nhm_fossil_lithistids
This dataset presents the NHM Fossil Lithistida Collection in the Natural History Museum, London. This collection started to be built with the first fossil sponges from the Cretaceous of Wiltshire, collected by William Smith in 1816 and 1818 for the first geological map of England. The latest specimen to enter in the collection was collected from the Permo-Carboniferous of Norway by Angela Milner, a researcher at the Museum. Although they are mostly from the Cretaceous of England, lithistids are represented from the Cambrian to Cenozoic of England. This makes this collection key for studying this group.
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The publisher and rights holder of this work is Biodiversity Data Journal. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License.
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Keywords
Checklist Fossil Lithistida Collection Stratigraphic range Geographic range Taxonomic identification Natural History Museum Specimen donor Publication Type status; Inventorythematic
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Geographic Coverage
Most of the Collection comes from the UK (61%), mainly from England. Regarding continents most come from Europe and North America.
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [-90, -180], North East [90, 180] |
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Taxonomic Coverage
This collection includes 406 taxa, of which there are 338 species and 15 varieties that are distributed mainly between tetralithistids, monalithistids, megalithistids, orchocladinids and spirosclerophorids. Tetralithistids are the most common, 44% of the collection, with representation in Central Europe, Ukraine, India, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and mainly in UK-England. The next most common are the monalithistids (32%) with representation in Central Europe and UK-England as well. In lesser proportion megalithistids (12%) represented in Central Europe, Libya, UK-England and USA. Orchocladids (8%) have been collected in Europe, UK and USA. Finally, the spirosclerophorids (1%) have been found in Europe and UK-Wales. 4% of the collection has not been possible to include in an order.
| Phylum | Porifera (sponges) |
|---|---|
| Subclass | Lithistida (lithistids) |
| Order | Tetralithistida (tetralithistids), Monalithistida (monalithistids), Megalithistida (megalithistids), Orchocladina (orchocladinids), Spirosclerophorida (spirosclerophorids) |
Temporal Coverage
| Start Date / End Date | 1816-01-01 / 2000-08-02 |
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Project Data
Digitise and curate more than 5000 specimens, making the Lithistida Collection ready for research projects.
| Title | Digitisation of the Lithistida Collection |
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| Identifier | NHM Department Investment Funds bid number 490 |
| Funding | NHM Department Investment Funds |
| Study Area Description | Fossil lithistids (sponges) |
The personnel involved in the project:
Sampling Methods
Locating and organising specimens in the Porifera Collection
| Study Extent | NHM Fossil Lithistida Collection |
|---|---|
| Quality Control | Quality control and assurance procedures were implemented at all project stages to avoid errors and repeating them. |
Method step description:
- Digitisation of the collection data Reorganisation of the specimens Curation: changing the specimen trays by acid free one and use of plastazote Data cleansing: standardize data
Additional Metadata
| Alternative Identifiers | https://ipt.pensoft.net/resource?r=nhm_fossil_lithistids |
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