Natural History Museum In London Research Articles

Cave art reveals human nature

Summary Prehistoric artworks have been discovered on numerous cave walls around the world. They tell us about the minds and lives of ancient humans as well as about their relationship with the now extinct megafauna that surrounded them. Michael Gross reports.

New insights into the genesis of willemite (Zn2SiO4) from zinc nonsulfide deposits, through trace elements and oxygen isotope geochemistry

Willemite is a common mineral mainly occurring in the so-called “hypogene” nonsulfide Zn-Pb mineralizations, deposited from what have been interpreted as high temperature hydrothermal or metamorphic fluids. The literature is currently lacking a comprehensive compilation of geochemical data on willemite so the aim of this study was to elucidate specific geochemical signatures for willemites of contrasting genesis. For this work, we analyzed a range of specimens from the Mineralogy Collection of the Natural History Museum in London. The specimens are from several deposit-types: 1.Stratiform hypogene deposits: Franklin and Sterling Hill (USA);2.Structurally-controlled hypogene deposits: Star Zinc, Excelsior, Surprise (Lusaka area, Zambia), Kabwe (Zambia), Berg Aukas and Tsumeb (Namibia);3.Supposedly supergene deposits: Mumbwa area (Zambia), and Altenberg-Vieille Montagne (Belgium).Textures and structures of the willemite-bearing specimens were initially investigated by scanning electron microscope energy dispersive analysis (SEM-EDS). Trace element concentrations were later measured in situ on selected willemite crystals by laser ablation (LA)-ICP-MS. Statistical analyses (principal component analysis-PCA, multivariate analysis of variance, post hoc Tukey HSD test), conducted on the data obtained by LA-ICP-MS, showed that significant differences exist between willemites derived from the various deposit types studied. High-T, stratiform willemite samples contain significant amounts of Mn and Mg, and are statistically different from all the other analyzed specimens. Structurally-controlled hypogene willemites, characterized by lower Mn and Mg concentrations, and by higher Pb, Cu, As, B, Ge contents, are statistically inhomogeneous, both at the district and at the deposit scale. High-T willemite from the Lusaka area contains more Mn than the low-T hydrothermal deposits, with the latter showing higher concentrations of other elements (e.g. Pb, Cu, Ge). Among the willemite generations associated with the supposedly supergene mineralization, only the Mumbwa willemites form a cluster that is significantly displaced from the other deposits. The δ18O isotopic compositions match the mentioned trace element distribution: willemites with similar origin are characterized by similar oxygen isotopic ratios. On the basis of the present work, willemite-types can be distinguished as follows:•High-T willemites are characterized by high Mn + Mg concentrations (between 100 ppm to unit wt%) and by low, positive δ18O compositions (around 3 to 5‰ V-SMOW);•Low-T hydrothermal willemites show Mn + Mg concentrations below 50 ppm and are associated with high Pb + Cu + As + Ge concentrations (above 100 ppm). They also have high, positive δ18O compositions (between 9 and 15‰ V-SMOW);•Willemites derived from (either cold or warm) meteoric fluids have generally low concentrations of the above elements and negative δ18O compositions (−3 and −9‰ V-SMOW). The supposedly supergene Altenberg-Vieille Montaigne willemite, having low Mn + Mg and high Pb + Ge + As concentrations, and showing δ18O compositions between 11 and 12.5‰, likely formed from low-T hydrothermal fluids.

