History

bergeria mimerensis
The department of palaeobotany was established in 1884-85 to house fossil plants collected on Swedish expeditions to the Arctic as well as the museums cryptogam and gymnosperm collections. The explorer and researcher Adolf E. Nordenskiöld - perhaps best known for his discovery of the “Northeast Passage" - was instrumental in the establishment of the department and the appointment of Alfred G. Nathorst as the first professor. Palaeobotany moved its original location on Wallingatan to the present site at Frescati in 1915.

The fossil plant collections reflect the interests and activities of past and present researchers and explorers, and they contain many unique and important specimens. The bulk of the collections come from the Mesozoic of Sweden and from the Arctic. There are also significant collections from the Antarctic, South America, and China, as well as smaller collections from many other areas of the world. Recently exquisitely preserved angiosperm fossils from several Cretaceous localities in Europe have been added to the collections.

Specimens from the palaeobotany department form the basis for many scientific articles, and much material is currently being used in original research by scientists around the world. Previous palaeobotanical researchers employed in the department include among others Alfred G. Nathorst, Thore G. Halle, Rudolf Florin, Olof H. Selling, Hans Tralau, and Britta Lundblad.

Read more:
Alfred G. Nathorst
Thore G. Halle

Sidansvarig: Ove Johansson, Förste assistent
Ove.Johansson@nrm.se
This page is also available in Svenska