An oval piece of amber embedded with tiny invertebrate fossils

Water bear fossil found in 16-million-year-old amber

November 5, 2021

MCZ Faculty-Curator Javier Ortega-Hernández and graduate student Marc Mapalo, along with colleagues, describe Paradoryphoribius chronocaribbeus, a new fossil tardigrade from Miocene Dominican amber. Read about the discovery in the Harvard Gazette and...

image of a Babyrousa (deer-pig) skull showing large tusks

A new study reveals how some mammals evolved their tusks

October 29, 2021

Megan Whitney, postdoc in the Stephanie Pierce Lab, is the lead author on a paper that reveals how some mammals evolved their tusks. First, Megan and her colleagues had to define what exactly is a... Read more about A new study reveals how some mammals evolved their tusks

image of a piece of amber with a fossilized crab inside

Rare crab in amber offers evolution clues

October 27, 2021

Javier Luque, postdoc in the Javier Ortega-Hernández Lab and MCZ Invertebrate Paleontology, speaks with the... Read more about Rare crab in amber offers evolution clues

Scientists discover a host of reasons for the evolution of social parasites in ants

September 29, 2021

Specimens and data collected by Stephan Cover, safe keeper of our ant collection for many decades before retiring earlier this year, was instrumental in research headed by Christian Rabeling at Arizona State University. Rabeling began the project as a postdoc at the MCZ working with Edward O. Wilson and Naomi Pierce.

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Open position in Herpetology: Curatorial Associate

September 14, 2021

The MCZ is looking for a Curatorial Associate of Herpetology! Come work with our 345,000+ specimens, including 2,674 primary types and 19,608 paratypes.

Visit Harvard Careers for more information.

New species of boa from the Dominican Republic

September 2, 2021

For the first time in 133 years a new species of boa has been discovered in the Dominican Republic, published in the MCZ journal Breviora, by Miguel A. Landestoy, R. Graham Reynolds and Robert W. Henderson.

From UNC Asheville:

For the first time in over a century, a new boa species has been discovered in the Dominican Republic. University of North Carolina Asheville Associate Professor of Biology Graham Reynolds has collaborated with naturalist Miguel Landesto...

Analysis of fossil sheds light on reptile evolution

September 2, 2021

Tiago Simões, a researcher in the Stephanie Pierce lab and former Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellow, knew he found something special when he examined a fossil specimen collected decades ago. The fossil belongs to a previously unknown species of lizard-like reptile, representing the earliest evolving member of a lineage that today includes all lizards, snakes, and their closest relatives. The research was published in...

Open position in Invertebrate Zoology – Curatorial Assistant

August 26, 2021

The MCZ is looking for a Curatorial Assistant to join our Invertebrate Zoology department! This position will focus on Arachnida and Myriapoda specimens.... Read more about Open position in Invertebrate Zoology – Curatorial Assistant

Open position in Entomology - Curatorial Assistant

August 12, 2021

Come work with our 7 million entomological specimens, including the world's largest and most historically important ant collection! The MCZ is accepting applications for a full-time Curatorial Assistant in our Entomology collection. Visit https://bit.ly/2VIPCDl for more information and to apply.

A lifetime of natural history with Gonzalo Giribet

August 11, 2021

For the latest episode of the HMSC Connects! podcast host Jennifer Berglund talks with Gonzalo Giribet, the new director of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, professor in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard, and curator of invertebrate zoology. Giribet recounts his insatiable interest in scouring the beach for shells growing up south of...

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