Karl E. Limper Geology Museum
126 Shideler HallOxford, Ohio 45056
513-529-3220 | http://www.miamioh.edu/cas/academics/centers/limper-museum/
Karl E. Limper Geology Museum
Learn about geological basics and the origins of life in Ohio through quality geological specimens from Ohio and around the world.
In this beautiful museum located inside Shideler Hall, the home of Miami University’s Department of Geological and Environmental Earth Science, quality geological specimens from Ohio and around the world line the walls.
Numerous examples of trilobite fossils offer a look at some of Ohio’s first residents and the marks they left behind on the world through their fossilized exoskeletons. These marine animals are members of an extinct class of arthropods that have been extinct for about 250 million years. Local bedrock is well-known for its wide variety of marine invertebrate fossils. Many of the museum’s trilobite fossils were found in Oxford and the surrounding area while some where found elsewhere in Ohio; other specimens came from around the world. Among the trilobite fossils is an example of Ohio’s state fossil, Isotelus maximus, a trilobite specimen from the Late Ordovician Period 450 million years ago found in Adams County.
A diorama of the Late Ordovician Sea of Southwestern Ohio brings trilobites and other ancient marine species to life by imagining the sea that covered the area and what the animals who lived there might have looked like.
Notes for Travelers
Visit Miami University’s Parking Services website for more information about parking on campus.