The

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

Museum of Paleontology was started in 1976 around the collection of James A. Jensen. For many years, it was known as the ''BYU Earth Science Museum'', and most of the collection was in storage under the LaVell Edwards Stadium. In October 2009, the museum held a grand opening of its new facilities during BYU homecoming week. With the addition, it now displays most of the collection. The change of name clarifies that the museum actually houses a large collection of

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

bones and other

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

. The museum is currently directed by Rodney Scheetz, who was one of Jensen's students at BYU. Its main purpose is to facilitate research, but it is open to the public.

References

Sources

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Museum Information
BYU Museum of Paleontology, Brigham Young University
Geological Society of America brochure about the annual meeting at UVU which mentions plans for an excursion to the BYU Museum of Paleontology, including explanations of the museum's collection

External links

* Brigham Young University buildings Museums established in 1976 Dinosaur museums in the United States Museums in Provo, Utah University museums in Utah Natural history museums in Utah 1976 establishments in Utah Paleontology in Utah {{Utah-museum-stub