The Department of Paleobotany & Paleoecology maintains several collections in three main categories: Fossilized plants, microslides of pollens and coal ball peels.
Access to the collections is free for noncommercial use with approval of the collections manager. For more detail about the contents of any of these collections, contact the
collections manager.
Policies and guidelines for use of collections.
Request access to collections.
Paleobotany Collection
The paleobotany collection contains more than 30,000 macrobotanical specimens from various localities around the world, spanning from the Precambrian to the Pleistocene (from more than 542 million years ago to about 10,000 years ago), with a focus on fossil plants from the Pennsylvanian Period. The following collections comprise the general holdings of the Paleobotany Collection:
Hoskins Collection
Most of the macropaleobotanical specimens in the paleobotany collection were acquired through a donation from the University of Cincinnati in 1980. This collection was assembled by Dr. John H. Hoskins throughout the course of his career and is especially strong in fossil plant material from the Pennsylvanian Period.
Chitaley Collection
Dr. Shyamala Chitaley, founder and first curator of the Museum’s Department of Paleobotany, collected a large number of specimens from the Cretaceous of India, and guided volunteers from the Fossil Society (now the North Coast Fossil Club) in collecting specimens from the Devonian of Ohio. Together, these comprise the Chitaley Collection.
I-71 Collection
This collection contains Devonian specimens excavated during the construction of Interstate 71 through Cleveland in the 1960s.
Romans Collection
Donated by the Department of Biological Sciences at Bowling Green State University, this collection was aggregated by Dr. Robert C. Romans, a paleobotanist at the university. Its focus is fossil specimens from Arizona and the midwestern United States.
Access to the paleobotany collection is free for noncommercial use with approval of the collections manager. For more information, contact the
collections manager.
Pollen Collection
The pollen collection contains more than 35,000 microslides of modern and Pleistocene pollen. It includes the following:
Livingstone Pollen Collection
Donated in 2014 by Dr. Daniel Livingstone, this collection includes microslides and vials of modern and Pleistocene pollen and diatoms, with a focus on African localities.
Chitaley Pollen Collection
Compiled by Dr. Shyamala Chitaley, founder and first curator of the Museum’s Department of Paleobotany, this collection consists of microslides of modern and fossil pollen with a focus on Asia.
Access to the pollen collection is free for noncommercial use with approval of the collections manager. For more information, contact the
collections manager.
Peels Collection
The Peels Collection contains more than 4,000 cellulose acetate peels from coal balls. A subset of this collection is the
Good Peels Collection, still being actively developed by
Dr. Charles Good through his active research on the coal balls in the department’s collection holdings.
Access to the Peels Collection is free for noncommercial use with approval of the collections manager. For more information, contact the
collections manager.
Teaching Collection
The teaching collection contains more than 400 fossil plant specimens and 300 microslides of modern pollen. It is available for loan to kindergarten through college to enhance student learning.
Contact the
collections manager for more information about this collection, policies, and lending practices.