Dear Museum Supporter,
With temperatures soaring, Lawrence has been feeling a bit like the Sonoran Desert lately. That makes this month's featured Panorama resident, the Gila monster, feel right at home.
While the humidity continues to climb outside, visitors are staying cool inside the museum. Many have taken advantage of the recently extended Kansas Tourism Sunflower Summer program, now available through Saturday, Aug. 8. If you're part of a Kansas family with school-age children and haven't visited the KU Natural History Museum yet this summer, there's still time to enjoy free admission here and at hundreds of other destinations across the state before school is back in session.
As summer winds down, we're also looking ahead to the start of the University of Kansas' fall semester on Monday, Aug. 24, when we'll welcome new and returning Jayhawks to campus. While students enjoyed their summer break, our researchers have been hard at work in the field, the lab, and among the collections, making discoveries ranging from new lizard, moss, and seed fossils to research on island biodiversity and tropical forests. Be sure to check out the list of recent publications at the end of this newsletter to learn about the latest research from the KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum.
Thank you for supporting our mission and reading our newsletter. I hope to see you at the museum soon!
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Sincerely,
Natalie Vondrak
Communications Coordinator
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August 22 | 7:00-9:30 p.m.
KU Natural History Museum
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Welcome back to campus, Jayhawks! Visit our table outside Dyche Hall during UnionFest to learn about our exhibits, explore fluorescent minerals and bioluminescent organisms, and pick up some free swag! Plus, get info on events and programs at the museum, which is always FREE for KU students! See event details for Hawk Week »
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| Hawk Week: Biology Welcome Back
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August 23 | 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Haworth Hall | 1200 Sunnyside Ave
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Hey Jayhawks, join us at KU Biology's Hawk Week event! Stop by our table and learn about undergraduate opportunities at the Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum, where students can contribute to projects in biodiversity research, collection management, fieldwork, education, and more. See event details for Hawk Week »
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Curating Collections: Mammalogy
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The Biodiversity Institute houses over 11 million biological specimens and 2 million archaeological artifacts from around the world—each with a story just waiting to be shared!
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Coyotes (Canis latrans) are among the most common wild canines in North America. Well adapted to life alongside humans, they thrive in both rural and urban habitats. Coyotes can occasionally interbreed with domestic dogs, producing hybrids known as coydogs, like the specimen on display on the sixth floor of the KU Natural History Museum.
Coydogs show one way canine diversity continues to evolve today. However, canine diversity isn't just a modern story. A recent study co-authored by KU Mammalogy Curator Emeritus Robert Timm examined nearly complete Roman-era dog skeletons from Vindolanda, England, revealing previously unrecognized dog types and showing that people were breeding dogs for specialized roles nearly 2,000 years ago. Read the full article »
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See a full list of recent publications at the end of this newsletter.
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| Dinosaurs probably dined upon a variety of fruits and seeds
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A remarkable fossil discovery by a team of researchers, including James Saulsbury, postdoctoral researcher at the KU Biodiversity Institute is reshaping what we know about flowering plants. Uncovered in volcanic deposits in New Mexico, a cache of 75-million-year-old plant fossils reveals that flowering plants with large seeds and fruits thrived alongside dinosaurs and early mammals — more than 10 million years earlier than scientists once believed. Read the full article »
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| How to save Colombia’s high-altitude bees
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Funding from the National Science Foundation helped a handful of students from universities across the United States study Colombian bees alongside KU Entomology Curator Victor Gonzalez this summer. The research team spent weeks investigating how climate and landscape changes affect plant-pollinator interactions in tropical regions, including biomes like the páramos. Read the full article »
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| Fossils from Wyoming deepen understanding of early primate evolution
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A new study complicates the picture of primates living in North America some 55 million years ago during the Eocene, a warm period that allowed mammals to diversify quickly. Led by KU Vertebrate Paleontology doctoral student Parker Rhinehart, the research describes a new species of the genus Tetonius, an early primate about the size of a modern mouse lemur. Read the full article »
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Construction begins on accessible entrance to KU Natural History Museum
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Thanks to a $1 million gift from longtime museum supporters Jann and Tom Rudkin, the KU Natural History Museum is adding a new accessible entrance that will welcome visitors of all abilities. During construction, fencing will be installed in front of Dyche Hall, but visitors may continue using the front steps until early fall. The sidewalk south of the building will be closed periodically. Read the full news article »
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Fundraiser secures over 750 scholarships for K-12 students
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Thanks to the generosity of supporters like you, we raised $6,400 this past July to provide scholarships for students from low-resource schools to visit the KU Natural History Museum and participate in our K-12 programs. Learn more about this campaign by visiting the Launch KU fundraiser: Support K-12 Science Education.
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Shop new arrivals at the museum gift shop: artwork, bags, and more!
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Do you love Ray Troll's artwork? We do too! Now you can take home two of his iconic prints from museum's gift shop: Kansas Fossil Map and Age of Rock. While you're here, browse our newest arrivals, including our Kansas State Animals T-shirt, clear tote bag, and more. Plus, museum members receive 10% off all gift shop purchases!
