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Below are some of our favorite websites for specimen identification, education, general rock hounding knowledge, and places to visit. We hope you will take time to browse through these sites as we feel there is a lot of information that can be gained from them.

If you have site that you think our members and visitors might find useful, please feel free to let us know. Just drop us a line in our Contact Form and we'll see about adding it to the list.

As always - Keep on rockin' with the MGMC!

Federation Sites

Minerals

  • Mindat.org - Mindat is the world's largest open database of minerals, rocks, meteorites, and the localities they come from.

  • Minerals.net - This site has been providing detailed information and photos of hundreds of mineral and gemstone specimens since 1997, and is one of the leading education resources on the subject.

  • Mineralogy Database - Complete, up-to-date, mineral database containing 4714 mineral species descriptions and comprehensive picture library of images.

  • Mineralogical Society of America - The Mineralogical Society of America (MSA) is professional membership organization open to any person interested in mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry, petrology, or any allied science.

Fossils

  • The Fossil Forum - The worldwide community of fossil collectors, enthusiasts, and paleontologists sharing their knowledge about fossils.

  • Oceans of Kansas Paleontology - Award winning website about fossils from the late Cretaceous Western Interior Sea, especially those found in Kansas.

  • The Paleontology Portal - Explore paleontology in North America by state and time period. Check the collection of fossil images searchable by taxon and time. This site is a resource for anyone interested in paleontology, from the professional in the lab to the interested amateur scouting for fossils to the student in any classroom.

Lapidary

Fluorescent Minerals

  • Fluorescent Mineral Society - A non-profit member driven organization of folks who love fluorescent minerals.

  • Nature's Rainbows - A non-commercial Fluorescent Mineral SuperSite maintained entirely by volunteer hobbyists and contributors.

Mineral Collecting Software

  • Minerals.exe - a free yet powerful database software for managing your mineral collection.

Educational

Museums and Entertainment

  • Field Station: Dinosaurs - A one-of-a-kind, prehistoric experience featuring over 40 life-sized, moving and realistic dinosaurs that’s thrilling, educational, and fun!

  • Fick Fossil & History Museum - On display are more than 11,000 shark teeth, the world's oldest known mosasaur fossil, a 15 foot Xiphactinus fish fossil, and the folk art of Vi Fick who used the fossils she found to make her art.

  • Johnston Geology Museum - Included among the 45 displays in the museum are the world famous Hamilton Quarry Fossil Assemblage, a Tri-State Mining Display, petrified tree stumps, and the Hawkins and the Calkins Indian Artifact Collections.

  • Kansas University Biodiversity Institute & Natural History Museum - Located on the University of Kansas campus in Dyche Hall, the museum is home to four floors of public exhibits including the historic Panorama, live snakes and insects, a Kansas dinosaur, vertebrate and invertebrate fossils, parasites and microbes, and the flora and fauna of the Great Plains.

  • Keystone Gallery - A combination museum, art gallery, and gift shop. The museum section contains an extensive, scientific collection of local Kansas fossils including a 20-foot mosasaur and a 14-foot Xiphactinus. Many other fish, turtle, and bird fossil specimens are also on display.

  • McPherson Museum & Arts Foundation - Skeletons of a giant ground sloth and saber-tooth cat from the famed La Brea "Tar Pits" collected by the first graduate of McPherson College, Kansas fossils, and meteorites with information about Harvey Nininger - the "Father of American Meteoritics" are on display.

  • Post Rock Museum - Housed in a native limestone house the museum includes an authentic stone quarry re-creation illustrating the methods used to cut posts for fencing as well as tools and items depicting the history of the post rock unique to Kansas.

  • Sternberg Museum of Natural History - Fossils from the Cretaceous Chalk Beds of western Kansas including the world-famous fish-within-a-fish and dioramas of ancient life including an life-sized animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex are on display.

  • STRATACA: Kansas Underground Salt Museum - A combination museum and working salt mine 650 feet below the earth's surface and built within one of the world's largest deposits of rock salt.

Member's Pages

Some of Our Favorite Links

Rockhound Organizations

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