The research mineral collection is in constant demand by scientists all over the world. The National Rock and Ore Collection contains more than 235,000 inventoried specimens and includes reference collections such as mantle nodules, ocean floor basalts, sea floor manganese nodules, famous ore deposits, and the products of active volcanoes. The Department of Paleobiology collections are a microcosm of all the museum's other scientific department collections. More than 460 separate, well-curated, and documented collections house in excess of 40 million specimens of fossil invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants representing over half a billion years of Earth history. Many of these collections represent international expeditions and domestic surveys and are considered the best in the world.
Many specimens have an aesthetic as well as historical value.
The specimens can vary in size from microscopic grains of pollen to a very large dinosaur. The department also maintains large sediment samples and cores collected in the United States and the world oceans. In addition, holdings include an extensive scientific illustration and photographic collection. The major geographic strengths are in the Neotropics and the Pacific. The division also maintains a premier amphibian sound archive.