Content deleted Content added
Billjones94 (talk | contribs) Added short description Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
m →TV appearances: replaced: TV Appearances → TV appearances |
||
| (35 intermediate revisions by 14 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{Short description|Private museum devoted to osteology, in Oklahoma, U.S.}}
{{COI|date=December 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox museum
| name = Skeletons: Museum of Osteology (Oklahoma City)
| logo = Skeleton Museum Logo New.
| imagesize = 200px
| image =
| caption = Students outside of museum
| map_type = Oklahoma
| map_caption = Location in [[Oklahoma]]
| coordinates = {{coord|35.
| established = 2010
| location = [[Oklahoma City]], United States | type = [[Natural history museum]]
| director = [[Jay Villemarette]]
| collection =
| visitors = 500,000+
| owner = Jay Villemarette
| website = {{URL|skeletonmuseum.com}}
}}
The '''Museum of Osteology''', located in [[Oklahoma City]], Oklahoma
* {{Cite news |last1=Raymond |first1=Jeff |title=Skeleton Crew |newspaper=[[The Oklahoman]] |url=http://www.skullsunlimited.com/record_news.php?id=7 |date=March 26, 2007 |via=Skulls Unlimited |access-date=April 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823114941/http://www.skullsunlimited.com/record_news.php?id=7 |archive-date= August 23, 2017 |url-status= dead}}
* {{Cite news |last1=Raymond |first1=Jeff |title=Skeleton Crew |newspaper=[[The Oklahoman]] |url=http://oliveweb-02.newsok.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=Oklahoman&BaseHref=DOK/2007/03/26&PageLabelPrint=1A&EntityId=Ar00100&ViewMode=HTML |date=March 26, 2007 |via=newsok.com |access-date=February 15, 2023}}</ref><ref name=mooremonthly>{{Cite magazine |last1=Wheelbarger |first1=Brent |title=The Bone Collectors; The Biggest Skeletal Collection in the World Right Here in Moore Oklahoma |url=https://www.skullsunlimited.com/blogs/news/the-bone-collectors |magazine=Moore Monthly |date=October 1, 2008 |via=Skulls Unlimited}} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20120602090912if_/http://skullsunlimited.com/userfiles/file/Moore%20Monthly%20Oct2008.pdf PDF] via [[Internet Archive]])</ref> The museum is an entity of its parent company, [[Skulls Unlimited International]].
==
The museum focuses on the form and function of the [[skeletal system]] with numerous educational and [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomic]] displays featuring all five [[vertebrate]] [[Vertebrate#Classification|classes]].<ref name=mooremonthly/>
The collections housed by the Museum of Osteology are the result of over 40 years of collecting by Jay Villemarette.<ref name=oklahomagazette>{{Cite news |last=
Currently, the collections consist of approximately 7,000 specimens representing over
The museum hosts a multitude of fun educational opportunities and events for all ages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Category: Upcoming Events |url=https://www.skeletonmuseum.com/category/current-upcoming-events/ |access-date=December 22, 2022 |website=Skeleton Museum |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="metrofamilymagazine.com">{{Cite magazine |title=5 "Bone"-afide Reasons to visit the Museum of Osteology |magazine=MetroFamily |url=https://www.metrofamilymagazine.com/5-bone-afide-reasons-to-visit-the-museum-of-osteology/ |access-date=December 22, 2022 }}</ref> According to the website, one of the main goals of these programs is to make people excited about the natural world and inspire conservation efforts.
There are also many opportunities for museum guests to touch real bone and take pictures with fully articulated skeletons.<ref name="metrofamily.2012.08.11"/>
Since its opening, over 500,000 guests from all over the world have come to the museum to see the displays, fill out scavenger hunts, explore the collection for research papers, and pick up commemorative items from the gift shop.
