Researchers examined hundreds of specimens, including shells of subtropical marine creatures some 500 million years old
Nummulitic limestone. While some larger fossils are visible, this limestone is made of thousands of fossilised foraminifera, a type of single-celled organism. Specimen approximately 8.5cm in diameter. Image by J. D. Dixon.
A new study has shed light on previously unrecognised micropalaeontological material at the Lapworth Museum of Geology.
Around 300 specimens, not previously catalogued by the museum, were examined by researchers, including shells of subtropical marine creatures ranging from just a few millimetres to several centimetres in size and dating from the Paleozoic era, 500 million years ago, to the present.
Their aim was to assess the curation, historic, and scientific significance of the specimens and contribute to ongoing efforts by the Lapworth Museum to digitise its collection.
Tracking some of the narratives of these specimens and their donors was a fascinating exercise. Even the old-fashioned – sometimes improvised – bags or boxes in which they arrived at the museum, from old matchboxes to plaster tins, all told a story of the people behind the specimens.
The Lapworth Museum, based on the University of Birmingham’s Edgbaston Campus, is one of the oldest specialist geological collections in the UK, with around 300,000 specimens comprising scientifically and historically important collections.
The study, published in Geological Curator, was led by J. D. Dixon, Assistant Curator at the Lapworth Museum, and Alexandra Meek, a Conservation Student at Cardiff University, as part of their University of Birmingham MSci theses in 2022.
Specimens studied included microscope slides, loose rocks and fossils, and jars of sediment. For each one, the team assessed the data available on where the specimen originated, its age, and its taxonomy, or what category of creature it was. They also assessed the available information, or metadata, on how and why specimens arrived at the museum.
J. D. Dixon said: “Tracking some of the narratives of these specimens and their donors was a fascinating exercise. Even the old-fashioned – sometimes improvised – bags or boxes in which they arrived at the museum, from old matchboxes to plaster tins, all told a story of the people behind the specimens.”
The researchers also found that, while information about the nature of specimens was generally good, the metadata was less reliable.
“Metadata is crucial for determining a specimen’s importance, but is commonly lost due to the number of steps between uncovering a specimen and its acceptance into a museum,” added Dixon. “While we can fill in some of the gaps with further investigation, much information will remain missing. This underlines the importance of recording as much information as possible when a specimen is first collected and then donated to a museum.”
Where metadata was available, the researchers found that much of the collection was originally assembled for the purposes of teaching and came via donations from University staff such as prominent palaeobotanist Dr Mavis Butterworth as well as other specialist museums and purchases from commercial dealers.
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Assistant Curator, Lapworth Museum of Geology
Staff profile for J. D. Dixon, Assistant Curator at the Lapworth Museum of Geology.
