Detail of the Upper Devonian fishHoloptychius from Dura Den, Fife. © Perth Museum & Art Gallery, Perth & Kinross Council Review of Fossil Collections in Scotland Review of Fossil Collections in Scotland Contents Introduction 3 Background 3 Aims of the Collections Review 4 Methodology 4 Terminology 5 Summary of fossil material 6 Influences on collections 14 Collections by region Aberdeen and North East 17 Elgin Museum (Moray Society) 18 Falconer Museum (Moray Council) 21 Stonehaven Tolbooth Museum 23 The Discovery Centre (Live Life Aberdeenshire) 24 Arbuthnot Museum (Live Life Aberdeenshire) 27 Zoology Museum (University of Aberdeen Museums) 28 Meston Science Building (University of Aberdeen Museums) 30 Blairs Museum 37 Highlands and Islands 38 Inverness Museum and Art Gallery (High Life Highland) 39 Nairn Museum 42 West Highland Museum (West Highland Museum Trust) 44 Brora Heritage Centre (Brora Heritage Trust) 45 Dunrobin Castle Museum 46 Timespan (Timespan Heritage and Arts Society) 48 Stromness Museum (Orkney Natural History Society) 50 Orkney Fossil and Heritage Centre 53 Shetland Museum and Archives (Shetland Amenity Trust) 56 Bute Museum (Bute Museum Trust) 58 Hugh Miller’s Birthplace Cottage and Museum (National Trust for Scotland) 59 Treasures of the Earth 62 Staffin Dinosaur Museum 63 Gairloch Museum (Gairloch & District Heritage Company Ltd) 65 Tayside, Central and Fife 66 Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum 67 Perth Museum and Art Gallery (Culture Perth and Kinross) 69 The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum (Leisure and Culture Dundee) 74 Broughty Castle (Leisure and Culture Dundee) 78 D’Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum and University Herbarium (University of 79 Dundee Museum Collections) Montrose Museum (ANGUSalive) 83 Museums of the University of St Andrews 87 Fife Collections Centre (Fife Cultural Trust) 90 St Andrews Museum (Fife Cultural Trust) 93 Kirkcaldy Galleries (Fife Cultural Trust) 95 Falkirk Collections Centre (Falkirk Community Trust) 96 1 Edinburgh and Lothians 98 Haddington Museum Headquarters (East Lothian Council Museums Service) 99 Almond Valley Heritage Centre (Almond Valley Heritage Trust) 100 Cockburn Museum (University of Edinburgh Collections) 102 Anatomical Museum (University of Edinburgh Collections) 109 Natural History Collections (University of Edinburgh Collections) 111 Glasgow and Strathclyde 112 Dick Institute (East Ayrshire Leisure) 113 John Pollock Collection Centre (South Ayrshire Council Museums and 115 Galleries Service) McKechnie Institute (South Ayrshire Council Museums and Galleries Service) 117 Isle of Arran Heritage Museum (Isle of Arran Museum Trust) 119 Low Parks Museum (South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture) 121 Biggar and Upper Clydesdale Museum (Biggar Museum Trust) 123 McLean Museum and Art Gallery (Inverclyde Council) 124 Paisley Museum (Renfrewshire Leisure) 128 Zoology Museum (University of Glasgow) 133 The Hunterian (University of Glasgow) 134 Glasgow Museums Resource Centre (Glasgow Life) 139 Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (Glasgow Life) 143 Scotland South 146 Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura (Dumfries and Galloway Council) 147 Sanquhar Tolbooth Museum (Dumfries and Galloway Council) 150 Stranraer Museum (Dumfries and Galloway Council) 151 Gem Rock Museum 152 Newton Stewart Museum 154 Tweeddale Museum (Live Borders) 155 Hawick Museum (Live Borders) 158 Conclusions 161 Collection highlights 161 Storage and documentation of fossil collections 166 Public engagement with fossils 170 Priorities for development of fossil collections 170 Acknowledgements 171 General bibliography 171 Appendices 173 (1) Partner organisations by region 174 (2) Glossary 175 (3) Type specimens 177 (4) Named collectors of fossil material 178 (5) Locations of selected fossil material 182 (6) Guidelines for the care and storage of fossils 184 (7) Further information 185 (8) Impact of Covid-19 pandemic 186 2 Detail of the Carboniferous pteridosperm plant Neuropteris. Rebecca Marr © Stromness Museum Review of Fossil Collections in Scotland Introduction Introduction Background In March 2019, National Museums Scotland began a two-year project, funded by the John Ellerman Foundation, to review natural science collections across Scotland. Although ‘natural science’ encompasses a range of subjects, consultation with the Scottish museum sector had highlighted particular concern around the care and use of fossil collections. Other geological material with which fossils are normally associated (rocks and minerals) was also noted as requiring attention. However, as rock, mineral and fossil material across Scotland is abundant and widely dispersed it was determined that the collections review would focus on fossil material to achieve the detail necessary