Malacology Collection

The land and freshwater gastropods of the Southwestern United States are the largest component of the 28,000-specimen malacology collection, which includes many type and voucher specimens. The freshwater bivalves of Texas are well-represented. Specimens include extant and Pleistocene fossil mollusks. Much of the collection is based on the research of the late Elmer P. Cheatum, Ph.D. (Southern Methodist University) and Richard W. Fullington, Ph.D. (Curator of Invertebrates, DMNH, retired). Recently the Museum conducted surveys for the Texas Nature Conservancy.

Information on this collection is contained in a four-part bulletin, The Aquatic and Land Mollusks of Texas, published by the Dallas Museum Natural History in the early 1970’s. Also associated with the collection is a reprint file of historical biological publications.

MNS is an AAM accredited institution that is the result of the merger of the Dallas Museum of Natural History, The Science Place, and the Dallas Children's Museum, supported in part by the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and HP.