Alatorre-Acevedo, Tessa Brunoir, Gwyn Chilcoat, Liuliu Gould, Christopher Mulligan, Sarah King, and Julia Walker.

Dr. Gold introduced a wonderful group of students to the field of paleontology as part of the UC Davis Young Scholars Program. This Program is a 6-week summer residential research program for high school juniors and seniors. The goal of the program is to introduce students from all backgrounds to university level research and a mentored experience to university life. 

A huge thanks to paleoartist Elio Oregel for his work reconstructing our sabertooth cat (Smilodon) skulls. The skull on the left is a real fossil from the La Brea Tar Pits, now with a replica saber tooth. You can see both of these skulls at our outreach events, and you can learn more about Elio on Instragram @el_es_elio

UC Davis' Letters & Sciences Magazine recently published a profile on the fossil collection, including a listicle of five fossils in our collection. You can read the article here.

After much delay, our Tyrannosaurus rex is now on display. This skull represents a cast of the "Black Beauty" specimen, which is housed at Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta, Canada. Students and visitors will now be greeted by our T.rex as well as our saber tooth cat (a real skeleton!) when they enter the Earth and Physical Science Building. You can check out a gallery of installation photos here.

The UC Davis Fossil Collection was invited to the "Greatest Show" on October 18th, celebrating the impact of the $2.25 billion that donors gave during the university’s Expect Greater Campaign. A big thanks to Eduardo Alatorre-Acevedo, Lena Anderson, Gwyn Chilcoat, Benjamin Faulkner, Gregory Funston, Rogelio Lopez , Elio Oregel, Tracy Thomson, and Garrett Zebley for their help!

A heartfelt thanks to Reverend Betty Light for her donation of a sea lion fossil. Based on the location of discovery, this partial (but still massive) limb is estimated to be 5-7 million years old! Do you have fossils looking for a home? Consider donating them to the collection.

Following our successful Crowdfunding campaign, we have now added a replica Tyrannosaurus rex skull to our collection!  The replica is cast from the fossil "Black Beauty" (specimen number RTMP 81.6.1), which is housed at Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta, Canada. It is currently receiving some cosmetic touch-ups as we build a case to house the skull. It should be on display in the Earth & Physical Sciences Building by late 2024.