New Data Obtained with CT Scanning on <i>Platypeltoides cuervoae</i> (Corbacho & López-Soriano, 2012) Nileidae from the Lower Ordovician; Western Anti-Atlas, Morocco

The present study illustrates for the first time the ventral aspect and the hypostome of <i>Platypeltoides cuervoae</i> (Corbacho and López-Soriano, 2012) of the Upper part of the Lower Fezouata Formation (Lower Ordovician: Tremadocian) of the Guelmim area; Western Anti-Atlas, Morocco. Computed tomography of the holotype and paratype kept at the Natural History Museum in London (United Kingdom) for the conduct of a study on computed tomography and radiography as expert legal evidence in paleontology has revealed the hypotheses of the two previously cited specimens (Corbacho and López-Soriano, 2012) and another disarticulated specimen below, which was discovered during the computed tomography process. All CT Scanning images in this article have been obtained from a CT Scanned at the Natural History Museum, London, UK. By describing the ventral aspect and the hypostomes of the specimens studied in this article, any possible uncertainty and affiliation to Nileidae is stated and dissipated as suggested by Gutiérrez Marco, Sá, García Bellido and Chacaltana as belonging to Asaphidae, incorrectly suggesting that It is the species: <i>Asaphellus stubssi</i> Fortey, 2009. Consequently, membership in the Nileidae family is reaffirmed and Asaphidae is ruled out. The genus <i>Platypeltoides</i> is also reaffirmed and <i>Asaphellus</i> is discarded. Being the correct species <i>Platypeltoides cuervoae</i> (Corbacho & López-Soriano, 2012).

Untangling the Gordian knot\u2014further resolving the super-species complex of 300-million-year-old xiphosurids by reconstructing their ontogeny

The group Xiphosurida (horseshoe “crabs”) is today only represented by four species. However, in the fossil record, several dozen species have been described, especially from the Carboniferous (about 300 million years ago). Several species have been interpreted as representatives of Euproops or Belinurus, but there is ongoing discussion which of these species are valid and how they can be differentiated. Recent studies suggested that differences in the timing of individual development could provide information for species distinction, exemplified by studies on Euproops danae (Mazon Creek, USA) and Euproops sp. (“Piesproops”; Piesberg, Germany). For this study, we reinvestigated all Carboniferous xiphosurids from the British Coal Measures stored in the collections of the Natural History Museum London. Size comparisons of the specimens revealed nine size groups; the smaller specimens were originally labelled as Belinurus, the larger ones as Euproops. The nine size groups exhibit five different morphotypes differing in structures surrounding the posterior shield (= thoracetron): spines of different lengths and, in larger specimens, a more or less developed flange. Two of these morphotypes show significantly longer spines than the remaining specimens and could be conspecific as E. anthrax. The remaining specimens are interpreted as growth series of another species, presumably of E. rotundatus. An ontogenetic flange formation is also known from E. danae and the “Piesproops”, but the timing differs between all three species. In E. rotundatus, the flange develops rather late, but then comparably abruptly, which makes this development more metamorphic in relation to development in the other species.

Scelidosaurus harrisonii from the Early Jurassic of Dorset, England: postcranial skeleton

PRISM FUND TRINITY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE ST JOHN'S COLLEGE OXFORD SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION (WASHINGTON DC)

Aphis (Hemiptera, Aphididae) species living on Baccharis (Asteraceae) insouthern South America, with description of three new species.

Aphid specimens belonging to the genus Aphis (Hemiptera, Aphididae, Aphidinae) collected on species of Baccharis (Asteraceae) in localities of Argentina and Chile, preserved in the Natural History Museum in London and in the Universidad de León collections, have been studied. They belong to six species: Aphis craccivora, Aphis gossypii and Aphis spiraecola, which are widely-distributed and polyphagous, and the new species: Aphis ingeborgae Nieto Nafría and Brown sp. n., Aphis conspicua Nieto Nafría and Mier Durante sp. n. and Aphis fuentesi Nieto Nafría and Ortego sp. n. which are here described from apterous and alate viviparous females, and also from oviparous females and males in the case of Aphis fuentesi. These six species plus the native and monophagous A. coridifoliae are those known in southern South America living on plants of Baccharis. Diagnostic features of new species and an identification key for apterous viviparous females of these seven species are presented.

