Conceptual bases in restoration of scientific vertebrate collections

Abstract

The scientific heritage preserved in Brazilian biological collections has inestimable value. Despite the research on curation and restoration of biological material is regarded as strategic, there is a lack of expertise in these areas in the country. These deficiencies often determine the use of obsolete or even inadequate procedures aimed at the recovery of material for research or exhibition, resulting in risk to valuable specimens. In the present work we provide a review of the literature on the restoration of biological specimens and summarize concepts employed in the restoration of mammals and birds of the Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, exhibition in 2011. The aim of this work is to contribute to the development of protocols when interventions are needed to restore damaged specimens.