Another museum gone - Brazil

[nomihoudai]

Another museum (after the 2016 fire in Delhi,India) has burned down to the grounds, the national Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro:

www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45392668

[africaone]

terrible ...

[Adam Cotton]

I think you mean "terrible", as terrific normally has positive connotations.

Indeed this is an absolute disaster for Brazil and the whole world of biology, as so many type specimens have been totally destroyed. Of course it is also a disaster in so many other different ways.

Adam.

[exoticimports]

Sept 3, 2018 0:18:31 GMT -8 Adam Cotton said:

I think you mean "terrible", as terrific normally has positive connotations.

Indeed this is an absolute disaster for Brazil and the whole world of biology, as so many type specimens have been totally destroyed. Of course it is also a disaster in so many other different ways.

Adam.

All the more reason the spread specimens over multiple collections. Fire, war, and civil unrest has destroyed thousands if not millions of important specimens. Frankly the survival rate of type specimens in private collections far surpasses that of museums.

[Adam Cotton]

The best way to ensure that something survives if the actual type specimens are destroyed for whatever reason is to produce digital images of all type specimens and ensure that these are stored on a number of different servers in different locations, and preferably disseminate copies to as many researchers and other institutions as possible.

In reality there is absolutely nothing wrong with types being held in private collections, but again it would be ideal if owners of private collections distribute photos of type specimens to other people and preferably institutions as well.

Adam.

[leptraps]

I was in the Museum Storage Equipment business for a number of years. Money was always an issue. Rather the purchase metal cabinets that were air tight and light tight, it was far less expensive to purchase wood cabinets. And wood absorbs the Naphthalene used to protect the collection from dermestids and once the wood starts to burn, there is not enough water to put it out.

Fire suppression is always an issue as well.

[leptraps]

You are probably correct. I do know that the Smithsonian off site storage facility in Silver Hill, MD (Washington D.C.) is virtually all metal and concrete, nothing that can burn.

[africaone]

Sept 3, 2018 0:18:31 GMT -8 Adam Cotton said:

I think you mean "terrible", as terrific normally has positive connotations.

Indeed this is an absolute disaster for Brazil and the whole world of biology, as so many type specimens have been totally destroyed. Of course it is also a disaster in so many other different ways.

Adam.

of course Adam … it is a disaster and a nightmare

[rayrard]

I see issues going forward with the refusal of countries like India and Brazil to allow "outsiders" to collect in their country. You get all specimens concentrated in a few museums and run the risk of having things like this happen. The great tragedy is losing the historical record of the destruction of the Amazon and all the lost species from that region that have their types destroyed. I wonder how many specimens were digitized and if they had backup for their database systems not in the fire.

A terrible thing to happen for sure. Hopefully it is a wake up call for other museums and their home countries to give them money for basic upkeep.

[bandrow]

Greetings,

The news out of Brazil is tragic, and the loss to science and humanity in general is incomprehensible.

One very small, but significant, lesson to be learned more broadly can be evidenced here:
cerambycids.com/brazil/MNRJ/default.asp

This website is the result of work by Miguel and Marcela Monne, of the Museu Nacional Rio de Janeiro, and Steven Lingafelter, Eugenio Nearns and Charyn Micheli, all current or previous workers from the Smithsonian. It is a digital record of the type material of Cerambycidae held in the Museu Nacional, and all now presumed destroyed.

This is exactly the kind of collaborative work necessary to safeguard the information, even in the event of the loss of physical specimens. The information contained in the website will be invaluable in enabling the designation of neotypes going forward.

Bandrow

[Adam Cotton]

Great news that at least there are digital photos of the Cerambycidae types online. I expect that photos of various butterfly types are also available on the Butterflies of America website.

It is important to point out a few issues regarding the destroyed types which have been digitised.

Firstly the photos themeselves can never actually BE the types, they are just illustrations of the type specimens even if the types are no longer in existence, similar to painted illustrations of specimens we now regard as types in old books from 200 years or so ago. They are illustrations of type specimens, and the painting itself is not "the type".

Secondly the ICZN Code only allows designation of a neotype if there is a need to do so. If the important characters distinguishing a taxon from another of similar appearance are clearly visible in the photos then there is no need to designate a neotype, but if either now or in future it is not possible to distinguish the photographed holotype specimen from another taxon, such as a cryptic species which can only be distinguished by internal morphological characters and DNA sequencing, then neotype designation will probably be necessary to fix the old name to a particular taxon.

If there is no taxonomic problem necessitating designation of a neotype then the digital photos of the original (now destroyed) holotype are perfectly adequate to define the taxon and a replacement type specimen is not actually needed.

Adam.