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Staff & Student Spotlights
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Stay up-to-date with current activities and events by following us
on your favorite social media channels.
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Congratulations to KU Invertebrate Zoology graduate student Sydnie McMahan on successfully defending her master's thesis! Sydnie delivered an outstanding presentation on her research investigating the sensory receptors and neuromusculature of three types of larval stages of flatworms from Kansas freshwater snails. Read more about her presentation »
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| Botany Curator Craig Freeman participated in the KU Field Station's Ecosystems of Kansas Summer Institute last month as an instructor, teaching ten science teachers about plant identification, prairies, and preparing herbarium specimens. Through field investigations and conversations with researchers, teachers connected local ecological research with classroom learning.
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Last month, our Informal Science Education team combined brain and computer power to host one spectacular event — From Synapses to Circuits: Exploring Brain-Inspired Computing. The grant-funded event featured activities hosted by high school and undergraduate students and is in connection with The FuSe2 project funded by the National Science Foundation. Visitors had a great time testing their memory and learning about semiconductors.
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Introducing our Curiosity Cart! Throughout July, Education Coordinator Tracey Funk offered visitors the opportunity to try out hands-on activities related to our K-12 programs. The goal was to teach the public about our immersive programs and help raise money for student scholarships. Read more about this series »
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Shark Week 2026 was epic thanks to members of the KU Ichthyology and Invertebrate Zoology Divisions. On Saturday, Aug. 1 the crew spent the day at Science City in Union Station Kansas City teaching visitors about sharks and shark parasites, dissecting specimens, and handing out fun museum swag. They even helped identify living and fossil shark specimens brought in by visitors. Thank you to Science City for the opportunity to connect with and inspire the Kansas City community!
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Graduate students Katherine Hanselman and Molly Kennedy were recognized for their outstanding presentations at this month's annual meeting of the American Society of Parasitologists, where they competed among 69 student presenters. Molly received an Outstanding Student Poster Award for her research on whiprays and Katherine received a Meritorious Student Oral Presentation Award for her research on patterns of diversity in species of Polypocephalus. Congrats!
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Support graduate student recruitment and training at Biodiversity Bash!
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Celebrate our mission at the new University of Kansas Conference Center during Biodiversity Bash, our first fundraiser since 2018. Proceeds from the evening will support future graduate student recruitment and training in collections-based biodiversity research. This vibrant event will bring together community members, scientists, and graduate students for a night inspired by the wonders of the natural world.
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Revisiting Graminocarpon, a distinctive monocot seed from the latest Cretaceous Deccan Intertrappean beds of India. Acta Palaeobotanica. (Kelly Matsunaga)
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Dataset Informing Biodiversity and Climate Change in an International Context. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data Release. (A. Townsend Peterson)
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First Eocene lizard (Squamata) from Balkanatolia documents overwater dispersal of Paleogene pleurodontan iguanians. Scientific Reports. (Kevin Mulcahy, K. Christopher Beard)
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A diverse new omomyid primate fauna from the early Eocene of southern Wyoming with implications for interpreting macroevolutionary patterns among anaptomorphines. Journal of Evolution. (Parker D. Rhinehart, K. Christopher Beard)
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The dogs of Roman Vindolanda, Part V: Distinguishing bocanegras, robust terriers, and dwarf dogs. Archaeofauna. R. M. Timm.
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Sampling bias and uneven data coverage shape observed biodiversity patterns in a megadiverse island archipelago hotspot. PLoS One. (Kier Mitchel Pitogo, Camila Meneses, Syrus Cesar Decena, Christian Supsup, Hannah Som, Justin Bernstein, Kin Onn Chan, Mark Herr, Rafe Brown)
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Extroparvum occidentale gen. et sp. nov. and the Cretaceous diversification of Lauraceae. American Journal of Botany. (Keana Tang, Kelly Matsunaga, Brian Atkinson)
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A Comprehensive, Archipelago-Wide Taxonomic Reassessment of the Genus Bronchocela (Squamata: Agamidae) in the Philippines, with Descriptions of Two New Species. Herpetological Monographs. (Kier Mitchel Pitogo, Christian Supsup, Rafe Brown)
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Cretaceous moss–cyanobacteria association reveals trophic interactions in polar forests of Antarctica. New Phytologist. (Zane Walker, Brian Atkinson)
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Neotropical seasonally dry forests host diverse bee communities despite sampling, conservation, and taxonomical challenges. Journal of Insect Conservation (Andres Felipe Herrera Motta, Claudia Nuñez-Penichet, Victor Gonzalez, Jorge Soberón)
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The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression, and genetic information in the university’s programs and activities. Retaliation is also prohibited by university policy. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies and procedures and is the Title IX Coordinator for all KU and KUMC campuses: Associate Vice Chancellor for the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX, civilrights@ku.edu, Room 1082, Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045, 785-864-6414, 711 TTY. Reports can be submitted by contacting the Title IX Coordinator as provided herein or online and complaints can be submitted with the Title IX Coordinator or online.
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