Moore Laboratory of Zoology
The Moore Lab unites vintage museum collections with cutting-edge DNA technology. Our mission is to understand how evolution has shaped biodiversity and how organisms cope with environmental change today.Bird Tours & Outreach
The Moore Lab is a hub of educational and outreach events in Northeast Los Angeles and across the city, from tours to birdwatching events.Undergraduate Research
The Moore Lab is training the next generation of biodiversity researchers to engage with modern challenges in both the public and private sector.
Highest bird to student ratio
We are a museum of 65,000 vintage bird and mammal specimens at a small liberal arts college in Los Angeles. With our team of students, we conduct cutting-edge research—combining vintage specimens with modern DNA technology—to understand how Earth’s biodiversity got here and where it is headed in the future.
62,776
bird specimens
2,022
bird species
88%
of all hummingbird species represented
2,174
mammal specimens
6,075
specimens from Ecuador
1951
year established
9th
largest university or college collection in the U.S.
Virtual Tour
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the world’s largest Mexican bird collection.
The Moore Lab is the largest collection of Mexican birds in the world. Researchers visit the lab from all over to study the diversity of bird form and color for insight into avian evolution, ecology, and conservation.
The Moore Lab is especially rich in tanagers, family Thraupidae—one of the most colorful bird families on Earth. Our synoptic series of tanagers shows one of every species and is always a highlight of the tour.
With 6,968 specimens representing 88% of all species on Earth, the Moore Lab hummingbird collection is an unparalleled resource. From the smallest (the Bee Hummingbird of Cuba) to the largest (the Giant Hummingbird of Peru) and the weirdest (the Tooth-billed Hummingbird), Moore really made an effort to “collect ‘em all.”
It might surprise you, but only three species in the Moore Lab collection are extinct, due to human causes unrelated to specimen collecting. The Carolina Parakeet was the United States’ only native parrot and went extinct in 1918 due to habitat loss and shooting.
The study of eggs is called oölogy. Eggs come in many sizes, shapes, and colors—and have long interested biologists searching for an adaptive explanation behind this variation. The Moore Lab holds a modest scientific collection of nests and eggs.
Our Team
Dr. McCormack uses museum specimens and genomes to study the evolutionary history of birds, focusing especially on how both ancient landscape changes and more recent human-caused environmental changes affect birds’ distributions, appearance, and DNA.
John McCormack
Director and Curator of the Moore Laboratory of Zoology; Associate Professor, Biology
Dr. Maley is an expert in ornithology and museum collections. His research on secretive wetland birds called rails helped us understand how species sometimes hybridize and led to the recognition that California’s local rail was even more distinctive than previously thought.
James Maley
Collections Manager, Moore Laboratory of Zoology
Dr. Terrill studies the evolution of bird molt, an incredible adaptation that allows birds to drop and regrow worn feathers each year. As the lead on the Mexican Bird Resurvey Project, he is using big biodiversity data and genomic tools to...
Ryan Terrill
Postdoctoral Researcher, Moore Lab of Zoology
Ms. Pentico runs the new Fletcher Jones Foundation Genomics Center. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematical and Computational Biology from Harvey Mudd College. She started in the Moore Lab in 2019 and leads projects generating DNA data for...
Alicia Pentico
Lab Technician, Moore Lab of Zoology and Genomics Center
Ms. Tsai has experience with genomics and museum collections. She is currently a PhD student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program at UCLA where she is studying the genetics of color evolution using large-scale biodiversity data. From...
Whitney Tsai Nakashima
Lab Manager, Moore Lab of Zoology and Genomics Center
Ms. Wong heads the Moore Lab's outreach activities, planning tours and events with local schools and community partners. She has a background working with environmental NGOs in exhibitions, events, and marketing.
...
Jenny Wong
Project and Outreach Coordinator, Moore Lab of Zoology
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