NEWS and EVENTS
This video shows a time laps of how museums preserve eggs (that is, remove the yolk and egg white) through a process called "blowing an egg". These goose eggs are so big that we had to get creative and use a dremel to drill the initial hole and a shop-vac to provide a steady stream of air that "blows" the contents of egg out of it's shell.
With support from Engaged Cornell, the CUMV offered a course on natural history collections during the Spring Semester 2020. For part of the course, we wrestled with the ethical dilemmas inextricably tied to scientific collecting. Many thanks to Dr. Yasha Rohwer (Faculty at Oregon Tech) who led a guest lecture on the ethic of collecting that was very well received by both students and the public!
In early December 2019 the CUMV hosted a sketching night at the museum, where local artists of all skill levels could sketch a diversity of specimens. This event was made possible with the help of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's staff illustrator, Jillian Ditner, and the Bartels illustrator-in-residence, Jen Lobo. Check out the talent below!
In early April 2019, members of the CUMV, Macaulay Library and a group of graduate and undergraduate students, drove 30 hours to sample birds and fishes and record bird songs in west Texas. The trip introduced students to common field techniques of ornithology and ichthyology and illustrated the time, energy and ingenuity associated with field work.
In January 2019, CUMV team members traveled to Tel Aviv, Israel to work with collaborators Roi Dor and Amos Belmaker to grow scientific collections for both the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History in Tel Aviv and the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates. Below are a handful of photos from this recent trip.
July 2018, members of the CUMV recently returned from field work in Nebraska and Colorado, revisiting sites originally surveyed in the 1950's for studies of avian hybridization.
Periodically the CUMV pulls a diversity of specimens and invites artists of all skill-levels for an evening of specimen-inspired sketching. This most recent event in March 2018 was made all the more special with the help of Liz Clayton Fuller, Jillian Ditner, and Phillip Krzeminski, Bartels Science Illustration interns at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, who offered tips and advice to participants.
The Cornell Museum of Vertebrates now has three California condor specimens in its collection, thanks to a donation by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. READ FULL STORY...

Preparing specimens can take anywhere from 1 to 6 hours depending on the size of the bird and experience level of the preparator. This video compresses the whole process to 1 minute! The specimen in this video is a Black-billed Magpie that was salvaged from Washington State.
Euchilichthys royauxi is a species of catfish native to the Congo Basin in central Africa. This high resolution CT-scan of a 20 cm E. royauxi’s, illustrates its massive head, unique teeth, and serrated spines in the pelvic fins.