Current collecting priorities
North sea marine worm, Osedax mucofloris. This remarkable whale bone-eating polychaete worm was dissected from a minke whale bone recovered off the west coast of Sweden.
Current sources of material
Fieldwork
Collecting by the Zoology Department is mainly done through fieldwork relating to active research programmes and consultancy contracts.
These activities contribute specimens to almost the whole range of the department’s collections and result in a more focused range of material than previously added.
Donations
The collections are enhanced by the acquisition of significant donations from institutions and individuals, for example the marine ‘Discovery’ collections from the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences.
Seized material
Material seized by HM Revenue and Customs provides another source for the collections. Although not all such material is appropriate for the collections, there is enough to warrant the development of more formal links with HM Revenue and Customs.
The use of new non-destructive sampling - photography and forensic sampling - may be relevant in supporting such efforts.
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Developing the collections
The department has identified areas where the collections represent an increasingly important and unique resource. Find out about plans to develop them in relation to global climate change and the biodiversity crisis, and to increase their potential to be used as time series.
Collecting expertise
Active expertise in the Zoology Department covers the following taxonomic areas:
- cetaceans
- small mammals
- birds
- reptiles
- amphibians
- fish
- echinoderms
- molluscs
- copepods
- brachyuran crabs
- peracarid and decapod crustaceans
- parasitic platyhelminths
- annelids - particularly polychaetes
- nematodes
- cnidarians
- sponges
- protistans - particularly ciliates and flagellates