Museum of Comparative Zoology
@mczharvard.bsky.social
The Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University (MCZ) is a private center for research and education focused on the comparative relationships of animal life. We house millions of animal specimens and host hundreds of visiting researchers each year.
Pinned
Applications for the 2026 Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellowship are now open. Applications are due September 30 and are open to those pursing the discovery and formal taxonomic description of Earth's animal species and botanists working on plant-animal interactions.
Apply at https://bit.ly/4fHkU2S
Apply at https://bit.ly/4fHkU2S
Applications for MCZ-funded field research & conference support are due on Oct 1! Professor & Curator Stephanie Pierce received funding for an expedition to Cape Breton in Nova Scotia where her lab scoured the island’s dramatic Carboniferous cliffs for ancient tetrapod fossils https://bit.ly/4hPno1k
September 28, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Applications for MCZ-funded field research & conference support are due on Oct 1! Professor & Curator Stephanie Pierce received funding for an expedition to Cape Breton in Nova Scotia where her lab scoured the island’s dramatic Carboniferous cliffs for ancient tetrapod fossils https://bit.ly/4hPno1k
Read about the newest exhibit at the Harvard Museum of Natural History and the MCZ specimens on display.
Visit for free on October 12, Indigenous People's Day, sponsored by Half-Earth Day at Sanders Theatre on the same day. eowilsonfoundation.org/.../outreach...
Visit for free on October 12, Indigenous People's Day, sponsored by Half-Earth Day at Sanders Theatre on the same day. eowilsonfoundation.org/.../outreach...
Curios and curiouser— Harvard Gazette
With exhibits including a dodo, fish mummified in pearl, and a ‘King Kong’-connected Komodo, ‘discovering the stories is one of the best jobs’
news.harvard.edu
September 25, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Read about the newest exhibit at the Harvard Museum of Natural History and the MCZ specimens on display.
Visit for free on October 12, Indigenous People's Day, sponsored by Half-Earth Day at Sanders Theatre on the same day. eowilsonfoundation.org/.../outreach...
Visit for free on October 12, Indigenous People's Day, sponsored by Half-Earth Day at Sanders Theatre on the same day. eowilsonfoundation.org/.../outreach...
Join us on Indigenous Peoples' Day for Half-Earth at Ten, in Sanders Theatre. Larry Spotted Crow Mann (Hassanamisco Nipmuc Tribe) will present poetry, music, and story — pathways to what data alone cannot carry, and close with young people from the Ohketeau Cultural Center. https://bit.ly/4rdtoEl
September 24, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Join us on Indigenous Peoples' Day for Half-Earth at Ten, in Sanders Theatre. Larry Spotted Crow Mann (Hassanamisco Nipmuc Tribe) will present poetry, music, and story — pathways to what data alone cannot carry, and close with young people from the Ohketeau Cultural Center. https://bit.ly/4rdtoEl
Join us for Half-Earth Day, Oct 12, Sanders Theatre! Scientists, artists & Indigenous leaders explore how courage, imagination & wisdom pass from one generation to the next. Photographer Florian Schulz will share immersive stories of wildlife & connected Indigenous communities https://bit.ly/4rdtoEl
September 22, 2026 at 1:46 PM
Join us for Half-Earth Day, Oct 12, Sanders Theatre! Scientists, artists & Indigenous leaders explore how courage, imagination & wisdom pass from one generation to the next. Photographer Florian Schulz will share immersive stories of wildlife & connected Indigenous communities https://bit.ly/4rdtoEl
Tickets are now available for Half-Earth Day: Half-Earth at Ten: Honoring a Legacy of Hope
A landmark celebration of biodiversity, science, and the enduring vision of E.O. Wilson — Oct 12, Indigenous Peoples Day, Sanders Theatre, Harvard.
Tickets https://bit.ly/4rdtoEl Program https://bit.ly/4gLxujP
A landmark celebration of biodiversity, science, and the enduring vision of E.O. Wilson — Oct 12, Indigenous Peoples Day, Sanders Theatre, Harvard.
