Research

Research

CBRC encourages students and faculty from the State of Indiana, and researchers from across the world, to use the specimens in the IU Paleontology Collection and to engage now with our digital databases.

Our collections are here to encourage and facilitate inquiry-based science and to push the boundaries of understanding to reveal Earth’s biological evolution. Our active research efforts serve to promote long-term preservation and stewardship of natural history specimens and associated metadata.   

Here we introduce research projects from our CBRC graduate and undergraduate students. We feature our IUPC collections of conulariids, rugose corals, scleractinian corals, and sharks. For each featured collection we include the name and natural history of the group, photos and videos of specimens featured in our IU Paleontology Collection, a condensed spreadsheet of the IUPC holding of the groups, and for most, a map of the State of Indiana highlighting localities of the specimens. 

The Mysterious Conulariids

Here we have a brief description of conulariid fossils and how conulariids may have looked while they were living in the Paleozoic seas, and a list of conulariid specimens in our IU Paleontology Collections - many conulariids are from our State of Indiana. We have a 3D scan of one of our best preserved conulariid specimens for you to view.

Indiana Sharks

Chondrichthyans are a group of jawed fish whose skeleton is primarily composed of cartilage and whose teeth and scales are made of dentin (the latter specifically called denticles). Chondrichthyans are divided into two major groups: the Elasmobranchii which includes the sharks, rays, skates, and sawfish, and the Holocephali which includes the chimeras, the only representatives living today and their closest relatives from the geologic past.

 

The Corals of Indiana

Here we have a brief description of rugose coral fossils, a group of extinct corals prevalent during the Paleozoic Era. This description includes how they looked and varied between one another, how they are preserved, their evolution, rugose corals in our State of Indiana, and the rugose corals that are represented in our collections. We have 3D scans of some of the best examples of the different morphotypes and preservation types of rugose corals in our collections for you to view.