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Some early collectors and collections of fossil sponges represented in The Natural History Museum, London

2003; Volume: 7; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.55468/gc423

0144-5294

S.L. Long, P.D. Taylor, Stephen Baker, J. Cooper,

History of Science and Natural History

Fossil sponges have a long geological history dating to the late Precambrian, yet they are poorly understood both palaeobiologically and taxonomically. In part the latter is due to problems with preservation but further contributory factors are the number of key papers that date from the 19th Century, and the intrinsic problems in tracing, reidentifying and locating original data associated with the specimens used in these publications. The large collection of fossil sponges at The Natural History Museum, London (NHM) includes important material described by several 19th Century naturalists. Notable among these were J.S. Bowerbank, Gideon Mantell, J. Toulmin Smith, G.J. Hinde and H.A. Nicholson. Brief biographies of these naturalists are given, along with an introduction to their collections and additional paper archives held by the NHM.