Collections in Paleontology

      Warren D. Allmon
       
       
       
       

      Introduction

      Fossil collections -- those accumulations of fossil specimens and their associated data that are in principle preserved in perpetuity for posterity -- are the fundamental source of almost all paleontological science. They provide the documentary record against which virtually all paleontological conclusions must ultimately be compared. Collections are the single most important research tool available to paleontologists.

      Paleontological collections differ from other basic scientific tools or resources in several important respects:

      1. They are enormous consumers of space.
      2. They grow, consuming increasing amounts of space.
      3. To the uninitiated, they may not look like sophisticated research tools.
      4. They are unique and irreplaceable.
      5. In theory at least, they are to be maintained forever, as a public trust.
      6. Some (particularly older) collections have experienced long periods (years or decades) of neglect, and are in need of large investments in order to revitalize them.
      7. The vast majority are inaccessible electronically.
      Fossil collections differ from other natural history or systematic biological collections in their stratigraphic component. Fossil collections are used for a different array of purposes from other natural history collections, and cannot be subject to exactly the same conditions or standards of handling and organization.

      Paleontological collections face threats to their continued maintenance and even their existence. This is due in part to their special characteristics, just summarized. It is also due to the generally poor state of paleontology in many institutions and governments (e.g., Teichert et al., 1987; Allmon, 1993). Although most collections grow continually, the resources that many institutions can or will allocate to collections stays constant or shrinks. In the U.S., many smaller collections, principally at colleges and universities, are in precarious positions. Many occupy valuable space coveted by other, more fundable areas of geology. Many have no paleontologist to manage or curate them, or even to assure they are not discarded. Numerous individuals, including both professional and amateur paleontologists, have amassed significant personal fossil collections, which have no permanent institutional home. Many of these "orphaned" or "endangered" collections are potentially extremely valuable; their disappearance or dispersal would represent a loss of knowledge and opportunity, to the paleontological community and society at large. These threats come at a time when collections are simultaneously in need of more financial support and potentially more useful than they have ever been.

      Types of Paleontological Collections

      Paleontological collections are commonly organized in several ways. At the largest scale, the most common division is the quasi-taxonomic four-fold distinction into "invertebrates", "vertebrates", "plants", and "microfossils". Within each of these categories, collections may be arranged by phylogenetic relationship (resulting in what are usually called "systematic" or "taxonomic" collections) or stratigraphic relationship (resulting in what are usually called "stratigraphic collections"). Systematic collections are most commonly used to address biological problems, but may, however, be crucial for addressing geological problems. Similarly, stratigraphic collections are most commonly used to address geological problems, but may also be essential for addressing biological problems. Both types of fossil collections are therefore necessary to support the full range of paleontological science.

      Invertebrate and microfossil collections are vastly larger than collections of vertebrates and plants. Each of the four types of paleontological collections has its own unique set of curatorial, storage, conservation, and management challenges. Size alone dictates that invertebrate and microfossil collections face particularly difficult issues.

      The Importance of Paleontological Collections

      Fossil collections are the final repositories of the documentary evidence that underlies all stratigraphic and biological paleontology (Allmon and Poulton, 1997). The value of fossil collections may be usefully divided into four broad categories: 1) measuring global change (in climate and biodiversity) for applied purposes; 2) exploration for natural resources (principally biostratigraphic use in petroleum exploration); 3) basic research (including the history of the Earth, the history of life and our own family tree, paleogenetics, and exopaleontology [=astropaleobiology, herein); and 4) public education and entertainment.

      Fossil collections help us locate vital natural resources; they tell us about the history of life on Earth and our place in that history; and they inform our predictions of the path and consequences of future changes in global climate and biodiversity. They are the only tangible records we possess of the course of living things on our planet -- the only actual connections we have with all that has gone before. They are libraries -- investments in solutions to future scientific, economic, and environmental problems, some of which we cannot now imagine, and the final repositories of the documentary evidence that underlies much pure and applied science in the present.

      Current Status Of Paleontological Collections

      Size. - It is exceedingly difficult to assess the size of the world's paleontological collections. Several factors are responsible for the poor state of our knowledge in this area:

      1. Most institutions have no realistic idea of the size of the collections under their care.
      2. Collections are managed, counted, and inventoried in different ways (e.g., specimens, slides, "lots", "samples", "collections", drawers, etc.).
      3. National and global compilations of the data that are available are incomplete.
      The most recent global compilation (Webby, 1989) gives the number of specimens of invertebrate fossils (including microfossils) in collections outside the U.S. and Canada at approximately 37.3 million specimens. This compilation did not, however, include adequate data from several countries with large collections, including Belgium, China, Germany, and India. Even for the U.K., the compilation reports collections containing 11.3 million specimens, but an earlier estimate suggested that Britain's 300 museums contained 25 million specimens (Teichert et al., 1987). A recent survey of the 18 largest invertebrate paleontological collections in the U.S. and Canada (Allmon et al., 1997) estimates that these collections contain 65.5 million specimens. Adding the other U.S. and Canadian collections listed in Webby (1989) but not included in the Allmon et al. survey adds another 2.6 million specimens, for a total of 68.1 million specimens. These are clearly only partial numbers. Including institutions and countries not included in Webby (1989), it is possible that the world-wide total holdings in government surveys, museums, universities, and other institutions could be as large as 150 million specimens.

