The Joe Webb Peoples Fossil Collection
At Wesleyan University
Working with fossils, it’s not difficult to think that science is often stranger than fiction. Wesleyan’s new star – our Glyptodon – is something that defies our every expectation of an armadillo. With her domed carapace, exquisite scutes and odd bone projections on her cheeks, she looks like a creature from a science fiction film. Another … Read more
After almost a year of collaborative efforts, our Glyptodon, a copy of an original in a museum in Dijon, France, is finally in her place. Come gaze at her gorgeous scutes and adoring smile – it’s there, look carefully. Her favorite spot outside the Science Library, in the lobby of Exley, is decorated with pebbles that … Read more
Would you like to snorkel with giant predator reptiles the size of a small airplane? Visit Level 3 of Exley Science Centre, where these spectacular beasts adorn our walls. And fear not, they are models, and the originals from which they are made have been petrified in stone for more than 100 million years. These … Read more
Our star Glyptodon is getting a new coat of paint after we stripped her of a large quantity of 60 year-old dust, with plenty of elbow grease. As with the other Ward Casts in our collection, she will be repainted with archival artist acrylic paints. The color of our Glyptodon is rather bleached from the harsh lighting during its days … Read more
Waking from a 60 year-old torpor, our Glyptodon no longer remembers her name. Nevertheless, she would love to hear you call her each time you walk by, so do come up with an exciting name that she will love! The contestant who nominated the chosen name will win a genuine fossil from Wesleyan’s 190 year-old natural history … Read more
Wesleyan’s remarkable series of fossils casts includes two large specimens of ferocious predatorial reptiles- Plesiosaurus and Ichthyosaurus. The fossil casts were in a dishearteningly deplorable state when they were rediscovered, crated in the Penthouse of Exley. The casts were put in crates when the Wesleyan Museum closed in 1957. We did not know where they were stored, but they were moved … Read more
Long thought to be marine dinosaurs, Plesiosaurs and Ichthyosaurs were once formidable apex predators in the Mesozoic. Living in oceans at the same time when the dinosaurs were roaming the land, these magnificent beasts are now iconic displays in many major museums, showing these animals as representatives of this golden age of the giants, some 228 to … Read more