Microfossil Collection:
Catalogs and Information

Most groups of fossil protists and prokaryotes, geologic ages, and geographic regions are represented in the UCMP collections. The holdings include over 10,000 type specimens, tens of thousands of prepared specimens, innumerable processed and bulk samples, and extensive reference materials.

Visitors can access microfossil collections data in two ways: via a small catalog that contains images of type specimens captured by us using our environmental scanning electron microscope, or through an on-line database search of the catalog. Read below for more information on searching the full microfossil catalog.

Fields & Searching

The full microfossil catalog contains searchable information on type specimens, localities and citations.

The microfossil type collection contains specimens which were illustrated or referred to in a publication as representative of a particular form the author(s) studied. Primary types are the specimens chosen as nameholders when a species or subspecies is first described. These include the holotype (the primary nameholder of a species) and paratypes (specimens also considered typical of the species and published in the original description). Secondary types are specimens assigned to a species after the initial description of that species, and include hypotypes and figured and unfigured specimens (these latter two indicate specimens questionably assigned to a species).

The taxonomic information was taken directly from the publications in which these specimens were cited, and may not correspond to classifications currently in use. The taxonomic information lists the original author who described the species. Informal taxonomic group names are given for ease in retrieving records of specimens of a particular group from a geographic region or geologic time period. Group names currently in use are:

acritarch
diatom
foraminifera, benthic
foraminifera, planktonic
ostracoda
prasinophycean algae

The citation information gives the publication in which the cataloged specimen was cited. Locality data includes location and age..

Go to the Collections Database page to begin your search.

Microfossil Collection: Catalogs and Information

Fields & Searching

Microfossil Collection:
Catalogs and Information