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Collected before 1800

Natural history specimens collected before 1880 provide a remarkable record of the world's biodiversity at a time when many landscapes and ecosystems had not yet undergone the profound transformations associated with modern agriculture, urbanisation and industrialisation. Each specimen preserves information about a species and its occurrence at a particular place and moment in history. Recovering the geographical information associated with these historical collections can therefore provide valuable baselines for understanding past species distributions and comparing them with those observed today. This project brings together specimens collected before 1880, helping to reconnect historical biodiversity records with the places where they were originally collected. These records can contribute to research on biogeography, biodiversity, ecology, conservation and environmental change, while also preserving the geographical legacy of some of the world's earliest natural history collections.

Mapping the World's Holotypes

Holotypes are among the most important specimens preserved in natural history collections. They are the single specimens designated by authors as the name-bearing reference for newly described species, making them fundamental to taxonomy and our understanding of global biodiversity. The geographical information associated with holotypes is particularly valuable. The original collection locality provides a precise historical reference for the occurrence of a species and can contribute to studies of biogeography, ecology, biodiversity and changes in species distributions. Many holotypes were collected decades or even centuries ago, and their localities are often recorded only as historical place names or descriptions on specimen labels. Recovering these locations can therefore add an important geographical dimension to some of the world's most scientifically significant biodiversity records. This project aims to map the original collection localities of holotypes, connecting the specimens that define species with the places where those species were first discovered. photo: Robert Nash Curator of Entomology Ulster Museum, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Botanical Expeditions of Luís Carrisso to Angola

Between 1927 and 1937, the Portuguese botanist and University of Coimbra professor Luís Wittnich Carrisso (1886–1937) led three scientific expeditions to Angola, in 1927, 1929 and 1937. During these expeditions, Carrisso and his collaborators travelled extensively across the territory, collecting thousands of botanical specimens and documenting the remarkable diversity of Angolan flora. The third expedition, in 1937, was Carrisso's last. He died on 14 June 1937 in the Namib Desert, in Angola, during the expedition. The specimens and records resulting from these journeys therefore also preserve the legacy of a major period in the history of botanical exploration in Angola. The specimens collected during these expeditions are today an important part of the historical botanical collections preserved in several important herbaria. Beyond their taxonomic value, they provide a unique record of the distribution of plant species and of the landscapes and environments of Angola nearly a century ago.

Orchids

The orchid family (Orchidaceae) is one of the largest and most diverse families of flowering plants, with species occurring across a remarkable range of habitats and regions of the world. Orchid specimens preserved in natural history collections provide an invaluable record of this diversity and of the historical distribution of these plants. Their collection localities are particularly important for understanding patterns of species distribution, biodiversity and biogeography, while historical records can provide valuable baselines for studying changes in habitats and species ranges over time. This project brings together orchid specimens from historical collections, helping to recover the geographical information associated with them and to make these valuable records more useful for research into orchid diversity, biogeography, ecology and conservation.

Specimens Collected by Charles Darwin

During his famous voyage aboard HMS Beagle (1831–1836), Charles Darwin (1809–1882) collected an extraordinary diversity of specimens, including organisms from different biological kingdoms. These collections, together with specimens gathered throughout his later scientific work, provide a remarkable record of the natural world as Darwin encountered it in the nineteenth century. The geographical information associated with these specimens is of particular scientific and historical value. Reconstructing their original collection localities allows these records to be connected with modern biodiversity data, providing historical baselines for studies of biogeography, biodiversity, ecology and environmental change. This project aims to recover the geographical context of Darwin's specimens, helping to unlock the scientific value of these historic collections and reconnect them with the places where they were collected.