Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona: MCNB-Pal

In 1891, the first major palaeontological collection of the Museum (then the Martorell Museum) was acquired from F. Pisani, a Paris merchant. This collection soon had others added as a result of the collecting carried out to prepare the Geological Map of Catalonia (Almera Collection), the headquarters of which were established in the Museum. The monographic reviews carried out by specialists such as J. Lambert, G. de Angelis d’Ossat, P. Fallot and F. Blanchet, led to a significant increase in type and figurative specimens. The bulk of the material, completed with some purchases abroad, collection and excavations by technical staff of the Museum, entered the Museum in the first third of the 20th century. The current register of the general palaeontology collection of the Museum was started in 1922 with the entry of the Lluís Marià Vidal collection. In recent decades, other important collections have been added, including those of José F. de Villalta and colleagues (notable for their variety and the number of specimens), the collections of plants of Martí Madern (Oligocene) and Vicente i Castells (Cretaceous), among many others. The research developed in the Department have also contributed to the increasing of the scientific palaeontological collections of echinoids and larger foraminifera mainly of Cretaceous and Paleogene age. Villalta Collection Josep Fernández de Villalta (Barcelona, 1913-2003) was a researcher at CSIC Spanish National Research Council) and the mentor of many geologists from the University of Barcelona. He assembled an important palaeontological collection of invertebrates, vertebrates and plants. He donated his private palaeontological collection, the result of over 50 years of work, as well as numerous publications, to the Geology Museum of Barcelona. The collection contains around 33,600 registers (about 109,000 specimens) and is of extraordinary value, in part due to its excellent state of conservation and in part due to its scientific relevance. Given that most of Dr. VIllalta's palaeontological scientific work was carried out in Catalonia, this collection represents a priceless contribution to the Museum and to knowledge of Catalan geology. Accessioned in 1986, the Villalta Collection consists of the following: the invertebrate fossil collection from the Department of Geomorphology from the University of Barcelona, on loan to the CSIC (Barcelona) since the university moved to its new buildings in Pedralbes; a collection of Pleistocene vertebrates from the CSIC (Barcelona), the result of the excavations conducted by Dr Villalta and his collaborators, mainly during the 1970s; a collection of Miocene flora from La Cerdanya and a number of type specimens originating from his research.