Fossil Heritage Collection
With the help of Concord, Massachusetts photographer Faith Margolin, our online gallery of fossil acquistions features...
The Institute is an active force in preserving our fossil heritage. In most instances acquisition is by purchase of specimens offered for sale in various venues or from gifts. Acquired specimens are examined and documented prior to depositing them in the most appropriate institution for research, education and museum display.
At this time acquisition emphasis is on Paleozoic stelleroids, a choice that leverages the research experience of Institute director Dr. Hotchkiss who is leading this effort. This emphasis responds to the fact that stelleroids are very underrepresented in existing museum collections and that there is more material of greater diversity in private hands than in public institutions. The Institute is grateful to the hobbyists and collectors who have found these specimens and responsibly kept them. If it were not for these motivated individuals these specimens might not exist today. A chosen aim of the Institute is to try to transition this part of our fossil heritage into public institutions for long term custody and greatest public and scientific access.
In selecting a recipient institution we give highest consideration to the relevance of the specimen to the permanent collections of the institution. In addition we consider whether the institution and its collections are a magnet for visiting scientists who work on this type of fossil, and whether the access and lending policies support international collaboration among scientists. To most fully accomplish our mission, we give preference to institutions that electronically catalog their collections so that researchers around the world can locate specimens through the internet (paleoinformatics initiatives). We ask that acknowledgement of donation by MPRI be associated with the specimen.
A pressing need is to have friends and supporters who will act to acquire scientifically important specimens at the moment that the specimens are available for acquisition. Lost opportunities cannot be recaptured. In many instances the specimens are so rare or special that they are simply one-of-a-kind. In other instances the supply is so limited that the window of opportunity may last only a few weeks or months. These quick-action circumstances preclude going through a grant-seeking cycle to make the acquisition. We know of at least one museum where there are friends of the collection who will respond to the moment by bidding on eBay or taking similar instant action to try to acquire specimens that are significant to the public and scientific mission of the institution. Please let us know if you would like to support the MPRI Fossil Heritage Collection in this participatory, exciting, and satisfying way.
Fossil