== Ethics ==
The museum does not support or condone poaching or any other illegal hunting practice.<ref name="jr.brus.2010.10.26">{{Cite news |last=Brus |first=Brian |date=October 26, 2010 |title=A real skeleton crew: Museum of Osteology opens in Moore |newspaper=[[The Journal Record]] |url=https://journalrecord.com/2010/10/26/a-real-skeleton-crew-museum-of-osteology-opens-in-moore-general-news/ |access-date=December 22, 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref> All the specimens are ethically sourced.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Museum of Osteology and Skulls Unlimited |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/museum-of-osteology-and-skulls-unlimited |access-date=December 22, 2022 |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en}}</ref> The Museum of Osteology partners with zoos, aquariums, wildlife centers, nature preserves, sportsmen, and private donators to make sure the animals are treated with respect and are properly taken care of after death.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 3, 2007 |title=Life as a skull cleaner is a messy job |language=en |publisher=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-work-skulls-idUSL2729433120070403 |access-date=December 22, 2022}}</ref> The museum also receives donations from [[Body donation|human donor programs]].
==History==
[[File:Museum of Osteology Gallery.jpg|thumb|236x236px|Remodeled Museum, 2022]]
Villemarette wanted to share his love of science by displaying his collection and making osteology more accessible to the public.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Museum of Osteology {{!}} Okie Geek – Podcast on Goodpods |url=https://goodpods.com/podcasts/okie-geek-190852/museum-of-osteology-17676618 |access-date=December 22, 2022 |website=Goodpods |language=en}}</ref> The museum encourages understanding of the complexities of the skeletal structure and an appreciation of [[:simple:Extant|extant]] species.<ref>{{Cite AV media |title=Bone Museum Oklahoma – Museum Of Osteology |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvU02fFDzkc |publisher=Florida TV |via=YouTube |date=November 11, 2019 |language=en |access-date=December 22, 2022}}</ref>
In 2015, the Museum of Osteology opened a second location, [[Skeletons: Animals Unveiled|Skeletons: Museum of Osteology]] in Orlando, Florida, at the [[International Drive|I-Drive]] 360 entertainment complex.<ref>{{Cite
The museum began renovating its exhibits in 2020, making the most of the COVID pandemic closures. The renovations included bright new wallpaper and new skeletons on displays.
The museum has been featured on various media outlets, including TV channels, newspapers, and podcasts. It has social media profiles on every major platform.
==Gallery==▼
<gallery>▼
== TV appearances ==
The museum of osteology has been featured on numerous tv shows including;
File:Primate exhibit museum of osteology.jpg|Primate skeletons on display▼
File:Kinkajou skeleton.JPG|Skeleton of a [[Kinkajou]]▼
▲Image:Museum of osteology 3 2010.JPG|The museum in the final stages of development, March 2010.
Image:Fossil hominids.jpg|[[Fossil]] [[hominid]] and [[human evolution]] exhibit on display▼
* [[Ripley's Believe It or Not! (2000 TV series)|Ripley's Believe It or Not!]] "Skull Supplier" Season 2, Episode 6. Air Date: Feb. 14, 2001
* [[MSNBC Investigates]]; "Shades of Obsession" Season 1, Episode 115. Air Date: April 17, 2001
* [[Dirty Jobs]]; "Skull Cleaner" Season 1, Episode 23. Air Date: July 11, 2006
* [[Weird, True & Freaky]]; "Eternally Stuffed" Season 3, Episode 12. Air Date: Nov. 23, 2010
* Skeleton, Inc. Season 1, Episode 1 (Pilot). Air Date: Sept. 18, 2011
* [[Modern Marvels]]; "Built by Hand" Season 18, Episode 2. Air Date: Oct. 10, 2011
* [[Auction Kings]]; "Les Paul Guitar/Giant Bat" Season 3, Episode 12. Air Date: Jun.14, 2012
* [[Taboo (2002 TV series)|Taboo]]; "Living with the Dead" Season 8, Episode 5. Air Date: June 17, 2012
* [[Mysteries at the Museum]]; "Van Meter Visitor" Season 15, Episode 7. Air Date: June 15th, 2017
* [[Mysteries at the Museum]]; "Daedalus Sea Monster" Season 15, Episode 2. Air Date: November 9th, 2017
* [[Mysteries at the Museum]]; "Columbus and the Mermaid" Season 21, Episode 1. Air Date: August 8th, 2018
* [[Mysteries at the Museum]]; "It's Raining Frogs" Season 21, Episode 2. Air Date: July 19th, 2018.
