Part-processed Indonesian Fossil Specimens

Collections of marine invertebrates from the Miocene and Pliocene of East Kalimantan Indonesia that have not been identified to specific taxa so cannot be added to the NHMUK catalogue.

These collections are intended primarily for taxonomists and other researchers looking at the origins of marine biodiversity hotspots in Southeast Asia. Palaeontology and molecular studies have suggested that the formation of the ancestral centre of diversity could be related to the constriction of the Indonesian Throughflow Current during the Cenozoic resulting in increasing speciation and/or immigration from other regions. The Throughflow Project was Marie Curie Innovative Training Network that included members of Seven European Institutions with Eleven Early Stage Researchers completing PhD degrees within the framework. At the NHM the coral and bryozoan components were studied and collections remain here.

These specimens resulted from collecting trips to East Kalimantan Indoneisa in in 2010 and 2011 by project team members. The deposits were Early Miocene – Pliocene in age. Most samples collected during the field work were fully processed and have been registered in the NHM collections management system. Other samples were part processed and not catalogued and they are currently stored in clear covered trays with labels of sample numbers, stratigraphy & full locality details of sites. Tray samples are stored numerically in numbered Really Useful Boxes.

Funding for the Throughflow Project was provided by European Union as part of the Marie Curie Actions Plan Framework 7 Programme (Grant No 237922)