Tickets https://bit.ly/4rdtoEl Program https://bit.ly/4gLxujP
September 16, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Tickets are now available for Half-Earth Day: Half-Earth at Ten: Honoring a Legacy of Hope
A landmark celebration of biodiversity, science, and the enduring vision of E.O. Wilson — Oct 12, Indigenous Peoples Day, Sanders Theatre, Harvard.
Tickets https://bit.ly/4rdtoEl Program https://bit.ly/4gLxujP
A landmark celebration of biodiversity, science, and the enduring vision of E.O. Wilson — Oct 12, Indigenous Peoples Day, Sanders Theatre, Harvard.
Tickets https://bit.ly/4rdtoEl Program https://bit.ly/4gLxujP
Miriam Hueytletl Pérez is visiting the MCZ to examine banded brittle, analyzing external and internal morphology, morphometrics, and molecular data to resolve this species complex—likely redescribing the species originally described in 1851 and potentially discovering previously undescribed species.
September 11, 2026 at 8:34 PM
Miriam Hueytletl Pérez is visiting the MCZ to examine banded brittle, analyzing external and internal morphology, morphometrics, and molecular data to resolve this species complex—likely redescribing the species originally described in 1851 and potentially discovering previously undescribed species.
Scientific glassblowers Laurel North & Lucas Clarke recently visited to acquire polariscope imagery of Blaschka glass invertebrate models and antique specimen jars. The images reveal internal stress, which can inform fabrication techniques used and conservation priorities. Images: Clarke, J Woodward
September 8, 2026 at 8:25 PM
Scientific glassblowers Laurel North & Lucas Clarke recently visited to acquire polariscope imagery of Blaschka glass invertebrate models and antique specimen jars. The images reveal internal stress, which can inform fabrication techniques used and conservation priorities. Images: Clarke, J Woodward
Applications for undergrad research grants are due Sept 8! GUR's support research across Harvard, like Liam Joy's recent research on phytoecdysteroids in the Nett Lab (@harvardmcb.bsky.social) and ant-plant interactions in the N. Pierce Lab (@harvardoeb.bsky.social). More info https://bit.ly/4lIg1aO
September 4, 2026 at 1:01 PM
Applications for undergrad research grants are due Sept 8! GUR's support research across Harvard, like Liam Joy's recent research on phytoecdysteroids in the Nett Lab (@harvardmcb.bsky.social) and ant-plant interactions in the N. Pierce Lab (@harvardoeb.bsky.social). More info https://bit.ly/4lIg1aO
Independent researcher George Klein visited to examine this American alligator skull, collected in 1888. It is likely the largest in museum collections, and possibly ever known. It weighs 37.25 pounds, and is estimated to have belonged to a alligator over 14.5 feet long!
August 24, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Independent researcher George Klein visited to examine this American alligator skull, collected in 1888. It is likely the largest in museum collections, and possibly ever known. It weighs 37.25 pounds, and is estimated to have belonged to a alligator over 14.5 feet long!
Reconstructions of Forelimb Musculature in Extinct Pre-Therian Synapsids - is now available in the journal Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, available open access at @bioone.bsky.social https://bit.ly/4x6VWkV
August 21, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Reconstructions of Forelimb Musculature in Extinct Pre-Therian Synapsids - is now available in the journal Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, available open access at @bioone.bsky.social https://bit.ly/4x6VWkV
Molecular Phylogeny, Diversification, and Biogeography of Cascade Frogs (Ranidae: Amolops) from India: An Integrative Assessment with Description of Three New Species - is now available https://doi.org/10.3099/MCZ88.1
image: Amolops cf. medogensis from Northeast India, by lead author S. D. Biju
image: Amolops cf. medogensis from Northeast India, by lead author S. D. Biju
August 20, 2026 at 3:43 PM
Molecular Phylogeny, Diversification, and Biogeography of Cascade Frogs (Ranidae: Amolops) from India: An Integrative Assessment with Description of Three New Species - is now available https://doi.org/10.3099/MCZ88.1
image: Amolops cf. medogensis from Northeast India, by lead author S. D. Biju
image: Amolops cf. medogensis from Northeast India, by lead author S. D. Biju
Taylor Nienaber and Sam Trail from Florida Atlantic U study leatherback sea turtle visual fields and how ontogenetic shifts may impact feeding behavior. They study live hatchlings at the FAU Marine Lab but came to the MCZ to review head morphology of adult leatherbacks and other life stages!
