ES Fish

Overview

ES Fish groups 28 collection units from the ES Fish section within the ES Vertebrates and Anthropology Palaeobiology division (Earth Sciences), covering an estimated 92,225 individual items held across 64,490 curatorial/storage units. Material is predominantly macrofossils (25 of 28 collection units), microfossils (1 of 28 collection units), and two-dimensional nonprojectable graphic (1 of 28 collection units). Preservation is mainly hand specimens, oversize specimens, and microscope slide. Named taxa represented in this product include Chondrichthyes, Actinopterygii, Placodermi, Anaspida, and Heterostraci, among others.

Value

Curatorial assessment rates this product highly on Strategy/mission/research, Significance by comparison, and Usage (avg. 3.2/5 across its top three scored dimensions), indicating it is well positioned for external licensing relative to other NHM holdings.

Use Cases

1. training data for fossil-identification and palaeontological computer-vision models
2. reference datasets for evolutionary and stratigraphic research
3. content for natural-history media, documentaries, and museum digital exhibits
4. 3D scanning and reconstruction projects for education, VR/AR, and scientific visualisation
5. academic and institutional research licensing (biodiversity, systematics, and comparative studies)
6. comparative research, and as a dataset that is distinctive relative to equivalent holdings at other institutions