With over 60,000 cataloged specimens (4,321 types), this is one of the most comprehensive collections of Paleozoic ammonoids ever assembled. Geographic breadth includes Indonesia, Middle Asia, the U.S., Europe, and North America. The collection provides the basis for the cephalopod volumes of the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology (Glenister & Furnish 1964, & in prep) and for the definition of Permian boundaries by Subcommissions & Working groups of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (Intern. Union of Geological Sciences) (Glenister et al. 1992). The collection has been cited in over 270 publications e.g. Miller & Furnish 1940; Glenister 1958; Glenister & Furnish 1961, Davis 1972; Spinosa et al. 1975; Manger & Saunders 1980; Frest et al. 1981; Spinosa & Glenister 2000; Glenister et al. 2004; Titus 2000; Work et al. 2000; Work & Boardman 2003; Work & Manger 2002; Work & Mapes 2002; Work & Mason 2003, 2004).

The Midwest Echinoderm Collection consists of more than 52,000 specimens (3,346 types), from the Carboniferous of Kansas, Illinois, and Missouri and the Paleozoic of Iowa described in >240 publications (e.g., Strimple 1962, 1975; Strimple & Moore 1969, 1971, 1973; Warn & Strimple 1977; Frest & Strimple 1977; Frest et al. 1979; Brower & Strimple 1983; Lewis & Strimple 1990; Brower 1990, 1992a,b, 1994) including the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology (Strimple 1978). Currently 219 catalogue numbers are assigned for new types awaiting publication or deposit. Older important collections were donated by Calvin (assembled 1879-1911), Thomas (1922), Slocum & Foerste (1924), Laudon (1933), Laudon & Beane (1937), and Springer (bequeathed a large collection of non-types collected 1860-1925). Four large collections have been added since 2002 (Crossman 2002, 1,300 lots; Priest 2002, 500 lots; C. Strimple 2003 ~1,000 lots; Levorson, 2009, ~2,000 lots). Material previously donated by these collectors has yielded 17 holotypes (Brower 1992a, b, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, Brower & Strimple 1983, Frest & Strimple 1982, Kolata 1986, Kolata et al. 1977, Strimple 1976). The Crossman, Levorson, and Gerk collections are superbly documented with detailed stratigraphic logs and locality data. Excel spreadsheet inventories are available here for:

Glenn Crossman Collection, bequeathed 2002. This collection inventory is coded: 0 = no fossils visible; 1 = unprepared, unidentified material; 2/3 = some data missing or not identified; 4 = identified, all data present. The inventory was compiled by Danielle Jannusch, graduate, funded by supplement to NSF grant DBI-0096768.

Amel Priest Collection, bequeathed 2002. Note that this collection, consisting mainly of crinoids, has no documentation. Thanks to Forest Gahn, Brigham Young University, some of the localities have been determined. The inventory was compiled by David Majewksi, undergraduate, funded by NSF grant DBI-0544235.

Christina C. Strimple Collection, bequeathed 2003. Data are missing for many specimens but Strimple collected from several well-known localities and lithologies may be identifiable. The inventory was compiled by David Majewksi, undergraduate, funded by NSF grant DBI-0544235.

The conodonts include over two million specimens (5,419 types) collected by W.M. Furnish and G. Klapper with NSF support in the Ordovician through Pennsylvanian of North America, Europe (France), and Australia from 1938-1998 (e.g., Ethington 1959; Ethington & Furnish 1959, 1962; Klapper 1966, 1971, 1989, 1990, 1997a, b; Klapper & Murphy 1975; Klapper & Johnson 1980; Klapper & Lane 1989; Klapper & Foster 1993; Klapper et al. 1995; Becker et al. 1989; Metzger 1989; Day, 1990; Over 1992; Ritter & Baesmann 1991). The collection provides the basis for the „Catalog of Conodonts‟ (Klapper et al. 1977; Klapper et al. 1991), the conodont volume of the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology (Klapper 1981), and the definition of Devonian boundaries by Subcommissions & Working groups of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (Klapper et al. 1994; Chernykh & Ritter 1997). In 1998, BP AMOCO transferred its entire conodont collection of 20,000 slides from 1339 Paleozoic localities in the U.S., Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and Central and South America, making the UI collection one of the largest held by a university. The collection, along with digitized hard copy data will be available on-line from March 2010.

The fusulinid collection is one of the largest single collections of its kind, and the UI was designated by the Paleontological Society as one of four approved U.S. repositories for fusulinid types. It includes: (a) the M.L Thompson collection of fusulinids, including >15,000 glass slides, and > 3,500 type and referred specimens (Thompson 1948, 1954; Groves 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988; Douglass & Nestell 1984; Brenckle and Groves 1986; Groves & Boardman, 1999; Groves & Wahlman 1997), and (b) the Bissell collection of 7500 glass slides (specimens cited in theses from Brigham Young Univ. (Marshall 1969; Robinson Jr. 1961; Wright 1961; Slade 1961; Hodgkinson 1961).

