Collections from near and far
In our collections, we host about 2500 fossil plants from a unique collection, collected over several decades by Professor Hans-Joachim Schweitzer (University of Bonn). Most specimens are identified to genus level and over 600 have been described in 36 scientific articles. The collection is unique in that it largely covers the evolutionary history of plants. Of particular note are:
Substantial collections of early land plants from Bear Island, Svalbard and Germany from the Devonian period (approx. 400 million years ago). From Germany, there are also collections of plants (especially needles and cones) from Permian and Triassic strata (260-200 million years ago) as well as large collections of seeds from the German Cenozoic lignite deposits.
Other interesting collections are those from the Late Triassic to the Jurassic of Iran and Afghanistan, which, in addition to fossil leaves, also contain well-preserved examples of reproductive structures from the genera Karkenia, Irania and Palissya.