Abstract In 1908, Carl Wiman of Uppsala University, Sweden, discovered rich horizons with Triassic vertebrate remains in Spitsbergen on Svalbard, Norway. This marked the beginning of vertebrate palaeontology as a science in Sweden, subsequently developed mainly through the collection and study of non-Swedish fossil remains. Wiman’s accomplishments, resolute personality and a tight network of influential friends and supporters enabled him to become the first person in Sweden to hold a university chair in Palaeontology and Historical Geology. He also managed to amass large numbers of unique fossil vertebrate specimens culminating in an extensive Chinese collection of both world famous dinosaurs and Neogene mammals deposited at Uppsala University. Joint scientific Sino-Swedish collaboration and a deliberate Swedish scientific agenda ensured this unprecedented situation in an opportune moment. Governmental support and initiative allowed Uppsala University and Carl Wiman’s Palaeontological Institute to erect a museum building dedicated foremost to the Chinese material, now known as the Lagrelius Collection in recognition of the patron behind Wiman’s ambitious endeavours. In addition, the museum served as a permanent repository for seminal collections of Mesozoic fossils from Svalbard and North America. Collectively, these represent a landmark research and teaching resource that remains of intense scientific interest even today.

Abstract The biogeographical distribution of Ordovician and Silurian gastropods, monoplacophorans and mimospirids has been analysed on a generic level. The dataset contains 334 genera and 2769 species, yielding 1231 records of genera with 2274 occurrences worldwide. There is a bias towards eastern Laurentia, Baltica and Perunica records. Some 53.1% of the records are Ordovician. The study demonstrates that these molluscs are well suited to being used to improve understanding of Ordovician and Silurian biogeographical provinciality. Specific points are that: a Lower Ordovician assemblage is evident in Laurentia; the fauna of the Argentinean Precordillera is Laurentian until the Darriwilian, when taxa are shared with North China; Late Silurian gastropods from the Alexander terrane (SE Alaska) are unknown in Laurentia, but support a rift origin of this terrane from NE Siberia; Perunica, Ibero-Armorica and Morocco cluster together throughout the Ordovician but Perunica and Morocco are closer; Darriwilian–Sandbian deep-water Bohemian taxa occur in Baltica; a Laurentian–Baltica proximity is unsupported until the Silurian; Siberia clusters with North China and eastern Laurentia during the Tremadocian–Darriwilian; during the Gorstian–Pridoli Siberia clusters with the Farewell and Alexander terranes; North China may have been close to Laurentia and the Argentinean margin of Gondwana; and the affinity of Tarim taxa is problematic.