August 17, 2026 at 2:42 PM
Taylor Nienaber and Sam Trail from Florida Atlantic U study leatherback sea turtle visual fields and how ontogenetic shifts may impact feeding behavior. They study live hatchlings at the FAU Marine Lab but came to the MCZ to review head morphology of adult leatherbacks and other life stages!
Jafnoon Khatun, a McNulty Scholar from CUNY Hunter College, spent the summer as an intern in our malacology collection, working on four projects including Venom Across the MCZ and the US federally-funded InSLiDE microscope slide cleanup project. Image of Jafnoon (right) working with two MCZ staff
August 13, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Jafnoon Khatun, a McNulty Scholar from CUNY Hunter College, spent the summer as an intern in our malacology collection, working on four projects including Venom Across the MCZ and the US federally-funded InSLiDE microscope slide cleanup project. Image of Jafnoon (right) working with two MCZ staff
Congratulations to MCZ Curator in Malacology & @harvardoeb.bsky.social professor Carrie Albertin, recipient of a 2026 Klingenstein Fellowship Awards in Neuroscience for her project Mechanisms of Neurogenesis in the Largest Invertebrate Brain.
image: Baby cephalopods, by Matt Cosby/New York Times
image: Baby cephalopods, by Matt Cosby/New York Times
August 11, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Congratulations to MCZ Curator in Malacology & @harvardoeb.bsky.social professor Carrie Albertin, recipient of a 2026 Klingenstein Fellowship Awards in Neuroscience for her project Mechanisms of Neurogenesis in the Largest Invertebrate Brain.
image: Baby cephalopods, by Matt Cosby/New York Times
image: Baby cephalopods, by Matt Cosby/New York Times
Jack Thompson, an ecology student at the U of Florida, visited MCZ herpetology for his research on the diet and cranial morphology of alligator snapping turtles. Here he is holding a loggerhead skull collected in 1858. Visit our database at https://bit.ly/4z5KlE7 to read the attached note!
August 10, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Jack Thompson, an ecology student at the U of Florida, visited MCZ herpetology for his research on the diet and cranial morphology of alligator snapping turtles. Here he is holding a loggerhead skull collected in 1858. Visit our database at https://bit.ly/4z5KlE7 to read the attached note!
Researchers from the Rhode Island School of Design x Hyundai Motor Group Regeneration Studio recently visited MCZ collections as they investigate biomimicry principles as applied to future mobility and electric vehicle design. They examined limb morphology on arboreal salamanders and many more.
August 7, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Researchers from the Rhode Island School of Design x Hyundai Motor Group Regeneration Studio recently visited MCZ collections as they investigate biomimicry principles as applied to future mobility and electric vehicle design. They examined limb morphology on arboreal salamanders and many more.
Steve Auscavitch from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History visited our Invertebrate Zoology collection to study deep-sea sponges and black corals collected by the E/V @nautiluslive.org from both the central and western Pacific Ocean.
August 5, 2026 at 8:29 PM
Steve Auscavitch from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History visited our Invertebrate Zoology collection to study deep-sea sponges and black corals collected by the E/V @nautiluslive.org from both the central and western Pacific Ocean.
Applications for the 2026 Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellowship are now open. Applications are due September 30 and are open to those pursing the discovery and formal taxonomic description of Earth's animal species and botanists working on plant-animal interactions.