The Neogene scleractinian coral collection consists of ~12,000 specimens (641 types) collected over the past 20 years by Prof. A.F. Budd as part of NSF funded research (most recently EAR-9219138, EAR97-25273, EAR-0445789) in the Caribbean (Costa Rica, Jamaica, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Bahamas) and Europe (France, Austria, Bulgaria). The material is described in four monographs (Foster 1986, 1987; Budd 1991, Budd & Johnson 1999a) and two edited volumes (Jackson et al. 1996a; Nehm & Budd 2008), and also serves as the basis for >35 articles since 1994 (e.g., Budd 2000; Budd et al. 1994, 1995, 1996a-b, 1998, 1999; Budd & Johnson 1996, 1997, 1999b, 2001; Budd & Klaus 2001; Budd & Manfrino 2001; Budd & McNeill 1998; Budd & Pandolfi 2004; Budd & Smith 2005; Budd & Stolarski 2009; Budd & Wallace 2008; Collins et al. 1996; Denniston et al. 2008; Fukami et al. 2004a-b, 2008; Getty et al. 2001; Holcomb et al. 2004; Jackson et al. 1996b; Johnson et al. 1995, 2008; Johnson & Budd, 1996; Klaus & Budd 2003; Klaus et al. 2007; McNeill et al. 1997, 1999, 2000). Also included are >2,000 specimens of Recent agariciids and faviids collected in Panama and Belize as part of Ph.D. dissertations by Stemann (1991) and Johnson (1991).

The Paleozoic coral collection consists of >2,000 specimens collected by Calvin (1879-1911), Belanski (1920s) and Stainbrook (1940-1950), 509 which are types (Calvin 1893; Easton 1944; Ladd 1929; Thomas 1917; Stainbrook 1940, 1946; Sorauf 1974, 1998; Edwards 1988; Webb 1993). The collection was assessed and reorganized under NSF grant DBI-0096768 and curated, catalogued, and made available on-line under NSF grant DBI-0544235.

The trilobite collections, totaling ~10,000 specimens, are derived mostly from Prof. Jonathan Adrain's research program and include ~2,000 type specimens from a series of systematic papers and monographs funded by NSF grants EAR 9973065, EAR 0308685, and DEB 0716065. Material is from the Cambrian and Ordovician of Nevada, Utah, and Idaho, and serves as the foundation for global revisions of major trilobite groups, as well as documenting a plethora of newly discovered taxa (Adrain & Westrop, 2004, 2006a, 2006b, 2006c, 2007a, 2007b, in press; Adrain et al., 2008, in press - a, in press - b; McAdams & Adrain, in press - a, in press - b; Westrop & Adrain, in press), and establishing a new biostratigraphic zonation for the Lower Ordovician of North American (Adrain et al., in press - a). Iowa is also the editorial home for the revision of the trilobite volumes of the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology (Adrain, 2008). The collections have also provided much of the primary data for studies addressing broader paleobiological questions involving diversity through time (Adrain & Westrop 2000; Westrop & Adrain 2001), habitat occupancy (Westrop & Adrain 1998; Adrain et al. 2000), and mass extinctions.

The brachiopods consist of >10,000 specimens and 2,295 types studied by Wang (1949), Stainbrook (1945), and Belanski (1928a,b,c). The non-type brachiopod collection is mostly uncatalogued, but has been sorted and organized. Recent studies (Day 1989; Day & Copper 1998; Rogers & Pitrat 1987; Lescinsky 1995, 1997; Ma & Day, 2007) are based on the Belanski and Stainbrook material and Day has added new specimens from Iowa, New Mexico and Canada.

The large mammal collection contains ~500 Pleistocene-age specimens described by Calvin (1909), Hay (1914), and Clement (1932, UI unpublished thesis), and ~1,000 Holocene-age specimens. Bison bones from local peat bogs and archaeological sites comprise the bulk of the Holocene material (Whittaker 1998). Since 2001 the Paleontology Repository has collaborated with the UI Museum of Natural History and Emeritus Professor Holmes Semken on the 
Tarkio Valley Giant Ground Sloth Project.

Material from four sloths (Megalonyx jeffersoni and Paramylodon harlani) have been added to the Paleontology Repository collection.

