Biological Collections: Legacy or Liability?

Abstract

see differently. I can at best report only from my own wilderness. The most important thing is that each man possess such a wilderness and that he consider what marvels are to be observed there.-Loren EiseleyThe man who taught me how to skin birds had had many years of experience in museum preparation; it showed in the dexterity of his aged hands. The skins were always well cleaned; their cotton bodies were always of very uniform proportions. When we had finished and a row of fresh study specimens lay before us, labeled, pinned, lightly wrapped for drying, I always felt as if something creative had been accomplished to so skillfully salvage a few useful portions of lifeless animals. Always my teacher would shake his head, saying quietly under his breath, "No one does this any more. "The museum tradition in ornithology is dying. The three million or so skins, skeletons, and anatomical specimens in collections in the United States have largely served their intended purpose in the pursuit of taxonomic and biogeographical investigations. . . One cannot deny that important taxonomic problems remain unresolved. . . but neither can one deny that the tide has turned and that museum science is ebbing.(Ricklefs, 1980)

Systematics, biological knowledge and environmental conservation

“…In all respects, scientific knowledge is essential to value and successfully manage the environment (Hardin, 1985). The power of systematics to classify and identify organisms and target products to be derived from them (Table 1) is all too often hidden from the observations of final consumers, whose perceptions invariably divorce any role of systematics in supporting agriculture and industry to produce biological products (Bryant, 1983). A multidisciplinary approach is needed to provide a broad scientific knowledge of biodiversity (Soul6, 1990;Wilson, 1992).…”

“…Biological specimens have supplied data to countless quests in ecology, behaviour, forensics, pollution studies, industry and agriculture (Bryant, 1983;Danks, 1988Danks, , 1991Krebs, 1992). Yet, the majority of biologists working outside systematics appear unaware of such values of natural history collections.…”

Revisão taxonômica da malacofauna fóssil da Bacia de Itaboraí (Paleoceno), Rio de Janeiro

“…As coleções guardadas pelos museus têm um objetivo muito maior além de servir como base para as exposições. Algumas funções de uma coleção são bem conhecidas, como: (1) documentar a biodiversidade do planeta; (2) documentar também o passado -não só o passado distante dos fósseis, mas também as espécies que se extinguiram, e se extinguem todos os dias, devido à ação do homem; (3) abrigar os espécimes (especialmente os tipos) de inúmeros trabalhos passados, para que eles possam servir para trabalhos futuros, são os chamados "material testemunho" ou "voucher"; (4) fonte de registros de ocorrência das espécies, para estudos de biogeografia e conservação, inclusive de locais que já não existem mais; (5) manter em um só local uma grande quantidade de material de diversos lugares do mundo, para que um pesquisador não precise se locomover muito para estudá-los; (6) servir de inspiraçãopara futuros pesquisadores (nesse caso as exposições dos museus são igualmente importantes) e também para trabalhos de atuais pesquisadores (Ricklefs, 1980;Bryant, 1983;Allmon, 1994Allmon, , 2005.…”