Short Description
With more than 5.7 million specimens the collection of the Geological-Paleontological Department is an archive of international rank. The NHMW has a long tradition in the research of deposits and fossils of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras in Eurasia. This focus is reflected in the systematic and stratigraphic collections and especially late Cretaceous and Neogene molluscs as well as Triassic and Jurassic cephalopods have been in the centre of the research of the Natural History Museum’s palaeontologists.
In addition, the Geological-Paleontological Department houses large micropalaeontological and paleobotanical collections and an important collection of fossil vertebrates.
Collections and research of the Geological-Paleontological Department have a global approach. Due to historical reasons, the collection consists of Austrian material but also includes many specimens from former parts of the Austrian empire, namely Bohemia (Czech Republic), Galicia (Poland & Ukraine), Hungary, and Siebenbürgen (Romania). An important part of the collection represents Cenozoic material from the middle East (Turkey, Egypt, Iran, India).
The collection is rich in type material and houses numerous figured specimens from famous publications of August Emanuel von Reuss (1811-1873), Moriz Hörnes (1815–1868), Karl Alfred von Zittel (1839–1904), Edmund Mojsisovics von Mojsvár (1839–1907), Franz Toula (1845–1920), Alexander Bittner (1850–1902), and Rudolf Hoernes (1850–1912), to name just few. More than 100,000 types, figured, and reference specimens are registered in the repository database (among them ca. 10.000 primary, name-bearing types).
The collection is structured into six main collections: Paleobotany, Micropaleontology, Paleozoic Invertebrates, Mesozoic Invertebrates, Cenozoic Invertebrates, and fossil Vertebrata. In addition several smaller collections exist such as the amber collection and the fossil insects. Parts of the collections are on display in the famous public galleries.
The collections are complemented by a huge library and a well-equipped lab.
Contact Person
Mathias Harzhauser
Research Services
Repository for geological and paleontological types.
Reference specimens for research.
Fossil identification upon request.
Biostratigraphic analysis upon request.
High resolution photographs upon request.
Production of casts and replicas upon request.
Discovery V20 Stereomikroscope
JCM-5000 NeoScope SEM
Yxlon FF35 CT
Methods & Expertise for Research Infrastructure
The staff of the Geological-Paleontological Department has taxonomic expertise for identification and scientific description of fossil organisms. A focus is the paleobiogeographic and paleoecological interpretation and the dating of deposits based on their fossils (biostratigraphy).
In addition, the staff members of the Geological-Paleontological Department provide sound knowledge in collection and data management.