Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University

07/23/2026

Spotlight on MCZ paleontologists Christina Byrd and Scott Johnston, and the Tylosaurus proriger type specimen! https://current.fas.harvard.edu/stories/how-giant-predator-prehistoric-seas-was-discovered-twice?

After 80 million years, a giant fossil jaw has quite a story to tell. Back in the age of the dinosaurs, Tylosaurus proriger was a fearsome predator — a bus-sized aquatic reptile with a crushing snout, daggerlike teeth, and knack for swallowing prey whole. How its bones wound up at Harvard is a tan...

06/18/2026

BHL featured in the Guardian! The Ernst Mayr Library is proud to be a founding member of the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

The Biodiversity Heritage Library is an invaluable online archive of historic texts on species living and lost supplied by the world’s leading museums and universities. Now its future is in doubt

06/10/2026

New porcupine species in Ecuador. https://peerj.com/articles/21382/?

05/26/2026

Reintroducing beavers to Britain https://www.npr.org/2026/05/21/nx-s1-5738979/beavers-britain-climate-change-flooding?

About 400 years ago, beavers were hunted to extinction across Britain. Now they're being reintroduced as little climate warriors, as communities harness their dam-building skills to mitigate flooding.

05/14/2026

MCZ's Stephanie Pierce and Rodrigo Figueroa on fish brains and skulls. https://current.fas.harvard.edu/stories/skull-full-surprises?

For every two living vertebrates on Earth, one is a fish — 95% of which are ray-finned fish such as salmon, tuna, goldfish, and trout. Roughly 35,000 species comprise ray-finned fish, and they thrive in environments ranging from deep-sea trenches to alpine Himalayan rivers, Amazonian floodplains, ...

01/06/2026

Welcome, Prof. Albertin!

OEB is thrilled to announce that Carrie Albertin has officially joined as Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Assistant Curator in Malacology at !
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The Albertin lab explores how novelty arises over the course of evolution and development using cephalopods (octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish) as models. The lab uses diverse approaches, including comparative genomics, gene expression studies, and live imaging.
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Please join us in welcoming Professor Albertin!

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