Citing Evolving Data: An implementation on the NHM Data Portal

Since 2015, the Natural History Museum London has made its research and collections data available through its Data Portal (https://data.nhm.ac.uk). This website provides free and open access to important research datasets as well as digitised objects from the Museum's specimen collection. The Data Portal currently has over 4.2 million records from the specimen collection and a further 5.5 million records from other research datasets. Since 2015, more than 250 scientific publications have cited data from the Data Portal, either directly or through aggregators such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), although there are many more citations than it is currently possible to track. Users can download data from the Portal and are encouraged to cite the source, however, there is currently no way for users to cite subsets of the data returned through a query, nor a way to persistently identify the data subset they are citing. This is a common issue with scientific data put online, particularly when the cited data changes frequently, such as is the case with the Museum's specimen collection, which grows constantly as more of the collection is digitised. This poster outlines a new approach that has been designed to meet the Research Data Alliance's (RDA) Working Group on Data Citation recommendations on citing evolving data (Rauber et al. 2015). This is achieved by implementing a fully versioned search framework, ensuring that all modifications to records are tracked and the version timestamp of each modification is combined with the data into the search index. When users search and download data from the Portal, Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) are minted for unique searches at exact versions allowing the dynamic, repeated retrieval of data at any version timestamp, without storing the results. Combining the versioning information into the search index also allows queries against historical data. By persistently identifying query results in this fashion, researchers can cite data precisely and have confidence that although the data may change after they use it, users of their work will be able to access the data as it looked when they studied it originally. This should also encourage the systematic use of citations, making it easier to track both the usage and impact of research and collections datasets.

Pyrite oxidation: a history of treatments at the Natural History Museum, London

Whilst surveying the palaeontology collections at the Natural History Museum London (NHM), a team of Conservation Technicians working on 'Project Airless' (a re-storage project for actively deteriorating pyritic specimens) kept a record of specimen labels describing past methods for treating pyrite oxidation, ranging from 'boiling in common soda' to treating with 'Savlon'. This prompted further research into the thinking behind these approaches, and resulted in a historical review of treatments used at the NHM and how they compare to current methods. The oxidisation of unstable pyritic material became a prominent issue during the development of geological collections in the 19th Century, when early collectors provided most insight into best practice storage of affected specimens, although it was not until the 20th century when more intensive research was conducted and recommended treatments for deteriorating pyritic material began to circulate. Regardless of the treatment, however, once specimens were returned to storage conditions of high relative humidity (RH) the reaction would often recur; this instigated the need for a more preventative approach focussing on reducing, if not eliminating, the key agents involved in the oxidation process: oxygen and high RH. Project Airless is the latest attempt at the NHM to combat pyrite oxidation on a large scale by storing affected specimens in anoxic microenvironments to prevent further deterioration. Severely affected specimens are also exposed to ammonia vapour in a method which has evolved from earlier treatments. Although commonly referred to as The Natural History Museum London, the museum was officially known as The British Museum (Natural History) until 1992, so for the purposes of this article the 'BM(NH)' will be referred to until this date, and the 'NHM' thereafter.

Hidden in plain sight: reassessment of the pig-footed bandicoot, Chaeropus ecaudatus (Peramelemorphia, Chaeropodidae), with a description of a new species from central australia, and use of the fossil record to trace its past distribution.

The Pig-footed Bandicoot, Chaeropus ecaudatus, an extinct arid-adapted bandicoot, was named in 1838 based on a specimen without a tail from the Murray River in New South Wales. Two additional species were later named, C. castanotis and C. occidentalis, which have since been synonymised with C. ecaudatus. Taxonomic research on the genus is rather difficult because of the limited material available for study. Aside from the types of C. castanotis and C. occidentalis housed at the Natural History Museum in London, and the type of C. ecaudatus at the Australian Museum in Sydney, there are fewer than 30 other modern specimens in other collections scattered around the world. Examining skeletal and dental characters for several specimens, and using a combination of traditional morphology, morphometrics, palaeontology and molecular phylogenetics, we have identified two distinct species, C. ecaudatus and C. yirratji sp. nov., with C. ecaudatus having two distinct subspecies, C. e. ecaudatus and C. e. occidentalis. We use palaeontological data to reconstruct the pre-European distribution of the two species, and review the ecological information known about these extinct taxa.