This collection contains more than 60,000 specimens from >50 paleontological and archaeological sites in Iowa and the Midwest, making it amongst the largest in the world (Semken 1974, 1980, 1984; Anderson & Semken 1980; Shutler et al. 1980; Falk & Semken 1990; Folk & Semken, 1991; Semken & Falk 1991; Semken & Graham 1996; Stafford & Semken, 1990). The material was collected primarily by graduate students and has served as the basis for >20 theses and dissertations (e.g., Croft & Semken 1994; Foley 1984; Jenkins & Semken 1972; Rhodes 1984; Davis 1987; Jans 1993, Benton 1999). The faunas from all Quaternary sites are included in FAUNMAP, a comprehensive database documenting the Late Quaternary distribution of mammalian species in the U.S. (FAUNMAP 1996; Semken 1994). Part of the collection was made available on line under NSF grant DBI-0544235.
Supplemental data for Semken, JR., H. A., Graham, R. W., Stafford, Jr., T. W. AMS 14C analysis of Late Pleistocene non-analog faunal components from 21 cave deposits in southeastern North America. Submitted to Quaternary International: The following sites (Supplemental Data File 2), which supplied specimens for AMS 14C analysis support a paper submitted by Semken, Graham and Stafford to Quaternary International, are described to provide more comprehensive information on the sites from which the AMS-dated specimens selected for analysis. The localities are organized into three geographic regions (1) the Appalachians, (2) the Allegheny plateau west of the Appalachians and (3) the Ozark Plateau of the central United States.  Although Stafford et al., (1999) review the dates on the lower levels of Peccary Cave and the Creek Bend Cave samples, 70 of the 121 dates (Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4) from the project are reported here for the first time.  All dates, chemical processes, and stratigraphic associations, etc., are tabulated in Supplemental Data File 1.

The paleobotany collection encompasses an incredible diversity of specimens from 2 billion year old microscopic algae, to seeds and pollen from Ice Age flowering plants. Particularly important collections are (a) Cretaceous cycadeoids collected by Macbride in 1894, including two holotype specimens; (b) the F. O. Thompson collection of >1,000 Mazon Creek nodules; (c) a significant collection of coal balls from now inaccessible sites in Iowa (Urbandale, Shuler, What Cheer); (d) Iowa Carboniferous compression floras; and (e) ~500 Dakota Sandstone specimens collected by Sternberg. The collections form the basis of several publications (Brotzman & Schabilion 1971-2; Mapes & Schabilion 1979a.b; Reihman & Schabilion, 1976,a,b, 1978, 1985; Schabilion 1975, Schabilion & Brotzman 1979; Schabilion & Reihman 1985, Ward, 1899, Wieland, 1906, 1916). The pollen and plant macrofossils from >25 Quaternary sites in Iowa , other Midwestern, and Rocky Mountain sites have been used for paleoecological interpretations (e.g., Van Zant 1979; Van Zant & Hallberg 1976; Baker 1976, 1983, 2000; Baker et al. 1980, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993a,b, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002,,2005, 2006, 2009; Baker & Van Zant 1980; Bettis et al. 1990; Chumbley et al. 1990; Garry et al. 1990; Rogers et al., 1992; Baker & Drake 1994; Zhu & Baker 1995; Denniston et al., 1999a-c). The collection is important because it preserves material from an interval of time (the last 1 million years) that has not been previously well documented in North America. Also present are Paleozoic and Mesozoic palynologic samples (~1,500 slides) from Iowa coals (Ravn 1979, 1983; Ravn & Witzke 1995). The Paleontology Repository houses two important reference collections used in Quaternary studies: (1) ~1,250 slides of modern pollen from mainly midwestern and Rocky Mountain taxa; (2) ~3,000 specimen boxes of seeds, fruits, and other plant parts from taxa from the same regions. Both collections are used in identifying fossil specimens; the latter collection is thought to be the largest in the Midwest.

Unique segments of the collection include: Calvin Coll. (1874-1911; Calvin 1878; White 1880); Belanski Coll. (1925-1929, Devonian; Strimple & Levorson 1969); Ladd & Kay Coll. (1920s, Ordovician); Thomas Coll. (1920-1930, Paleozoic; Walter 1923); Laudon Coll. (1930s and 1975, Mississippian); Stainbrook Coll. (1940s, Devonian); Fitzpatrick Coll. (1890s, Devonian); Orr Coll.(1950s, Ordovician); Van Tuyl Coll. (1920s, Mississippian); Levorson, Gerk, Crossman, and Gossman (1960-1990s; Ordovician, Mississippian); Walsh Coll. (2008, Silurian, Iowa) and Paleozoic fish (Eastman 1907).

Several collections of predominantly non-Iowan material are under-utilized because they are incompletely cataloged [e.g., Springer Collection (1920) Paleozoic echinoderms; AMOCO Production Co. Florida Bay samples (assembled from 1965-1985, Holocene invertebrates of South Florida, Bahamas Platform and Caribbean); Guest thesis material, Cretaceous-Pliocene, Mississippi] or because they are inaccessible [e.g., Strimple Collection (1930-1980) Midcontinent Paleozoic echinoderms; Nutting and University Expedition Collections (1890-1922; Calvin 1892; Caribbean Neogene and Recent); Shimek (assembled 1878-1936; Quaternary non-marine molluscs; Frest 1981, 1982; Frest & Dickson 1986)]. Several studies using Univ. Iowa specimens not covered in the above categories have been published recently (e.g., gastropods- Rohr 1992; Day 1987; arthropods- Hesselbo 1993, Feist & Petersen 1995; conulariids- Van Iten 1991, 1992a,b; Van Iten et al. 1992).