Ta xidermy is a general term describing the different methods of skin ning and preserving vertebrate skins by stuffi ng or mounting them over an artificial armature. Using old taxidermy handbooks and docu ments, we can fo llow the history of taxidermy, the evolution of tan ning recipes, and stuffing/mounting techniques over three centuries. In addition, when all the historical preservation information is collected , it can give us some clues toward understanding the current conservation status of this type of collection.
One essential step of museum and clinical specimen preservation is immersion in a fixative fluid to prevent degradation. Formalin is the most largely used fixative, but its benefit is balanced with its toxic and carcinogenic status. Moreover, because formalin-fixation impairs nucleic acids recovery and quality, current museum wet collections and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded clinical samples do not represent optimal tanks of molecular information. Our study has been developed to compare formalin to two alternative fixatives (RCL2® and ethanol) in a context of molecular exploitation. Based on a unique protocol, we created mammalian fixed collections, simulated the impact of time on preservation using an artificial ageing treatment and followed the evolution of specimens' DNA quality. DNA extraction yield, purity, visual integrity and qualitative and quantitative ability to amplify the Cox1 gene were assessed. Our results show that both RCL2 and ethanol exhibit better performances than formalin. They do not impair DNA extraction yield, and more importantly, DNA alteration is delayed over the preservation step. The use of RCL2 or ethanol as fixative in biological collections may insure a better exploitation of the genetic resources they propose.
While receiving remarkable animals as presents was a common practice among European monarchs, the rhinoceros of Louis XV (Rhinoceros unicornis) became one of the most famous. The live male Indian rhinoceros was a gift to the King from Jean-Baptiste Chevalier, French governor of Chandannagar in West Bengal. It left Calcutta on 22 December 1769, and arrived in the port of Lorient, Brittany, six months later on 11 June 1770. From there it was transported to the royal menagerie in Versailles, which had been built in response to increasing interest in zoology and Louis XIV's passion for the exotic, in 1664. When the rhinoceros died in 1793, having been in captivity in France for more than 20 years, its skeleton and stuffed hide were preserved and have been held since then in the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris. Here it remains on exhibition as an almost three-hundred year old relic of R. unicornis, an invaluable source for museum studies and the history of taxidermy. Why the original horn of this rhinoceros was replaced by a much longer one, and why, in turn, this was replaced by a short one is discussed.
Articles MANSUR María Estela et Raquel PIQUÉ HUERTA 2009 « Between the forest and the sea: hunter-gatherer occupations in the subantarctic forests in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina) », Arctic Anthropology, 46 (1-2), p. 144-157. DE ANGELIS Hernán H. et María Estela MANSUR 2010 « Artefactos de vidrio en contextos cazadores-recolectores. Consideraciones a partir del análisis tecnológico y funcional »,
Le patrimoine, dans l'acception que notre équipe en a développé depuis plus d'une décennie 1 , ne se focalise pas sur des objets déterminés mais se discerne par une série de critères accompagnant le processus de construction patrimoniale : collectif, hérité d'un Entre pétrole et tourisme, la conservation participative des patrimoines loca... Revue d'ethnoécologie, 11 | 2017 Entre pétrole et tourisme, la conservation participative des patrimoines loca... Revue d'ethnoécologie, 11 | 2017 7 Les populations du Timor Leste sont rurales à 80 %, l'agriculture dite traditionnelle est prédominante, et il s'y discerne l'agrégation de plusieurs systèmes de culture. L'un est basé sur l'exploitation de plantes spontanées ou semi-spontanées, en particulier les palmiers Corypha utan dont on extrait un sagou, et Borassus flabellifer dont on tire du vin. Un autre système s'appuie sur la culture de tubercules, ignames et taros, et plus récemment manioc. Le plus visible enfin est basé sur la céréaliculture. Plusieurs espèces (millet Setaria italica, Coix lacrima jobi, sorgho Sorghum bicolor, et aujourd'hui maïs Zea mays Entre pétrole et tourisme, la conservation participative des patrimoines loca... Revue d'ethnoécologie, 11 | 2017 Pétrole et développement : le cas de Suai Le projet Tasi Mane dans la région de Suai Le sud du Timor Leste est une région restée jusqu'ici plus ou moins à l'écart du développement, si l'on excepte l'introduction de techniques de mécanisation dans le domaine agricole et les opérations de transmigration menées par les Indonésiens dans les années quatre-vingt. Le district de Covalima (1 230 km 2) abrite la petite ville de Suai près de laquelle sont prévus les aménagements pétroliers. Entre pétrole et tourisme, la conservation participative des patrimoines loca...
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