A huge collection of fossils have been donated to the University of Portsmouth
AN IMPRESSIVE collection of more than 5,000 fossils, rocks and minerals has been donated to a university.
The enormous collection was driven back to Portsmouth from Herefordshire by Professor David Martill and PhD student, Roy Smith, from the school of environment, geography and geosciences.
The items have been donated by the widow of geologist Dr Paul Oliver, Susan Oliver, and some of the items received include fossils that date back to the Proterozoic Eon period, which was 1,500 million years ago.
Prof Martill said: ‘We’re still busy sorting through everything but we’ve already identified some impressive specimens. There is a plesiosaur thorax, which is very rare, and often compared with reconstruction of the Loch Ness Monster.
‘There’s a beautiful starfish that’s split right through the middle so you can see all the little segments in its arms and there’s a very impressive ice age mammoth tooth.’
Susan said: ‘The original collection would have been put into a skip on the closure of St Mary’s College London University geology department in 1994/5. Paul had an SOS call from Dr Middlemass to help save it.’
Prof Martill said: ‘Paul was a dedicated geologist who was passionate about sharing his enthusiasm for earth history with others.
‘We’re particularly interested in the fossils because we were the first university in the UK to have a single subject palaeontology degree, and these specimens will be of great value to our students. It is an enormous boost to our teaching collection.’