The Lyell Collection at the Earth Sciences Department, Natural History Museum, London (UK).

BackgroundThis paper provides a quantitative and general description of the Lyell Collection kept in the Department of Earth Sciences at the Natural History Museum of London. This collection started to be built by the eminent British geologist Sir Charles Lyell (1797-1875) in 1846 when the first specimen reached the Museum. The last one entered in 1980 donated by one of Lyell’s heirs. There are more than 1700 specimens, mainly hand specimens with 93% of the fauna and flora from the Cenozoic of the Macaronesian archipelagos of the Canaries and Madeira. Those specimens that belong to the Lyell Collection with certainty have been databased and imaged. Currently they are being geo-referred automatically with the rest of the site geo-references at the NHM. This collection could be increased by a couple of dozen more specimens with those specimens located in the same drawers, but they do not have collector details. The work of data collection of these specimens was implemented over a year from 2016 to 2017, including annelids; brachiopods; bryozoans; echinoderms; scyphozoans; bivalves; gastropods; scaphopods; trilobites; plants; reptiles; fishes; and mammals.New informationAccess to the specimen-level data is available through the NHM data portal with the images associated. This is the first time that a description of the Fossil Lyell Collection dataset is available in the literature.

Type specimens of Neuropterida in the Hope Entomological Collection, Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

The Hope Entomological Collection in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History holds a large and diverse array of historically valuable type specimens for species in the superorder Neuropterida (Megaloptera, Neuroptera, and Raphidioptera). Most are from the mid-1800s (1823–1874). Here, we report each type found during a rigorous search of the collection, and we confirm the identity and status of each type with bibliographic, specimen, and label data. Images, current nomenclatural information, and references for name changes are provided for each species.We identified primary or secondary types for 76 species in seven families of Neuroptera, primary and secondary types for one species of Raphidoptera (Raphidiidae), and secondary types for three species of Megaloptera (Corydalidae). Among the Neuroptera, we found primary types for 26 species of Mantispidae, 16 species of Myrmeleontidae, 11 species of Ascalaphidae, seven species of Nemopteridae, five species of Chrysopidae, and one species each of Coniopterygidae and Hemerobiidae. Types for only two species that were reported to be in the collection were not found.To help stabilize the nomenclature, we made new lectotype designations for the following six species in the Hope Collection: Colobopterusdissimilis McLachlan, 1871; Mantispabatesella Westwood, 1867; Mantispamyrapetrella Westwood, 1867; Mantispatropica Westwood, 1852; Myrmeleonanomalus Rambur, 1842; and Myrmeleonsingulare Westwood, 1847. We also made new lectotype designations for two species in the Natural History Museum in London: Mantispaindica Westwood, 1852, and Mantispaquadrituberculata Westwood, 1852. In several other cases, holotype determinations in the literature were recognized as lectotype designations. Finally, to correct an important error in the literature, we reinstated the synonymization of Ascalaphusanticus Walker, 1853, A.loquax Walker, 1853, and A.trux Walker, 1853 under A.longus Walker, 1853.

Improved camouflage through ontogenetic colour change confers reduced detection risk in shore crabs.

