The Department holds important collections of Mesozoic mammals collected in both the 19th and 20th centuries. There is a significant programme of collecting carried out by staff to enhance the collection in key areas of current research. The collection continues to fuel cutting-edge research across the wide spectrum of palaeontology. The 18 Curators in the Dept of Palaeontology are divided into 4 teams, one each working in the Micropalaeontology and the Vertebrate and Anthropology Divisions, and two in the Invertebrates and Plants Division. Between them they are responsible for maintaining the collection in good condition and providing access to them for a wide range of users.
Access is facilitated by high quality documentation.
Gradually, the collections are being transferred to an electronic database which should make them even more accessible than before. Curators are also involved in research projects based on our remarkable collection, adding to our knowledge of the way in which life has evolved over some 3,000 million years. Conversely, researchers in the Department contribute to the curation of the collection. The knowledge of the diversity of life through geological time, based on collections such as ours, is enabling us to understand more of the way in which our fragile planet responds to both global catastrophes and more subtle changes in the hydrosphere and atmosphere. The Palaeontology Collection and departmental expertise are frequently utilised for exhibitions both in the NHM and other institutions, in publications, CD-ROMs, press stories and documentary films, by industry for whom contract work is carried out, e.g. in the exploration for oil and natural gas, and last but not least the general public.