      Collections held by the petroleum industry are also very difficult to assess. Lane (pers. comm.) recently surveyed major U.S. companies, and estimates that they hold at least 2 million slides and 5.8 million washed samples, and that this includes around 50-70% of total U.S. industrial collections. The total number may therefore be around 12-16 million samples. Surveys of non-U.S. industrial collections are scarcer. Webby (1989) lists one South African oil company collection as containing 20 million specimens. A world-wide number of 100 million samples in all industrial collections is therefore not inconceivable.

      Collections held by private individuals are even more difficult to inventory. Some crude sense of the total size of these collections may be obtained by supposing that in the U.S. alone there is probably at least one amateur organization in each of the 50 states (many states have several such clubs or societies), and that each such organization has at least 50 individuals with a significant collection (e.g., containing 1000 specimens or more). This would amount to a total of 2.5 million specimens. Countries such as Britain, Germany, France, Canada, and Japan probably have similar proportional private holdings. Less developed countries might be expected to have lower numbers. A realistic estimate for the total size of significant private collections worldwide might therefore be 25 million specimens.

      We can therefore estimate the world's paleontological collections as containing approximately 275 million specimens. It could conceivably be several times this number; it is almost surely not much less.

      Curatorial Condition. - With respect to the condition of these 275 million+ specimens, there is neither an agreed-upon scale against which to measure nor any comparative assessment of it. A recently proposed scheme for measuring the curatorial grade of fossil collections (Allmon et al., 1997) proposes that they can be arrayed along a "curatorial continuum", ranging from "acquired and not secure", through "safe, sorted, and fundamental data recorded", to "all identified to species and electronically available". Undoubtedly, the vast majority of the world's collections are on the lower grades of this continuum.

      Computerization. - Invertebrate paleontological collections are among the largest but least computerized of systematic collections; in the U.S. only about 8% are computerized, a figure lower than all major categories of collections aside from entomology and botany (Cooley et al., 1993). None of the major U.S. collections have more than 30% of their collections computerized; several major collections are not computerized at all, and others are in the process of changing to more powerful database systems. The situation in most collections outside the U.S. is probably even worse, although data are not readily available.

      Needs

      1. The global status of collections size and condition should be monitored closely. The compilation of Webby (1989) should be updated soon and often.
      2. The status and possible fates of "orphaned" and "endangered" collections should be carefully explored in each country. This is a potentially enormous problem and requires an appropriately large commitment for solution.
      3. Adequate resources should be found to a) maintain collections against further deterioration, b) improve their condition to at least a minimal level of physical availability, c) allow for their prudent growth, d) dramatically expand their electronic availability.
      4. Individuals who care for and value paleontological collections must take every opportunity to make their value known -- to other paleontologists, other scientists, policy makers, funders, and the public at large.

      References

      Allmon, W.D. 1993. In defense of paleontology. Geotimes, 38/11, 5.

      Allmon, W.D.& Poulton, T. (in press). The value of fossil collections. In Allmon, W.D., Lidgard, S., Hughes, N. C. & Jones, D. S. (eds.). Guidelines and standards for management and computerization of invertebrate paleontological collections. The Paleontological Society Papers.

      Allmon, W.D., Lidgard, S., Hughes, N. C. & Jones, D. S. (eds.). (in press) Guidelines and standards for management and computerization of invertebrate paleontological collections, The Paleontological Society Papers.

      Cooley, G.P., Harrington, M. B. & Lawrence, L. M. 1993. Analysis and recommendations for scientific computing and collections information management of free-standing museums of natural history and botanic gardens, 2 vols. MTR 93W0000109. Mitre, Inc.,

      McLean, VA. Teichert, C., Sweet, W. C., & Boucot, A. J. 1987. The unpublished fossil record. Senckenbergiana Lethaea, 68, 1-19.

      Webby, B.D. 1989. Fossil collections of the world: an international guide. International Paleontological Association, Washington, DC, 216 pp. 

      Curating, Collection, Extraction, and Preparation Delegates

      Dr. Warren Allmon--Topic Coordinator
      Paleontological Research Institution
      1259 Trumansburg Road
      Ithaca, NY 14850 USA
      wda1@cornell.edu
      607-273-6620 (FAX)
      607-273-6623 (PHONE)

      Dr. Francisco J. Vega
      Instituto de Geologia
      UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria
      Coyoacan, Mexico, D.F. 04510, MEXICO
      vegver@servidor.unam.mx
      (52-5) 550-6644, or 550-8432 (FAX)
      (52-5) 622-4288, or 622-4290 (PHONE)

      Dr. Stephan Schaal
      Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg
      Senckenberganlage 25
      D-60325 Frankfurt am Main
      Germany
      Sschaal@sng.uni-frankfurt.de 

      This page is maintained for the Paleo21 Organizing Committee by Norman MacLeod and H. Richard Lane. Corrections, inquiries about, and updates to any of the information shown above should be directed to Norm and/or Rich.