The collections of the Rutgers Geology Museum date from 1836 and document the transition of science from natural philosophy to today's data driven disciplines. The collections include minerals, fossils, and geologic specimens and emphasize the geology of New Jersey and surrounding states.

Today, the mineral and fossil collections continue to be used in support of research and in the training of scholars. A small fraction of them are on exhibit and are a major attraction for thousands of visitors who come to the Rutgers Geology Museum each year

 

The Rutgers Geology Museum exhibits include a wide variety of geological, anthropological, and natural history specimens. Some of the highlights of the museum collection include:

  • A dinosaur trackway from Towaco, NJ, with a model of a small carnivorous dinosaur believed to be associated with the Grallator footprints found in the rocks.
  • A fully articulated mastodon skeleton from Salem County, NJ. This nearly complete specimen of Mammut americanum, was found in 1869. The skeleton was mounted in 1896 and remounted in 1932.
  • A Ptolemaic era Egyptian mummy. This 2,400-year-old mummy was brought to Rutgers by a missionary of the Dutch Reformed Church and is on loan to the museum from the New Brunswick Theological Seminary.
  • Mineral exhibits featuring rare New Jersey minerals and select specimen from the historic Cook, Beck, Rowe and Chester Collections.
  • The Anne and Milton Hershhorn Fluorescent Mineral Exhibit. The fluorescent minerals, most of which are from New Jersey, are part of the 6,000-specimen lifetime mineral collection donated to the museum by Milton Hershhorn.