The MCZ celebrates its 150th anniversary this year.  A series of three lectures will commemorate the MCZ’s proud past and promising future, as well as the role of natural history collections in the scientific community.

The infamous Jackalopus karelliemi, a.k.a. ”Liem’s Jackalope,” made an unexpected appearance at the opening of the newly renovated Great Mammal Hall in the Harvard Museum of Natural History on October 16th. The perpetrator remains unidentified and at large. The prank honors the memory of Bigelow Professor of Ichthyology Karel Liem, who was a master practical joker.

Encyclopedia of Life has been named among the top 16 best educational websites by the Telegraph, a daily newspaper in London, UK. Telegraph.co.uk, 11/12/2009

Yael Aminetzach, a postdoctoral researcher in the Hoekstra lab, shows that venomous shrews and lizards evolved toxic proteins in the same way. Harvard Gazette, 10/29/2009

Farish A. Jenkins, Jr. was awarded the prestigious Romer-Simpson Medal at the September meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Bristol, UK. The society's highest award honors sustained and outstanding scholarly excellence in the discipline of vertebrate paleontology. SVP Annual Meeting website, 9/26/2009