Historic

Most of the original specimens from the earliest collecting of Roemer were sent to Europe and can be studied in the museums of Bonn and Wroclaw. Casts of many of type specimens included in that material are available for study here.

The Dumble Collection:
This collection is the oldest and includes specimens that were collected during the Third Geological Survey of Texas – The Dumble Survey – under the leadership of Edwin T. Dumble. Many specimens are of Paleozoic age and were described by F. W. Cragin and illustrated by line drawings. Part of the Dumble collection went back to Wroclaw (Warsaw) with Roemer, who was paleontologist with the survey prior to Cragin.

The Rio Bravo Collection:
After the Third Survey was disbanded, Dumble moved into industry, helping to develop the oil branch of the Southern Pacific Properties – The Rio Bravo Company. This collection stems from the research of that Company. It consists largely of Cretaceous and Tertiary fossils from Texas and Mexico. The specimens, about 4000 lots from 750 localities, were transferred to the BEG in 1931. [A lot number may refer to a single specimen or to numerous specimens from one locality]

The Galveston well Collection:
This was a continuous core 3000 ft in length from the deep-water well drilled for Galveston.  The preliminary report on the well was written by J.A. Singley. Fossils from this core were first discussed by E.T. Dumble and G. D. Harris in 1893.

The El Aguila Collection:
Specimens from El Aguila (Compania Mexicana de Shell) were acquired by Walter S. Adkins before the expropriation of 1936. Specimens are cataloged in both the Adkins (WSA) and the UT collections.

The WPA-State Survey Collection:
A significant terrestrial plant collection covering the Late Paleozoic of North-Central Texas, collected by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Statewide Paleontologic and Mineralogic Survey, which was active from 1939 to 1942. These projects were also collecting vertebrate fossil specimens.