[Adam Cotton]

Doug Yanega, an ICZN Commissioner, posted the following on Taxacom and the ICZN e-mail list. I thought it would be worthwhile copying it here too:


I expect that most, if not all of you, have heard by now of the almost total destruction of the Museu Nacional in Rio this Sunday. The magnitude of this calamity - personally, for all the researchers who worked there, and scientifically, for those who used the collections - is beyond easy comprehension. It will take our community years to wrestle with all of the consequences, and our hearts go out to our colleagues affected by this tragedy.

Very briefly: I have already begun to see discussions and commentaries online about the potential difficulties surrounding the thousands, if not tens of thousands, of primary types that were lost this weekend. Speaking on behalf of the ICZN, I would urge people to refrain from speculation on this topic, in particular regarding the potential designation of neoytpes to replace lost primary types.

I and other Commissioners are hoping that we can draft a short document (and once it has been vetted, distributed widely to the taxonomic community within a week or so) to clarify the rules in the present ICZN Code that govern neotype designation. In a nutshell - and I must emphasize this point - not all lost types *need* to be replaced, and in fact the Code *prohibits* the designation of neotypes except under certain exceptional circumstances that go beyond the simple absence of a primary type. It is therefore quite likely that a significant number of the lost types from the Rio collections will never be replaced, and this is actually in accordance with the Code.

Rather than go into further detail now, I'll remind anyone who has interest in this to please refer to the present version of the Code, which differs in many respects from older Code versions, and familiarize yourselves with Chapter 16, Article 75 - and which can be read online here: www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted-sites/iczn/code/

Hopefully within a week we will have a more detailed document ready to offer guidance as to when and when not to designate neotypes.

Sincerely,

--
Doug Yanega Dept. of Entomology Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314

[Adam Cotton]

Some good news about herbarium specimens at the Brazilian National Museum:

www.iaptglobal.org/single-post/2018/09/05/From-the-director-curator-of-R

[Adam Cotton]

Here's an announcement by Doug Yanega and the ICZN:

Hi, all.

Among the things that have arisen in the aftermath of the terrible fire
this month in Brazil's Museu Nacional - a tragedy that affects many in
the global scientific community - are numerous public comments regarding
the loss of the thousands of holotype specimens housed in Rio, and how
difficult it will be to replace them all. The latter assertion -
implying or claiming that *all *of the lost types will need to be
replaced - is inaccurate, and those of us serving on the ICZN
(International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature) feel that it is
essential to provide accurate information to counteract some of these
well-intentioned but slightly misleading comments. Our aim is not to
dismiss the concerns of those who are worried about the consequences of
losing so many type specimens, but to reassure people that only a
*fraction* of those lost types actually require replacement, in no small
part due to the commendable foresight of curators and researchers who
recorded digital images of many of those types.

Accordingly, I and a number of other Commissioners have drafted an
advisory document outlining what the ICZN Code actually says regarding
the replacement of lost types, emphasizing that the situation
surrounding each individual type must be taken into account, and *only
in exceptional cases* is it possible to designate a replacement
(neotype); doing so requires very explicit justification and
documentation. It is entirely likely that only a small fraction of the
holotypes that have been lost will fulfill the necessary criteria, thus
greatly reducing the burden on the taxonomic community. The task will
not be easy, but it will not be as comprehensive or labor-intensive as
many have assumed.

For those of you who have an interest in this matter, please see

docs.google.com/document/d/1Ef0H0pwnjJW5B5thzp-Fs5J3qEomuJyoEvKQd4hx-Lk/edit?usp=sharing

There are, inevitably, parts of the Code that can be easily overlooked,
easily misinterpreted, or fairly subjective. The purpose of this
particular document is to serve for clarification and as a practical
guideline. It does not, in any way, supercede the "legislative" text of
the Code itself, which is appended - unaltered - at the end of the
document, and also available at
www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted-sites/iczn/code/ in its entirety. We would
urge people in particular to note the various provisions of Article
75.3, especially 75.3.6 and 75.3.7.

Please do bear in mind that the rules concerning neotype designations
are explicitly intended to ensure a measure of quality control over the
process, and prevent abuses of the system; every one of these rules is
in place for a good reason. Most of these rules have been unchanged (or
even slightly relaxed) since at least the 1961 edition of the Code, if
not earlier, and they have served the community well thus far.

If you read through the document and still are uncertain about anything,
I and the other Commissioners are generally available to answer
questions. We would certainly prefer to spend a little effort to address
taxonomists' concerns *before* any types are replaced, rather than after.

PLEASE do pass this message on to colleagues who might benefit from this
information, including other mailing lists or social media groups where
this topic is of broad interest. This document may eventually be
published, but broad dissemination of the information *now* will still
be beneficial, especially given that publications have a much smaller
reach than mailing lists and social media, and also given how quickly,
and widely, inaccurate assumptions and claims have already been distributed.

Sincerely, Doug Yanega

--
Doug Yanega Dept. of Entomology Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314