Animals from many taxa, from snakes and crabs to caterpillars and lobsters, change appearance with age, but the reasons why this occurs are rarely tested.We show the importance that ontogenetic changes in coloration have on the camouflage of the green shore crabs (Carcinus maenas), known for their remarkable phenotypic variation and plasticity in colour and pattern.In controlled conditions, we reared juvenile crabs of two shades, pale or dark, on two background types simulating different habitats for 10 weeks.In contrast to expectations for reversible colour change, crabs did not tune their background match to specific microhabitats, but instead, and regardless of treatment, all developed a uniform dark green phenotype. This parallels changes in shore crab appearance with age observed in the field.Next, we undertook a citizen science experiment at the Natural History Museum London, where human subjects (“predators”) searched for crabs representing natural colour variation from different habitats, simulating predator vision.In concert, crabs were not hardest to find against their original habitat, but instead, the dark green phenotype was hardest to detect against all backgrounds.The evolution of camouflage can be better understood by acknowledging that the optimal phenotype to hide from predators may change over the life history of many animals, including the utilization of a generalist camouflage strategy. A plain language summary is available for this article.

Historical DNA Metabarcoding of the Prey and Microbiome of Trematomid Fishes Using Museum Samples

Antarctic specimens collected during various research expeditions are preserved in natural history collections around the world potentially offering a cornucopia of morphological and molecular data. Historical samples of marine species are, however, often preserved in formaldehyde which may render them useless for genetic analysis. We sampled stomachs and hindguts from 225 Trematomus specimens from the Natural History Museum London. These samples were initially collected between 20 and 100 years ago and fixed in either formaldehyde or ethanol. A 313 bp fragment of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) was amplified and sequenced for prey item identification in the stomach and a 450 bp region of the 16S rRNA gene to investigate microbiome composition in the gut system. Both data sets were characterized by large dropout rates during extensive quality controls. Eventually, no unambiguous results regarding stomach content (COI) were retained, possibly due to degraded DNA, inefficient primers and contamination. In contrast, reliable microbiome composition data (16S rRNA) was obtained from 26 samples. These data showed a correlation in change of microbiome composition with fish size as well as year of the catch, indicating a microbiome shift throughout ontogeny and between samples from different decades. A comparison with contemporary samples indicated that the intestinal microbiome of Trematomus may have drastically changed within the last century. Facilitating molecular analyses of museum stored fish holds enormous potential for microevolutionary insights that can benefit current efforts to prioritize conservation units in the Southern Ocean.