Apply at https://bit.ly/4fHkU2S
Apply at https://bit.ly/4fHkU2S
July 29, 2026 at 1:31 PM
Applications for the 2026 Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellowship are now open. Applications are due September 30 and are open to those pursing the discovery and formal taxonomic description of Earth's animal species and botanists working on plant-animal interactions.
Apply at https://bit.ly/4fHkU2S
Apply at https://bit.ly/4fHkU2S
How a giant predator of prehistoric seas was discovered — twice current.fas.harvard.edu/stories/how-...
How a giant predator of 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...
current.fas.harvard.edu
July 24, 2026 at 2:38 PM
How a giant predator of prehistoric seas was discovered — twice current.fas.harvard.edu/stories/how-...
Save the date for Half-Earth Day at 10, held at Sanders Theatre on October 12! More information at https://bit.ly/4gLxujP
July 21, 2026 at 3:36 PM
Save the date for Half-Earth Day at 10, held at Sanders Theatre on October 12! More information at https://bit.ly/4gLxujP
A new species of nurse frog from the Brazilian Amazon has just been described in the MCZ journal Breviora https://bit.ly/4yuXfeD. Allobates tanaru is the first known chlorotic species in the poison frog superfamily Dendrobatoidea, with striking greenish hatchlings.
July 20, 2026 at 5:33 PM
A new species of nurse frog from the Brazilian Amazon has just been described in the MCZ journal Breviora https://bit.ly/4yuXfeD. Allobates tanaru is the first known chlorotic species in the poison frog superfamily Dendrobatoidea, with striking greenish hatchlings.
The secret can be revealed…our Vertebrate Paleontology department is featured in the upcoming @pbs.org series EONS: LIFE AND DEATH ON PANGEA! The first two episodes premiere on July 29th. We are grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this outstanding project and excited for you all to see it!
July 1, 2026 at 3:38 PM
The secret can be revealed…our Vertebrate Paleontology department is featured in the upcoming @pbs.org series EONS: LIFE AND DEATH ON PANGEA! The first two episodes premiere on July 29th. We are grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this outstanding project and excited for you all to see it!
MCZ Malacology staff are rehousing wood from Ruth Turners research ~50 years ago. This piece was from research published in Science in 1973, "Wood-Boring Bivalves, Opportunistic Species in the Deep Sea," and is one of ~5,130 uncatalogued lots from Turner's research that we hope to database soon.
June 22, 2026 at 6:11 PM
MCZ Malacology staff are rehousing wood from Ruth Turners research ~50 years ago. This piece was from research published in Science in 1973, "Wood-Boring Bivalves, Opportunistic Species in the Deep Sea," and is one of ~5,130 uncatalogued lots from Turner's research that we hope to database soon.
Ernst Mayr Grant recipient Ian Solon Ito visited MCZ ichthyology to study Hypomasticus, a poorly known South American fish genus in the family Anostomidae. Ian examined specimens collected more than a century ago during the Thayer and Hassler expeditions from habitats that have since deteriorated.
June 11, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Ernst Mayr Grant recipient Ian Solon Ito visited MCZ ichthyology to study Hypomasticus, a poorly known South American fish genus in the family Anostomidae. Ian examined specimens collected more than a century ago during the Thayer and Hassler expeditions from habitats that have since deteriorated.
It was a beautiful day for MCZ staff to visit the @whoi.edu! They viewed three research vessels - a source of over 50,000 specimen lots cataloged in the MCZ over the years - and toured the @mblscience.bsky.social, visiting Carrie Albertin’s (@harvardoeb.bsky.social prof, Curator in Malacology) lab.
June 4, 2026 at 1:48 PM
It was a beautiful day for MCZ staff to visit the @whoi.edu! They viewed three research vessels - a source of over 50,000 specimen lots cataloged in the MCZ over the years - and toured the @mblscience.bsky.social, visiting Carrie Albertin’s (@harvardoeb.bsky.social prof, Curator in Malacology) lab.