Descriptions

Shells from George Montagu’s collection (syntypes).

Montagu described these shells as Donax plebeia in Montagu G 1803. Testacea Britannica Part 1. p. 107–108, Tab. 5 fig 2. Although attributed to Montagu in MolluscaBase and CLEMAM this name is first used by Pulteney (1799) as stated by Montagu.

For more information see Oliver PG, Morgenroth H (2018) Additional Type and other Notable specimens of Mollusca from the Montagu Collection in the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter. Zoosystematics and Evolution 94(2): 281-303. This paper is open access.

In January 2020 the Montagu Collection was awarded Designated status by Arts Council England. This mark of distinction recognises the collection’s international significance to the scientific community - it is the most intact and taxonomically important collection of British shells of the early 19th century (1800-1816) to be found anywhere in the UK.


This object is not on display.