The Paleontological Collections of the Institute of Paleobiology have been assembled since 1952 when professor Roman Kozłowski organized the Institute. One of his goals was to rebuild the collections lost during the II World War. The task was enormous since only a few ammonite specimens were recovered from the assemblage collected by his predecessors.
Roman Kozłowski focused his efforts on the description of the main fossil groups found in the country, which became the core of the collections. Due to his research group activity, hundreds of Silurian and Ordovician erratic boulders and core drill samples, bearing graptolites and other microfossils, were gathered. A new collection number with systematic group abbreviation was assigned to the material described in each publication (e.g., ZPAL G. I, II,.. for graptolites, ZPAL F. I, II,.. for foraminifers). For many years this was the rule followed by the curators. It has recently been supplemented by a locality-based approach, assemblages containing various groups of fauna and flora are published under the same collection name in several papers.
Studies carried out in the Holy Cross Mountains brought abundant Devonian invertebrate fauna. The most numerous are brachiopods (almost 7 000 specimens in 28 collections) but tabulates, and trilobites are also strongly represented in our stock. Jurassic, Cretaceous and Cenozoic beds are exposed in the multitude of localities in Poland. As a result, rich anthozoan, echinoid, and cephalopod assemblages were gathered. Classic works by professor Henryk Makowski addressing sexual dimorphism in ammonites, followed by microstructural research, were carried out in the Institute on exquisitely preserved specimens from the famous locality Łuków (ZPAL Am. I, ZPAL Am. II, ZPAL Am. VIII). Our collection was recently enriched with professor's private collection donated by his wife and daughter. [zdjęcie Łuków]
Organizing a series of expeditions to the Gobi Desert, Mongolia opened a new perspective for the Institute. An extensive collection of Late Cretaceous mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and other fossils was gathered. Mongolian dinosaurs (ZPAL MgD-I, ZPAL MgD-II), the most spectacular displayed at the Museum of Evolution, Warsaw are frequently visited by researchers from around the world. However, the multituberculates (ZPAL MGM-I) studied by Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska, led to the most important scientific discoveries at that time.
Institute employees were also involved in research in Hornsund, Spitsbergen and South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Rich paleontological material from the Antarctic is assembled in over 100 collections containing various groups of invertebrates (foraminifers, bryozoans, brachiopods, crustaceans, molluscs, echinoids) as well as plants (e.g., ZPAL Pl. I–III) and trace fossils (e.g., ZPAL Tf. 1–3, 7).
Vertebrates from several Polish localities, Devonian psammosteids from Holy Cross Mountains (ZPAL Ag. III), reptiles from Triassic bone breccia from Czatkowice (ZPAL R. V), as well as mammals' teeth from Pliocene caves (e.g., ZPAL M. I, ZPAL M. VI, ZPAL M. VII) are also an important part of the Collections. Recent abundant acquisitions of continental animals come from the expeditions carried out in several Triassic localities in Silesia (Poland), the most widely known being Krasiejów (ZPAL Ab. III) and Lisowice (ZPAL V. 33). The material published in dozens of papers is arousing interest in the scientific community.
100 000 specimens in over 1000 collections is an impressive legacy of a half-century of research and collective effort of Institute researchers and a fulfilled dream of our founder. The bedrock of knowledge about the history and evolution of the living world and a source of intellectual inspiration for the next generations.
