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The first fossil mammal to be deposited in the collections of the
University of Kansas was a lower jaw of a mastodon, Mammut americanum,
found near Lawrence in 1877. Collecting of fossil mammals, however, from that time to 1894, was sporadic and subordinated to fish
and reptile collection from the Upper Cretaceous "chalk" of western
Kansas. Such specimens as were obtained were generally Pleistocene or from the
Ogallala at Lang Island, Kansas. Thus, T. R. Overton and Judge E. P. lest
collected sufficient rhinoceros remains to have a Teleoceras fossiger mount
prepared by H.T. Martin in 1893. This mount seems to have been the first mounted specimen of a rhinoceros
to be set up anywhere in the world.
S.W. Williston joined the staff of the University of Kansas in 1890, and
launched into an active field program, but mostly in quest of lower
vertebrates. He did, however, lead an expedition into the fig badlands of South
Dakota in
1894, and thus was acquired the first systematic
collection of fossil mammals at the University.
By the time Williston went to the University of Chicago in 1902, H. T.
Martin ---- a self-taught collector and paleontologist--- had been hired on a
permanent basis as a preparator (and later as an assistant curator) of the
collections of the Museum of Vertebrate Paleontology, soon to be housed in the
new Museum of natural History building (Dyche Hall). Martin was primarily
interested in collecting and preparing fossil vertebrates. Up to the time of his death in 1931, his field operations increased the
fossil mammal holdings to a significant degree. His principal collecting
sorties were:
(1) Patagonia, 1903. Parts of this collection are at Harvard and the British Museum (Natural
History), but a considerable assemblage of Santa Cruz (early Miocene) mammals
is at the University of Kansas.
(2) John Day Oligocene (C. E. McClung in charge).
(3) Northeast Colorado, 1911 and 1925. White liver Oligocene and overlying Miocene of the Ogallala. Martin had
been in northeast Colorado previously when employed by the American Museum of
Natural History in the expedition of 1898 led by W.D. Matthew.
(4) Excavations at the Edson and Rhino hill quarries, northwest Kansas, 1924, 1926, and 1928. Ogallala Formation.
(5) Bridger Basin, Bridger Formation of middle Eocene age, 1927 (M. H.
Lane in charge).
Shortly after Martin's death, C.W. Hibbard was appointed assistant
curator under the direction of H. M. Lane, then Museum Director. From 1935 to 1946, Hibbard concentrated his field
activities in southwest Kansas in the Plio-Pleistocene.
Early on, he developed his system of underwater screening for the
recovery of micromammalian remains. This method, although not the invention of
Hibbard, was put on a paying basis by him, and has revolutionized the recovery
of small mammals of all kinds. He
summed up his collecting methods by the now famous statement,
"I
collect outcrops, not fossils."
From 1947 to 1961, R. W. Wilson was in charge of the fossil
vertebrate collections. He attempted to fill gaps in the Paleogene mammal
collections by leading parties to the San Juan Basin Paleocene (1948, 1950, 1956); to the Bighorn Basin (1949) for early Eocene; to the Bridger basin (1958), and to the Uinta basin (1959) for late
Eocene. In addition, and in collaboration with E.C. Galbreath, he continued
collecting on a yearly basis in northeast Colorado for Oligocene and Miocene
specimens.
W. A. Clemens, Jr. was curator of fossil mammals from 1961 through 1967. He collected in the Paleocene of the San
Juan Basin, but, more especially, he directed his activities to the obtaining
of Late Cretaceous mammal assemblages from that basin. Under the immediate
direction of J.A. Lillegraven, an important Late Cretaceous collection was also
obtained in Alberta, Canada, but this collection has been returned to Canada.
C.C. Black became curator of the mammal collection in 1970, and added to the Eocene, Oligocene, and
Miocene collections from Wyoming. Black left the University of Kansas in 1972 and Larry Martin was appointed to
replace him, a position he still holds. Tertiary collections from the early
Miocene of Nebraska, and a large and important Pleistocene assemblage from
Natural Trap, Wyoming, have been the chief additions in recent years.
It may be added that R. R. Camp became preparator in
vertebrate paleontology under Hibbard (1945), and continued until his death in 1967. He was an important participant in eight summers of collecting in his
tenure as preparator. Orville Bonner replaced Camp in 1968, and later was made
vertebrate paleontologist of the Museum, his present position. During this
interval, he has participated in many field trips concerned with the collecting
of fossil mammals, as well as adding important specimens to the Museum's Upper
Cretaceous chalk collection.
In addition to the staff members mentioned, many students, undergraduate
as well as graduate, were active in adding to the collections of fossil
mammals. Their contributions may be ascertained by consulting the field records
at the Museum of Natural History, and here they are collectively acknowledged
with gratitude.
In summary it can be said that the fossil mammal collections are
especially rich in small mammals of Oligocene through Pleistocene age. The Kutz
Canyon, San Juan Basin, collection of middle Paleocene (Torrejonian) age is
also outstanding.
Comments or questions may be directed to the assistant director for public programs.
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