to identify areas in need of future work, funding and development in the subject area. As far back as the 1700s, geology was studied by eminent scientists of the day, notably James Hutton (1726-1797) whose ideas, based on his observations of Scottish geology, provided the foundations for geology as a modern subject. Hutton proposed the concept of deep time after observing the tilted layers of rock at several localities across Scotland, most notably Siccar Point, East Lothian (‘Hutton’s unconformity’), challenging contemporary thought regarding the age of the Earth. The principle of uniformitarianism, the idea that the Earth has always changed in uniform ways, is summarised in the phrase ‘the present is the key to the past’. Rocks across Scotland range from the Lewisian gneisses of the north west, representing metamorphosed rocks from over 4 billion years ago, to the glacial and post-glacial clays of the Clyde and Tay estuaries, indicating the presence of a cold Arctic climate only a few thousand years ago. Almost every geological period between is represented by some form of sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic rock, indicating settings as diverse as desert sand dunes, swamps and great lakes, with tectonic events resulting in continental collisions, mountain building and the opening of oceans at different times. The extraction of fossils in Scotland also has a long history going back several centuries, often following discovery by local workers who took their finds to nearby collectors. Fossils found their way to key local figures, such as Robert Slimon at Lesmahagow and Patrick Duff in Moray, as well as Roderick Murchison (1792-1871), Charles Lyell (1797-1875), Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895) a few names in a long list of scientists, many associated with the Edinburgh, Glasgow and London Geological Societies, who came to collect at increasingly well- known localities. The Swiss scientist Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) was also drawn to Scotland, spending more than 10 years studying fossil fish across the country before moving to America. Through scientific study, we know several of the fossil-bearing rocks of Scotland represent key stages in Earth’s history, such as the early ecosystems of the Devonian and the transition by vertebrates from life in water onto land in the Carboniferous. Scottish fossils have helped to fill gaps in the fossil record, notably an interval known as ‘Romer’s gap’ in the Early Carboniferous and a rare glimpse of Middle Jurassic terrestrial life, including dinosaurs and early mammals. The fossils of Scotland have also played a crucial role in historic scientific discussion. For example, the distribution of fish and reptile fossils from Elgin, Moray, led to the separation of the Devonian ‘Old Red Sandstone’ from the Permian and Triassic ‘New Red Sandstone’, at the same time providing support for the then recently proposed theory of evolution. Today, numerous museum collections contain fossil material that is potentially historically and scientifically important, although repositories of specimens representing specific localities, horizons and species are often poorly known locally, let alone nationally. Furthermore, the importance of fossils, locally and nationally, may have increased since original excavation, especially where exposures have been stripped out, historic localities cannot be found again, or access is now an issue, perhaps due to overgrowth of vegetation, erosion or construction work. The importance of other localities may have been recognised by, for example, inclusion in areas designated as 3 Geological Conservation Review (GCR) sites, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) or similar (see https://www.nature.scot/) Aims of the Collections Review 1. To investigate fossil material in collections across Scotland and determine the fossil groups, geographic localities and stratigraphic levels represented, with the further intention to document rare and scientifically/historically important material. 2. To assess the current storage conditions for fossil specimens and encourage best practice in collections care to ensure specimens are available in the future. 3. To determine the current use of fossils in public engagement. The findings will provide an updated account of the locations of fossil material outside the National Collection and will be used to make recommendations for improvements in collections care and use, ensuring the preservation of fossil material and increased public engagement with natural science collections in museums across Scotland. Methodology The natural science review project follows two surveys sent to Scottish museums in 2017 and 2018 by the National and International Partnerships team at National Museums Scotland. A total of 35 organisations responded