* [[Last Week Tonight with John Oliver]]; "Organs & Body Donations" Season 10, Episode 19. Air Date: December 3rd, 2023.
== Exhibits ==
[[File:Artiodactyl Exhibit.jpg|thumb|Artiodactyl Exhibit|223x223px]]
The museum offers many exhibits from all five vertebrate classes. There are also floating exhibits throughout the museum and whales hanging from the ceiling.<ref name="Transcript">{{Cite web |last=Transcript |first=Aaron Wright Gray – The Norman |title=Villemarette gets the skeletons out of the closet |url=https://www.normantranscript.com/news/local_news/villemarette-gets-the-skeletons-out-of-the-closet/article_9fc0c59e-80ca-5ddd-a866-3d3343f99cb7.html |access-date=December 19, 2022 |website=Norman Transcript |language=en}}</ref> All the specimens on display are cleaned at the Skulls Unlimited building next door, using [[Dermestidae|dermestid beetles]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Where 'how greasy a human is' is part of the job |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna15486395 |access-date=December 20, 2022 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> The skeletons are articulated and then put on display.<ref>{{Cite web |first1=Bryant |last1=Urstadt |date=January 7, 2006 |title=I'm Going to Rib-Cage World |url=https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/im-going-rib-cage-world/ |access-date=December 20, 2022 |website=Outside Online |language=en-US}}</ref> The exhibits display a wide range of topics, including locomotion, adaptation, and forensic osteology and pathology.<ref name="metrofamily.2012.08.11">{{Cite magazine |title=The Museum of Osteology—Dirty Jobs, Cool Bones & More! |url=https://www.metrofamilymagazine.com/the-museum-of-osteology-dirty-jobs-cool-bones-more/ |first1=Sara |last1=Riester |orig-date=August 11, 2012 |date=May 29, 2019 |access-date=December 20, 2022 |magazine=MetroFamily}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=SKELETONS: Museum Of Osteology; #2 in Best Thing To Do In Oklahoma City |url=https://travel.usnews.com/Oklahoma_City_OK/Things_To_Do/Museum_of_Osteology_62276/ |access-date=December 22, 2022 |website=US News Travel}}</ref> The museum offers scavenger hunts for all ages. The answers to these can be found throughout the exhibits. The "Explorers Corner" is the section of the museum devoted to hands-on activities for children. There is a mystery skull game where children can touch real animal skulls.<ref name="metrofamily.2012.08.11"/> They can also dissect [[owl pellet]]s on the first floor or in the classroom.
