The Vertebrate Paleontology Collection in the Museum of Comparative Zoology is managed and employed as a resource for research and teaching in the areas of vertebrate evolution, functional anatomy and systematics. Since its founding in 1859, the MCZ has amassed approximately 90,000 specimens of fossil fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Past Curators include: Charles E. Hamlin (Assistant) (1880-1886), Alpheus Hyatt (Assistant) (1886-1889), Charles Rochester Eastman (Assistant staring in 1894)(1896-1910), Alfred Sherwood Romer (1934-1963), Bryan Patterson (1963-1970) Farish A. Jenkins Jr. (1974-2012), Stephanie E. Pierce (2014-present). Before the department was officially named in 1895, the following had roles in managing early fossil collections and library material at the MCZ: Jules Marcou (1863), Nathaniel S. Shaler (1864-1869), George August Maack (1869-1873), Oresters St. John (1874).
