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Post by trehopr1 on Sept 22, 2021 15:05:54 GMT -8
Would anyone know approximately how many (insect) specimens were lost in Brazil's natural history museum fire a few short years ago ?
2 million ?
5 million ?
More...
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Post by johnnyboy on Sept 22, 2021 15:27:42 GMT -8
Probably nobody will ever know. The same goes for all the insect specimens destroyed by mites, museum beetle larvae, mould etc
Johnny
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Post by trehopr1 on Sept 22, 2021 15:55:28 GMT -8
I would think that the staff who worked there would have some kind of approximate number in mind or percentage lost.
If staff members are taking the time to curate the collections as well as accession new specimens; then surely there are some kind of numbers for everything because the numbers are also part of the cataloging of what you doing.
I also wonder what important collections may have been lost ?
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Post by bobw on Sept 22, 2021 23:06:51 GMT -8
Several type specimens that I need for my research were housed there and have been destroyed. Fortunately, in all these cases, the specimens and their labels had already been photographed.
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Post by bichos on Sept 29, 2021 2:08:29 GMT -8
Do we have any more info on this tragic event?
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Post by borearctia on Sept 29, 2021 5:08:56 GMT -8
The collection of the UFRJ (Departamento Entmologia) had around 12 million neotropical specimens before the accident.
As far as I know, the collection was completely destroyed.
The largest collections are now in the CEIOC (Colecao Entomologia do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz), Rio de Janeiro with 5 million specimens (Brazilian species only), and the UFPR (Universidade Federal do Parana - Santiago Moure) Curitiba with approx. 7 million specimens.
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Post by jshuey on Sept 29, 2021 7:59:01 GMT -8
I never got the chance to see the collection despite two trips to Rio over the years. But here are some snapshots of one small Genus - Zaretis (and Phantos) - that Fernando Dias posted to Facebook following the fire to demonstrate the loss involved with the fire. Major loss to say the least. John  |
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Post by exoticimports on Sept 29, 2021 8:30:51 GMT -8
Not knowing much about the fire, I did some quick searching. A major loss indeed, and worse, predictable and avoidable. Apparently there had been multiple fires. And not just at UFRJ. A "tinder box" and the fire hydrants without water: www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02141-2Sad, yes. But also pathetic. From a preservation perspective, I wonder if disbursing type/ critical specimens across multiple museums and even private collections is the best approach. Or at least move many to (how to say this without offense?) top tier institutions. Cook Islands' collection is decaying with humidity and dermestids; Solomon Islands' collection was burned to the ground. And we have this, in Brazil, totally avoidable. Pathetic. Chuck |
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Post by trehopr1 on Sept 29, 2021 8:56:52 GMT -8
Thank you borearctia for knowing something more about this topic !
This is indeed a significant loss. I knew the numbers had to run into the multi millions of specimens as I worked at a large museum for 8 years.
Where I worked we had approx. 10 million pinned specimens in 1995 and it took 75 years (from the museum's opening) to accumulate that much.
Others have said that the Lepi types were at least photographed before the fire but, who knows how many other orders of insects may have ever had their types photographed or how much undescribed material may have been new to science.
Thank you John for the photographs and thank you Chuck for your insights into the status of other collections and/or their possible demise.
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