TMCC Natural History Museum

Specimen Collections

Herbarium

The herbarium collection houses over 500 specimens collected primarily from the Intermountain West. Nearly all specimens in the collections are donated from the personal collections of Dr. Megan Lahti. The intention of this collection is to capture the biodiversity of the Great Basin desert and surrounding ecosystems Over 35 plant families are represented in the collections, and over 50% of the specimens were collected from Washoe County, Nevada. These collections are also contributed to and used by TMCC’s General Botany students. 

Invertebrates

The invertebrate collections include our marine invertebrate and non-hexapod (non-insect) arthropods, and hexapod (entomology) collections. We estimate the collection size to be around 1,300 specimens. A majority of the marine invertebrate collections were a donation from the UNR Museum of Natural History and include mostly dried specimens (shells) from tropical oceans around the world. The arthropod collections include a diversity of species in both dried and fluid-preserved conditions.  We estimate the entomology (hexapod insects) collection size to be 300 specimens. The entomology collections include pinned and fluid-preserved specimens primarily from the Great Basin desert, especially within northern Nevada. 

Ichthyology

The fish collections include over 300 specimens representing over 30 species in the Western U.S. A majority of the marine invertebrate collections were a donation from the UNR Museum of Natural History. Many specimens are museum quality but lack collection data. We are actively working towards archiving our collections into the museum database including taxonomic information, collection data, and photographs.

Ornithology

The bird collection currently houses a limited number (<20) of bird specimens. Most specimens lack collection data, but we continue to add specimens to the collections with the goal of obtaining more representative species in northern Nevada and surrounding ecosystems. We are actively working towards archiving our collections into the museum database including taxonomic information, collection data, and photographs.

Herpetology

The Herpetology (amphibian and reptile) collections include over 500 specimens representing over 50 species in the Western U.S. A majority of the marine invertebrate collections were a donation from the UNR Museum of Natural History. Many specimens are museum quality but lack collection data.

Mammalogy

The mammalogy collections currently house a limited number (<20) of small mammal specimens from northern Nevada including the Great Basin and Sierra Nevada mountain range ecosystems. The collections include taxidermy, skull, pelt, and fluid-preserved specimens that are obtained primarily via salvage. We are actively working towards archiving our collections into the museum database including taxonomic information, collection data, and photographs.

Teaching Collections

The museum’s Teaching collections include a diverse variety of specimens obtained and used in our organismal biology courses and educational events. These specimens are intended to be used by both faculty and students and generally lack collection data. We are actively working towards archiving our collections into the museum database including taxonomic information, collection data, and photographs.

Museum Contacts

• Dr. Megan Lahti (Co-Director, Lead Curator), 775-673-8218
• Dr. Cecila Vigil (Co-Director, Curator), 775-673-7201
• Dr. Meeghan Gray (Department Chair, Curator), 775-674-7632

Museum Location: Red Mountain 410