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Biodiversity - the diversity of all ecosystems and natural species - is being lost at an unprecedented rate of growth. According to the World Wildlife Fund's recent Living Planet report, populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians have declined by an average of 60 percent in just over 40 years. Scientists Gerardo Ceballos, Paul R. Ehrlich and Rodolfo Dirzo have dubbed this decline and the impending wave of extinctions a "biological annihilation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scientific collecting activities of Modena physicians Luigi Bompani and Giuseppe Casari are illustrated. The former emigrated to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the latter to Bella Vista, Argentina. Between 1841 and 1852, Dr. Bompani, who can be considered one of the most important donors, sent a very rich collection of Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, Insects and Molluscs to the Zoology Museum of Modena, and fruits, seeds and plants to the Botanic Gardens of the same city. Dr. Casari also sent to Modena finds of Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Insects coming from the area of Bella Vista, although in smaller amounts. In addition, they both donated several pieces to the Museum of Anatomy of Modena University. Their ethnological collections are now displayed in the Civic, Ethnological and Anthropological Museum of the Municipality of Modena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]