Museum of Zoology

COVID-19 and UMMZ Collections NEW UPDATE: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UMMZ/Herbarium has limited personnel available working onsite. No loan returns should be shipped without prior notification, and collection visits, loan requests, gifts, exchanges, etc. should be coordinated with the appropriate curatorial staff. Please expect delayed responses. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Division of Mollusks The Mollusk Division of the Museum of Zoology is a collection of resources for people who conduct research on, or need information about, mollusks. The division contains one of the largest collections of freshwater mollusks in the world. It also has a respectable marine collection, and one of the top collections of land snails in the United States.

Division of Fishes The Division of Fishes of the Museum of Zoology is a research resource and teaching center dedicated to the study of fish evolution, phylogeny, distribution, ecology, and behavior. We have about 3.5 million catalogued specimens available for study. The collections are rich in specimens from the U.S., Mexico, Asia, Japan, the Neotropics, and Africa.

Division of Birds The Bird Division is a collection of resources for people who conduct research on or need information about birds. The research collections, with 215,000 bird specimens, is one of the largest in the world. The Bird Division also houses the expansive library of the Wilson Ornithological Society. The faculty, staff, and students conduct research on the evolutionary histories, behavior, ecology and conservation of a wide variety of birds using museum collections, molecular techniques, and field studies.

Division of Reptiles & Amphibians The Division of Reptiles & Amphibians maintains a collection that is worldwide in scope and presently, contains over 200,000 catalogued lots representing 435,000 individual specimens.

Division of Insects The Insect Division houses a world-class collection with over 4.5 million specimens from all over the globe. An emphasis on specific taxonomic groups has produced outstanding collections of the Acari, Orthoptera, and Odonata, and to a lesser extent, the Homoptera, Coleoptera and Lepidoptera.

Division of Mammals The Mammal Division of the Museum of Zoology was established in 1837, and has grown steadily to its current size, with over 150,000 specimens. An important feature of the mammal collection at the Museum of Zoology is our emphasis on non-traditional specimens; that is, preparations that go beyond or replace the traditional skin and skull.

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Recent News

Davis Rabosky wins Meritorious Teaching Award in Herpetology

"A good herpetologist gets you excited about herps, a good scientist gets you excited about the process of discovery, and a good mentor makes you feel like you belong doing all the above. Somehow, Alison has struck the perfect balance of doing all three."

On U-M Gateway | Smaller bodies, longer wings, earlier migrations: Untangling the multiple impacts of climate warming on birds

When a U-M-led research team found last year that N. American migratory birds have been getting smaller and that their wings have gotten a bit longer, the scientists wondered if they were seeing the fingerprint of earlier spring migration.

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Research Feature

A University of Michigan EEB led team documented 15 rare predator-prey interactions in the Amazon rainforest including images and video of a dinner plate-size tarantula dragging a young opossum.

Warning to arachnophobes: The video below is the stuff of nightmares!

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Please Note: The Museum of Zoology is a research facility. It is not usually open to the public. Please refer to the Museum of Natural History website if you wish to visit.

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British Ecological Society Call for Proposals

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