The Texas A&M (TAM) Collection

This collection was begun at the end of the 19th century, and includes a sizeable amount of fossils from the Brazos River and other rivers on the Gulf Coastal Plain. Many specimens came from gravel pits, which in those days were excavated with light equipment and bones and teeth were easily noticed by the workmen. Texas A&M veterinary school founder, Dr. Mark Francis (1863-1936), brought these fossils together into a single collection in the Texas A&M Museum. Following Dr. Francis’s death, paleontological work continued at TAM under Dr. Curtis Hesse.

Unfortunately, Dr. Hesse unexpectedly died in 1945, the Texas A&M Museum fell into disuse, and was discontinued in the 1960s and most of the fossil collections were moved to the Vertebrate Paleontology Lab. The Texas State Legislature officially transferred the fossils to the Texas Vertebrate Paleontology Collections in 1980. The TAM collection includes a number of holotypes and other important specimens. Unfortunately, not all of the fossils from the Texas A&M collection were recovered, and the disposition of some specimens is unknown.