When the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology came to Salt Lake City in October 2016, we got a chance to speak with some noted paleontologists about their work. Here's Dan Ksepka on molecular biology and paleontology as well as the largest bird ever found.
Poison is all around us, but through instinct or teaching we manage to avoid it in our everyday lives. Here are seven of our favorite poisonous things that you should sidestep at all costs.
Venom is the word for poison that is injected, and animals have evolved some nifty ways to deliver their venom. Here's our top 5 list of unexpected venomous creatures on the planet.
The tarantula hawk, found in Utah, is a page out of a collection of horror stories. Beautiful, huge, painful, and parasitic - it's a wasp that tops the Sting Pain Index and finds its way into NHMU's "The Power of Poison" exhibit.
We don't often associate arachnids and maternal care, but our Invertebrate Collections Manager, Christy Bills, shares a story about an intimidating spider found here in Utah that might just melt your heart.
Curl-Leaf Mountain Mahogany is a high-elevation evergreen found throughout Utah and the western U.S. The fact that it's actually a part of the rose family is just one of its remarkable traits.
A new addition to our Collections Wall: a very large Goshute burden basket made sometime in the late 1800s - early 1900s. Learn about it's function and provenance.
Congratulations to Jesse D. Johnson for winning Best of Show in the October 2016 Indian Art Market. Here is a description of the artist and his work in his own words.
![[image] Paleontologist Dan Ksepka Visits Salt Lake City](/sites/default/files/DanKsepka_blogheader.jpg)
![[image] Top 7 Poisonous Encounters in Nature](/sites/default/files/BluePoisonDartFrog-blogheader.jpg)
![[image] Top 5 Venomous Encounters in Nature](/sites/default/files/Large-eyed-pit-viper-blogheader.jpg)
![[image] The Dracula of Wasps](/sites/default/files/TarantulaHawk.jpg)
![[image] From a Utah Hike: A Carolina Wolf Spider Story](/sites/default/files/CarolinaWolfSpider-blogheader.jpg)
![[image] Jar of Snakes](/sites/default/files/Jar_of_snakes-blogheader.jpg)
![[image] Mountain Mahogany: One Tough Rose](/sites/default/files/MtnMahogany-atsummit-blogheader.jpg)
![[image] Goshute Burden Basket](/sites/default/files/Burden Basket Side View-blogheader.jpg)
![[image] Indian Art Market 2016: Jesse D. Johnson, Best of Show Winner](/sites/default/files/Jesse_Johnson_Best_of_show_blogheader2_0.jpg)
![[image] Indian Art Market 2016: Jeremy Rosetta, 2nd Place Winner](/sites/default/files/Jeremy_Rosetta_2nd_place.jpg)