Search

This article describes results from a review of South Asian fossils in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. These materials include two early 19th century collections of fossils from the Siwalik Hills in India. While this assemblage was summarised in 1837 by William Buckland as 'large and valuable collections of fossil bones', it has remained largely unstudied and unpublished in any detail since collection. Here, as a precursor to a comprehensive re-evaluation, we establish a chronological and geographical context of one collection event, provide details of its donor, and outline its history after arrival in Oxford. We then describe select taxa in the collection, including a well-preserved maxilla and toothrow of the large extinct giraffid, Sivatherium giganteum, as a basis to justify our current understanding of the biostratigraphic affinity of the assemblage. Conservatively, the collection is a 'classic' Upper Siwalik Plio-Pleistocene fauna, possibly the first to be transported to the UK. While further analyses will realise the scientific potential of the fossils, the narrative of their journey from India to Oxford remains incomplete. Further investigation of the hidden history of the collection is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bee genus Borgatomelissa Patiny, 2000 (Anthophila: Andrenidae: Panurginae) is found across North Africa, the Sahel, and throughout the Arabian Peninsula. Using both morphology and DNA barcodes, a new species, B. samailensissp. n., is described from Oman, increasing the known number of species to four. Due to the holotype of B. brevipennis Walker, 1871 being lost, we designate a neotype from a specimen collected from Oman. Additionally, new country records are documented herein for B. flavimaura Ortiz-Sánchez and Patiny, 2019 and B. brevipennis, based on specimens housed in the collections of the Natural History Museum, London and Biologiezentrum Linz, Austria. A key to the species in the genus is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phytophthora infestans (Peronosporaceae, Oomycota) is the causal agent of late blight of potato (Solanum tuberosum) and a native to Central America. When introduced to Europe, it rapidly spread in 1845, triggering the Irish Potato Famine, which claimed millions of lives and led to an exodus of Europeans to North America. The spread of the species was recently traced using historical specimens from various herbaria. However, there are critical spatial and temporal gaps in the documentation of the early spread of the species. Within the framework of a digitalization and restoration project of the mid-nineteenth century fungus collections of the herbarium of the State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe, several specimens of Phytophthora infestans from North-East Germany collected in 1853, 1855 and 1856 were discovered. In addition, we revised already deposited material and identified a specimen of Ph. infestans that was collected no later than 1852. These specimens are among the oldest from Central Europe and are now available to the scientific public. Further, we searched for thus far overlooked specimens, using online catalogues. We found specimens from 23 European countries, with the oldest material from western Europe and almost no data from eastern Europe, south-eastern Europe and southern Europe. Our results emphasize the need for archiving and digitizing natural history collections in order to document the historical spread of agricultural and forest pathogens and to better understand current-day epidemic spreads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines ecological practices at the Palestine Museum of Natural History in Bethlehem, West Bank. Through an analysis of the museum's botanical gardens, the article explores what it calls 'biodiverse futures' as a spatio‐temporal alternative to the ecological domination of settler colonialism in Israel/Palestine. While much scholarship has focused on the environmental imaginaries that have informed colonial conquest in Palestine, this paper draws attention to the ways in which these relationships extend into constructions of the future. Combining the literature on environmental violence with the literature on futurity and decolonisation, this article develops an approach that foregrounds the relevance of 'ecological temporalities' in examining alternatives to settler futures in Israel/Palestine. To date, only a limited number of contributions have examined environmentalism as a powerful discursive tool for constructing the future. The case of the museum gardens highlights three interrelated aspects of the production of ecological counter‐futures: futures as knowledge, futures as (bio)diversity, and futures as survival. Drawing on ethnographic material and interviews with museum staff and volunteers, this paper contributes to the study of the temporalities of environmental violence and ecological resistance in Israel/Palestine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the Amateur Entomologists Society (AES) Young Entomologists' Day 2024 at the Natural History Museum in London, England. Topics discussed include the presentations by young entomologists; collaborations with youth nature groups and conservation trusts; and discussions on insect diversity, behavior and their cultural impact in computer games, design and fashion.