== Notable specimens ==
[[File:Mike Rowe and Jay Villemarette Cleaning Skull.jpg|left|thumb|188x188px|Mike Rowe with Jay Villemarette cleaning a humpback whale skull at Skeletons: Museum of Osteology (Oklahoma)]]
*[[Humpback whale]] – One of 12 fully articulated skeletons in North America. It washed ashore in 2003, was buried for two years and then cleaned by Skulls Unlimited International.<ref name="Transcript" />
The whale was featured on an episode of [[Mike Rowe]]'s ''[[Dirty Jobs]]'', entitled "Skull Cleaner", where Rowe helped clean the skeleton.<ref>{{Cite episode |last1=Rowe |first1=Mike |author1-link=Mike Rowe |title=Skull Cleaner |url=https://www.discovery.com/shows/dirty-jobs/episodes/skull-cleaner |access-date=December 8, 2022 |series=[[Dirty Jobs]] |season=1 |number=27 |network=[[Discovery Channel|Discovery]] |date=July 11, 2006 |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Komodo dragon]] – One of the first Komodo dragons to be allowed entry into the United States was a gift from the president of Indonesia to [[George H. W. Bush]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Peek Inside the Museum Archives |publisher=Richard Nixon Museum and Library |url=https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/news/peek-inside-museum-archives |date=January 24, 2022 |access-date=December 19, 2022}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=January 2023|reason=No source is cited to verify this specimen is at the museum.}}
*Chimp from Space Program – Donated to the museum by William Taylor, retired NASA scientist and photographer. Chimp was said to have been used in the space program at Holloman AF, Alamogordo, New Mexico.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023|reason=Source is needed to verify these claims, including that the specimen is at the museum.}}
*[[Javan rhinoceros|Javan rhino]] – The rarest specimen in the collection.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Museum of Osteology and Skulls Unlimited |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/museum-of-osteology-and-skulls-unlimited |access-date=December 20, 2022 |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en}}</ref> Out of the five rhino species, the Javan rhino is the most endangered species of rhino.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Javan Rhino |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/javan-rhino |access-date=December 7, 2022 |website=World Wildlife Fund |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Sumatran Rhino.jpg|thumb|178x178px|Sumatran rhino]]
*[[Sumatran rhinoceros|Sumatran rhino]] – Another endangered species of rhino, with only about 80 left in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nuwer |first=Rachel |author-link=Rachel Nuwer |title=Endangered species: The last animals of their kind |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140509-whats-the-worlds-rarest-animal |access-date=December 12, 2022 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en}}</ref> They are the smallest of all the rhino species. The Cincinnati Zoo was the first facility to successfully breed this rhino in over 100 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sumatran Rhino in Indonesia is Pregnant! Rhino born at the Cincinnati Zoo is the Father |url=https://cincinnatizoo.org/news-releases/sumatran-rhino-in-indonesia-is-pregnant-rhino-born-at-the-cincinnati-zoo-is-the-father/ |date=September 22, 2015 |location=Cincinnati |access-date=December 12, 2022 |website=Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden |language=en-US}}</ref> One of those rhinos was a female named Suci (Sue-Chee), the museum considered it an honor to be entrusted with her after she died.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cincinnati Zoo Devastated By Loss of Endangered Sumatran Rhino |url=https://cincinnatizoo.org/news-releases/cincinnati-zoo-devastated-by-loss-of-endangered-sumatran-rhino/ |date=March 31, 2014 |location=Cincinnati |access-date=December 8, 2022 |website=Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Terri Roth|Dr. Terri Roth]], an expert on Sumatran rhinos, who worked extensively to save Suci (from [[hemochromatosis]]), has used the museum collection to aid her research.
*[[Cetacea]]n Collection – The museum houses the largest private collection of cetaceans. This includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. The collection at the museum holds 46 different species, while in the world there are 80 different species.<ref name="jr.brus.2010.10.26"/>
*[[Hippopotamus]] – The museum currently features one fully articulated adult hippopotamus skeleton.
▲== Gallery ==
{{gallery cleanup|date=December 2022}}
▲<gallery>
File:Hippopotamus Skeleton from SKELETONS Museum of Osteology.jpg|Hippopotamus skeleton
File:Comparative Anatomy.jpg|[[Comparative anatomy]] exhibit
File:Museum of osteology 3 2010.JPG|Museum in the final stages of development, March 2010
▲File:
File:Seals Exhibit.jpg|Seal exhibit
File:Grizzy Bear Skeleton.jpg|"Devon" the grizzly bear, photo opportunity
File:Primates Exhibit.jpg|Primate exhibit
</gallery>
Line 56 ⟶ 107:
== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
*{{Official website|
{{Oklahoma City Museums}}
| |||