Fossils and specimens

Small fossil skeletons in a wooden crate display with brushes and tools.
A group of fossil mammal skeletons preserved together in a slab, arranged in a wooden crate with brushes and tools, suggesting a fieldwork setup.
Small fossils and fragments arranged in clear display cases.
Small fossils and fragments, each given its own place in the display. The close arrangement makes their differences in size and shape easy to compare.
Fossil jawbones with teeth displayed in black cases.
Fossil jaws displayed side by side, with rows of teeth still visible.
Pressed plant specimens in a display about threatened, endangered, and extinct Illinois plants.
A display of threatened, endangered, and extinct plants of Illinois. It reminded me of making a plant specimen collection at a summer camp at Seoul Grand Park Botanical Garden, in 1989, as I remember. We dried the plants between the pages of large sketchbooks. I wish I still had those specimens.
Preserved birds with varied plumage arranged on branches behind glass.
Bird specimens arranged on branches behind glass—a close view of their different beaks, feathers, and body shapes.

Dinosaurs

Jane’s mounted skeleton in a darkened museum gallery.
Jane, a juvenile tyrannosaur discovered in the Hell Creek Formation of southeastern Montana in 2001 by Carol Tuck and Bill Harrison, members of a Burpee expedition led by Michael Henderson. A 2025 study identifies Jane as Nanotyrannus lethaeus. Discovery account; Burpee’s Jane exhibit; 2025 study.
Horned dinosaur skulls arranged along a gallery wall.
A wall of horned dinosaur skulls, including Chasmosaurus, Kosmoceratops, and Zuniceratops. Seen together, their different horns and frills are striking.
A close view of Homer’s Triceratops skull.
Homer, a subadult Triceratops from southeastern Montana. This is the actual fossil skull. Burpee spent more than eight years bringing Homer from discovery near Ekalaka to preparation and exhibition. About Homer.

Inside the laboratories

A laboratory bench with turtle shells, animal remains, and small bones in dishes.
Turtle shells, skeletons, and tiny bones arranged on the laboratory bench. Thank you to the scientist who took the time to tell us about these skeletons and the stories behind them. Burpee’s biology lab prepares specimens for its osteology, or skeletal, collection. About the biology lab.
Cabinets, microscopes, and workbenches inside the museum laboratory.
Specimen cabinets and workbenches line the laboratory, with microscopes, containers, and tools close at hand.
Windows into the Jay and Barbara Brost Paleo Viewing Lab.
The Jay & Barbara Brost Paleo Viewing Lab. Behind these windows, fossils are prepared for research and display by carefully removing the surrounding rock. About the paleo lab.
Fossil material in an open plaster field jacket on a laboratory table.
Fossil material in an open field jacket. A cervical vertebra—a neck bone—from Jimmy, a juvenile Diplodocus. Jimmy was discovered at the Hanksville-Burpee Quarry in Utah in 2011. Report of Jimmy’s discovery.
Fossils, tools, and preparation equipment spread across a laboratory workbench.
A workbench covered with fossils and preparation tools. Removing the rock around fragile bones can take months or even years. Fossil preparation at Burpee.
Large open fossil jackets resting on wheeled carts in the preparation laboratory.
Large fossil jackets resting on carts in the preparation lab, with portions opened to expose the material inside.