2018 Nier Prize for Lydia J. Hallis

The Nier Prize recognizes outstanding research in meteoritics and closely allied fields by young scientists, and Dr. Lydia Hallis is a very worthy recipient. Her unique contributions have been in using the hydrogen isotopic system to track the transfer of water through various planetary reservoirs. This work has yielded an impressive portfolio of publications on Mars, the Moon, and the Earth's mantle (listed at the end of this nomination), which bear testament to her novel and rigorous research in planetary science. Anyone from the UK who has met Lydia will immediately recognize from her distinctive accent that she was born and bought up in Yorkshire—a region of northern England that is described as “God's own county” (although only by its inhabitants!). After schooling in Sheffield, she moved to London to undertake a M.Sc. in Geology at Imperial College. It is here that she was taught by leaders in the field including Phil Bland and Sanjeev Gupta, but her interest in planetary science, and Mars in particular, was piqued during a summer internship at the Natural History Museum in London, where she studied the Nakhla meteorite under the supervision of Gretchen Benedix. Following graduation in 2006, Lydia started a Ph.D. project entitled “Petrological and Geochemical Investigations of Mare Basalts” under the supervision of Mahesh Anand (Open University) and Sara Russell (Natural History Museum). This thesis work generated her first publication, in Geochemica et Cosmochimica Acta. Following completion of her Ph.D. in 2010, Lydia joined the University of Hawai'i as a NASA astrobiology postdoc working with Geoff Taylor, Gary Huss, and Kazu Nagashima. At Hawai'i Lydia diversified from lunar geology into two areas that would shape her subsequent career—she began working on aqueous alteration of the nakhlites, initially focusing on the paired Miller Range meteorites, and she mastered the challenging technique of hydrogen isotope analysis by ion microprobe. Lydia's time in Hawai'i was highly productive, producing eight papers, on six of which she is first author. One of these papers, published in Science, describes hydrogen isotopic evidence for the presence of primordial water in the Earth's mantle. In addition to generating a great deal of interest in the scientific community, this paper was very widely covered by print and electronic media, and also led to Lydia describing her research results on the Discovery Channel, and the BBC television program The Sky at Night. In 2014, Lydia moved to the University of Glasgow on a prestigious European Commission Marie-Curie Fellowship. Entitled “Mars Volatiles,” this project developed the skills in Martian meteorites and hydrogen isotopes that she had acquired in Hawai'i. From the moment that she arrived in Glasgow it was clear that Lydia had the intellect and drive to succeed in her own research, but also the ability and personality to inspire undergraduate students through her teaching of geology and planetary science. One example of her ability as a mentor is that four undergraduate students who undertook final year research projects under her supervision (Tara Hayden, Aimee Smith, Benjamin Farrant, Lotta Kemppinen) are now undertaking a Ph.D. in other UK universities. Crucially, her return to the UK also enabled Lydia to indulge her passion for rock climbing, and for whippets, which are the dog-of-choice for anyone from Yorkshire. Lydia was employed by the University of Glasgow as a permanent lecturer in 2017, and since then has gone from strength to strength. Within just 18 months she has built a research group comprising four postgraduate students and one postdoc through winning external funding and by attracting early career researchers of exceptional talent and promise. At the same time she has taken on considerable management responsibilities within the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, chairing the first year of the Earth Science undergraduate program, and developing a new high-level course in Planetary Geology. Lydia's burgeoning reputation means that she is in demand as a keynote and invited speaker at international conferences (e.g., AGU, Goldshmidt), a member of grant review panels, and is also taking the lead in the Scottish Planetary Science Research Network (SPERO) and iMOST (the international Mare-sample-return Objectives and Samples Team). Lydia also lead the successful bid to host the 2020 meeting of the Meteoritical Society in Glasgow. As a planetary scientist of such ability and promise, it is my pleasure to present Dr Lydia Jane Hallis as the recipient of the 2018 Nier Prize of the Meteoritical Society.

Phylogenetic distribution of shell colour in Bivalvia (Mollusca)

In order to learn more about the evolution of shell colour in molluscs, 20 characters related to shell colour were recorded for 81 bivalve clades using the entire collection of dry shells at the Natural History Museum in London (> 44000 lots) and plotted onto a published phylogeny. Statistical tests for phylogenetic signal show that coloured shells are not distributed evenly across the class. The phylogenetic distribution of colour is statistically significant, as are the distributions of individual shell and periostracal colours. Blue and green shells are rare, with non-iridescent blue and green coloration occurring on the outer side of the valve more commonly in the periostracum than in the shell matrix and on the inside of valves in species that produce proteinaceous sheets overlying calcareous shell. These findings suggest that these colours in bivalves are attributable to pigments that are more easily incorporated into organic material than into calcareous shell. Ancestral state reconstructions show that the ancestral bivalves likely had a coloured shell. Although similar colours can arise from different pigments or from structural elements, the broad-scale phylogenetic distribution of colour in Bivalvia, along with the co-occurrence of ‘sets’ of colours, probably reflects, in part, the distribution of classes of pigments. This confirms the idea that the major classes of pigments found in molluscan shells are evolutionarily ancient and continue to contribute to shell coloration, despite recent genomic evidence suggesting that protein moieties associated with pigments might be evolutionarily diverse.

Roger Ward Crosskey-The Life and Contributions of an Entomologist par Excellence (1930-2017).

The life of Roger Ward Crosskey stands as a paragon of scholarly dedication to the profession of entomology. His early interests in natural history prepared him for a diverse entomological career of about 65 years. He began as a medical entomologist working on the onchocerciasis problem with the Colonial Service in Northern Nigeria, and officially transitioned to dipterology, first studying the Tachinidae as a taxonomist with the Commonwealth Institute of Entomology, and later the Simuliidae as a Senior Principal Scientific Officer (Merit) with The Natural History Museum in London. His contributions to the fight against onchocerciasis (river blindness) and to the study of Diptera, particularly the Simuliidae, are an enduring legacy. An indexed chronological listing of his 247 publications is provided, in addition to lists of the taxa that he named and the taxa named in his honor.

