The Taunton Project

Abstract

This paper describes the palaeontological conservation carried out at the Natural History museum London, from 2008 until 2010, on the Taunton Museum's marine reptile collection. Taunton Museum is located in the county of Somerset and is governed by Somerset County Council. The collection of specimens encompassed ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and chelonia (turtles) all found in and around the Taunton and Somerset area. A few select specimens were conserved and prepared for wall mounting in the museum's new exhibition space. The other, smaller specimens were conserved and readied for placement into the newly built storage space back at Taunton Museum. This paper also focuses closely on the conservation and minor preparation of a large ichthyosaur, which was found in Lyme Regis (Lower Lias). This specimen was complete, though piecing it back together and stabilizing it for display proved much more challenging then one would expect.