Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology

Alf Museum, Claremont, Los Angeles County

The Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology is part of The Webb Schools and is the only nationally accredited museum of paleontology on a secondary school campus in the United States. The museum has two circular 4,000 sq. ft. exhibition halls and 20,000 unique annual visitors. The collections number about 140,000 specimens, 95% of which were found by Webb students on fossil-collecting trips called “Peccary Trips,” expeditions usually centered in California, Utah, and Montana. The collections consist primarily of vertebrate, invertebrate, and track fossils and the museum's large track collection is widely recognized as one of the most diverse in the world.

The museum has three full-time staff, two of whom are research paleontologists who conduct research with Webb students in a specialized curriculum through The Webb Schools' Science Department.

Raymond Alf Museum of Paleontology No. 1

The Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology in Claremont California had a fossil festival April 12, 2014. This is a virtual tour of the museum. The Raymond Alf Museum of Paleontology in Claremont California had a fossil festival April 12, 2014. This is the world's second largest fossil track museums. Notice the fossil Coconino trackway. The animal is walking, then it is pushed sideways, then continues, this is not caused by walking on a sand dune. Most of the Coconino tracks in the Grand Canyon show the individual being pushed by something unknown. Notice all the fossil tracks throughout the museum are on flat layers, and yet they are in crossbeded sanstone assumed to be sand dunes. Tracks do not form in sand dunes. These appear to be volcanic flows of hot sand which condensed into stone. Volcanics is associated with all fossil sites. All Dinosaur grave yards are made up of sediment mixed with volcanic ash and water.

Discovering the Raymond M. Alf Museum: Past, Present, and Future

Imagine being a teenager, and learning about the history of life with actual fossils at your fingertips; or the thrill of discovering a species new to science; or publishing a research project in an internationally-recognized scientific journal. These aren't just hypotheticals at the Alf Museum. They are at the core of an innovative and unique high school program.

The Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology at The Webb Schools is the only nationally accredited museum in the United States located on a high school campus and the only museum in the world that engages secondary school students in all aspects of its program, particularly fossil collecting and research—an opportunity unique to The Webb Schools. The museum is active in the international scientific community and also provides educational programming for the public.

Webb biology teacher Ray Alf’s early interest in fossils led him to conduct a student expedition to the Mojave Desert in 1936. Fortuitously, Alf and Bill Webb ’39 found a mammal skull belonging to a new, 15 million year-old species of fossil peccary, or pig, a discovery that inspired Alf to undertake a life-long quest to study the history of life. Over the next thirty years Alf led numerous fossil collecting trip or “Peccary trips” where he and his students amassed a large collection of scientifically significant specimens. In 1968, the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology was constructed to house and exhibit Alf’s collections and public tours began. Over the next three decades, there was a drive to bring the museums programs and operations up to professional standards, and in 1998, the Alf Museum was accredited by the American Alliance of Museums—a distinction earned by less than 5% of museums nationwide.

*Federal specimens shown were collected under permit from the Bureau of Land Management and US Fish and Wildlife Service.

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Dr. Farke and the Hadrosaur

Dr. Andrew Farke, Curator of Paleontology at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology at The Webb Schools in Claremont, CA recalls the discovery, preparation, and student research of a baby hadrosaur skeleton.

Dick Lynas '55 - The Webb Schools Alumni Awards 2015

John R. Dick Lynas '55
Colborn Distinguished Service Award

Named in honor of Ken Colborn ’47, this award recognizes distinguished and significant volunteer service to The Webb Schools or Alf Museum.

John R. “Dick” Lynas ’55 has devoted thousands of hours to the Alf Museum over the past two decades and served on the Museum Board of Trustees since 2004. His volunteer work has varied from cataloging fossil specimens to reworking the collections database. Lynas has acted as a maintenance expert, at times assisting with exhibit repairs and modifications. He is responsible for installing the security camera system in the exhibit halls – having purchased, installed and wired all of the equipment himself. He also developed a photo archive database of peccary trips, participated in countless field trips in support of research efforts, and created a technically-correct sheet music version of the Peccary Song. As Museum Director Don Lofgren states, “Dick’s fingerprints are everywhere in the museum.”

Lynas spent seven years in the Navy, making two tours as a naval aviator during the Vietnam War. He also spent 25 years working as an instructor and field engineer on military flight simulators. Lynas lives in Imperial Beach, CA with his wife Sally.

webb.org/alumni