Beneski Museum of Natural History - Amherst College

12/13/2025

12/17/2024

11/21/2023

A reminder that we will be closed Wednesday, November 22nd and Thursday, November 23rd. The museum will reopen Friday at 10am so we'll see you then! We may not have a turkey on display, instead, check out a penguin in guano that recently returned from a penguin exhibit at the Bruce Museum.

11/04/2022

Please join us on Sunday from 1-4pm for the 7th annual Identify-It Day!

10/22/2022

In addition to a state dog (the Boston terrier) and a state bird (the chickadee), Massachusetts now has an official state dinosaur: the swift-footed lizard of Holyoke.

09/20/2022

We're excited to see Beneski and AC alum Matthew Inabinett featured in this excellent article about inadvertent fossil discoveries!

Several significant discoveries have started with a construction worker unearthing a bone and calling in an expert.

09/03/2022

Save the date! National Fossil Day is approaching soon: October 12, 2022.

National Fossil Day aims to promote public awareness and stewardship of fossils. The National Parks, including Petrified Forest are great places to celebrate National Fossil Day. Visit the Museum Demonstration Lab at the Painted Desert Visitor Center to talk to paleontologists and rangers, see real fossils, and become a Junior Ranger by earning a Junior Paleontologist badge!

To get ready, enter the National Fossil Day art contest! The theme is “The Age of Mammals in our National Parks and Monuments”. Visit https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossilday/art-contest-2022.htm for more information. The deadline for art submission is October 1, 2022.

NPS Image: Andrew Kearns

(pv)

08/04/2022

AMHERST — Drawers filled with various objects, including bones, minerals and other artifacts, are waiting to be discovered as Olivia DiPiero got onto a stool and pulled their handles to reveal what’s inside.“I love history,” said Olivia, 8, a Florence...

02/11/2021

Today is International Day of Women and Girls in Science and that made think of a woman I have recently become acquainted with: Mignon Talbot was the first female scientist to name and describe the dinosaur - Podokesaurus holyokensis - which was discovered right here in the western MA while she was on the faculty at Mount Holyoke College! That dinosaur is now the focus of legislation to designate it as the commonwealth's official dinosaur thanks to the initiative and leadership of Rep. Jack Patrick Lewis.

Join me in celebrating

HT Senator Jo Comerford Dan Carey, State Rep
Read the bill HD1392: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/HD1392
More on the effort: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/massachusettss-official-state-dinosaur-180976965/

cc: Museum of Science, Boston Beneski Museum of Natural History - Amherst College

02/05/2021

In case you missed yesterday's announcement with the Museum of Science, Boston, the Podokesaurus holyokensis won our state dinosaur poll with over 60% of the 35,000 votes cast.

Special thank you Katharina Holzinger of Paleontologists and their Prehistoric Pets for this beautiful artwork of Dr. Mignon Talbot (Mount Holyoke College) and her discovery, the Podokesaurus holyokensis.