The taxonomic status of the “forgotten” Bolivian snakes, Atractus balzani Boulenger 1898 and Atractus maculatus (sensu Boulenger 1896) (Serpentes: Dipsadidae)

The genus Atractus Wagler 1828 comprises almost 150 currently recognized species of cryptozoic snakes widespread in the Neotropics, occurring from Panama to northeastern Argentina (Passos et al. 2016a). Despite the publication of the descriptions of several new species within the last decade, the taxonomy of the genus is unclear in some instances. This is mainly due to the fact that a number of poorly delimited taxa still exist (Passos et al. 2018). The most frequent problem faced by taxonomist working with the genus Atractus is the lack of specimens available for several species, most of them only still being known from their types, a situation that considerably weakens the definition of species boundaries between closely related taxa (Passos et al. 2010a, 2013). More importantly, many of the previously recognized species may represent aberrant individuals with unusual or abnormal scale counts, anomalous azygous or fused cephalic plates, infrequent polychromatic patterns, or any combination of these states (see Passos et al. 2016b). In the course of a thorough taxonomic review of the genus (Passos 2008; Passos et al. 2018), an effort has been made to examine all of the available types (including those apparently lost or misplaced in collections) and material of historical importance that was previously referred to the genus in the literature, and these were then compared to newer samples collected more recently. During the examination of the collections of the Natural History Museum of London and the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale of Genova, we found important specimens of Atractus from Bolivia. However, in order to better understand all the problems related to these old and "forgotten" Bolivian snakes, we need to examine their history.

The naming and typification of the breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis, and breadnut, A. camansi (Moraceae)

The historical background and typification of the widely distributed and highly appreciated breadfruit tree, Artocarpus altilis (≡ Sitodium altile; Moraceae), and breadnut, A.camansi, is discussed. Sitodium altile is lectotypified selecting a watercolour painting by Sydney Parkinson made in Tahiti in 1769, during James Cook's first voyage around the world (1768–1771) in HMS Endeavour, and preserved at the Natural History Museum of London. A specimen from E. D. Merrill's “illustrative specimens” of Blanco's Philippine plants in the United States National Herbarium is designated as the neotype for A.camansi.

Two new species of the genus Aphis (Hemiptera, Aphididae) from Chile on host species of Alstroemeriaceae and Ericaceae.

Specimens from Southern Chile belonging to two undescribed aphid species held at the Natural History Museum in London have been studied. Aphis luzuriagae sp. n. collected on Luzuriaga radicans and on other unidentified Luzuriaga species (Alstroemeriaceae) is described from apterous and alate viviparous females. Aphis gaultheriae sp. n. collected on Gaultheria mucronata (Ericaceae) is described from apterous viviparous females. Taxonomic peculiarities of both species are discussed.

New species of Cenozoic benthic foraminifera from the former British Petroleum micropalaeontology collection

Abstract. This paper describes four new Cenozoic, deep-water benthic foraminifera from the reference collections at the Natural History Museum in London. The focus is on selected calcareous taxa that are of stratigraphical and/or palaeoecological significance for academic and industrial-related activities. Alabamina heyae (urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1E8A66E9-1F4C-4B61-BA97-6E0ECCD0173E), Nonion cepa (urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:9F36350A-1E49-4D69-B2CC-C83F343E2952), Uvigerina kingi (urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C36C89C2-2E65-4FF6-9368-C169B4591995) and Lenticulina stewarti (urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:485AE871-CECA-44E8-ABD1-BAE2961FFD59) are described with new illustrations. Their biostratigraphic and palaeoecological significance is briefly discussed.