The mission of the UCMP is to investigate and promote the understanding of the history of life and the diversity of the Earth's biota through research and education. UCMP is an active center of national and international research and houses one of the nation's largest collections of fossils as well as state-of-the-art facilities for the study of these fossils.

		Research at UCMP Learn about the work being done by researchers at UCMP. This section includes research profiles, lists of publications, news, data sets and more.				Collections at UCMP Read descriptions of the collections, search the collections online, read policies for using the collections and more.

		Caldwell finds that stomatopods can perceive circularly polarized light March 25, 2008 Some stomatopods can detect and analyze circularly polarized light according to research by UCMP's Roy Caldwell and collaborators published in the recent Current Biology. No other animal is known to be able to perceive this sort of light. These stomatopods can actually distinguish between left-handed and right-handed circular polarization. The discovery has been widely reported, including by Wired and Science News.

		Pyramids, forams, and Red Sea reefs: Field notes from Lorraine Casazza, part 2 March 24, 2008 Grad student Lorraine Casazza's Egyptian adventure continues as she collects Nummilites and endures sandstorms in the Valley of the Whales.

		Squid science: Field notes from Stephanie Bush March 17, 2008 In her latest report from the field, Stephanie shoots ink at some squid and mimics squid bioluminescence.

		Hunting for Mesozoic vertebrates in Ethiopia: Field notes from Mark Goodwin March 17, 2008 The third episode of Mark Goodwin's field report from Ethiopia: raw meat, flat tires and even some fossil prospecting.