The article reports on Margaret Wertheim's Crochet Coral Reef project, which has attracted worldwide attention. The project combines art, craft, and STEM and has already attracted 25,000 participants, mainly women, in 52 cities and countries. It is the largest art and science project in the world and has been exhibited at the Biennale in Venice and the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Although the project is popular with a wide audience, science promoters have refused to support it, believing that handicraft is not a valid method for mathematical education. The article criticizes these prejudices and emphasizes the importance of tangible learning tools for teaching mathematical and scientific concepts. [Extracted from the article]

Based on the study of freshly-collected material and old museum specimens, we have solved a decades-old riddle surrounding the name Onychoglomeris herzogowinensis (Verhoeff, 1898). The southern Dinaric coastal species Glomeris herzogowinensis Verhoeff, 1898 is revived, while Onychoglomeris herzogowinensis australis Attems, 1935 and O. h. media Attems, 1935, are treated here as full species after returning the specific name to Glomeris Latreille, 1902, O. australis Attems, 1935, stat. nov. and O. media Attems, 1935, stat. nov. Besides the designation of lectotypes, we provide comprehensive illustrations, diagnoses, detailed remarks and a distribution map for all three species. In addition, DNA barcoding provided COI sequences for Glomeris herzogowinensis and Onychoglomeris australis stat. nov., along with the first barcoding data of one additional species of Onychoglomeris Verhoeff, 1906, O. ferraniensis Verhoeff, 1909 and two Glomeris species, the Balkan G. balcanica Verhoeff, 1906 and the trans-Adriatic G. pulchra Koch, 1847. The significance of historical specimens from natural history museums is briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Winchcombe meteorite fell on February 28, 2021 and was the first recovered meteorite fall in the UK for 30 years, and the first UK carbonaceous chondrite. The meteorite was widely observed by meteor camera networks, doorbell cameras, and eyewitnesses, and 213.5 g (around 35% of the final recovered mass) was collected quickly—within 12 h—of its fall. It, therefore, represents an opportunity to study very pristine extra‐terrestrial material and requires appropriate careful curation. The meteorite fell in a narrow (600 m across) strewn field ~8.5 km long and oriented approximately east–west, with the largest single fragment at the farthest (east) end in the town of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire. Of the total known mass of 602 g, around 525 g is curated at the Natural History Museum, London. A sample analysis plan was devised within a month of the fall to enable scientists in the UK and beyond to quickly access and analyze fresh material. The sample is stored long term in a nitrogen atmosphere glove box. Preliminary macroscopic and electron microscopic examinations show it to be a CM2 chondrite, and despite an early search, no fragile minerals, such as halite, sulfur, etc., were observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We extracted pollen from historical honeycomb specimens of beeswax to highlight the potential of beeswax as a source for palynological studies. The pollen composition was explored as a proxy for honeybee foraging in the past. Additionally, we wanted to illuminate the potential of the palynological analysis to provenance the specimens. Danish honeycomb samples from the Natural History Museum of Denmark, dating from the late 19th, early twentieth century were processed and analysed for pollen identification. We used Ellenberg values to represent functional traits for the identified taxa and applied these as explanatory variables to study the variation in foraging environment and plant preference of the honeybees. Our results indicate variations of an agricultural landscape, with bees foraging on plants that are high in nutritional value. We found that information gained from palynological analysis of museum samples may be useful in illuminating details of historical apiology. We present our study in light of the importance of environmental biodiversity in Denmark and its vitality for bees as key pollinators in our ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Andean swamp rat Neotomys ebriosus is a sigmodontine rodent restricted to the Central Andes of South America. A distribution map of the species in Peru have been previously drawn based on few of the localities where the species has been captured and collected. I update the distribution of the species in Peru based on new records from three different areas surveyed by the author, specimens at Museum collections in the United States and France from VertNet webpage, localities from the collection at the Natural History Museum of Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, and localities from the collection at the Natural History Museum of the Universidad Nacional San Agustín. The northern limit of the species distribution is increased based on new localities with collected individuals. Habitat used by N. ebriosus is mainly high Andean bogs; most individuals caught adjacent to the borders of Andean bogs and along streams near the bogs. Collected individuals leave unclear subspecies division and identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the first discovery of dinosaur eggs announced by the American Museum of Natural History (central Asiatic expeditions to Mongolia) in 1923, these fossils became widely recognised from Mesozoic strata in Asia and elsewhere. In the 1920s, and actually before 1923, dinosaur eggs had been collected from another part of Asia, specifically Liaoning Province in northeastern China. From 1921 to the late 1920s, five eggs were collected from the Cenomanian Quantou Formation during construction, and thus represent an important historic collection as some of the earliest dinosaur eggs discovered in Asia. Here, we describe one egg from this collection and assign it to Paraspheroolithus irenensis, an egg taxon that likely belonged to hadrosaur dinosaurs. The egg is approximately 7 × 8 cm in diameter, with eggshell that displays typical spheroolithid microstructure and is just over a millimetre in thickness. Paraspheroolithus irenensis is shown to be the most widespread spheroolithid oospecies in China, and our comparative work extends its geographic range to northeastern most China. The Quantou Formation thus has yielded at least three spheroolithid oospecies, indicating the potential for a diversity of hadrosaur or related ornithopod species in the region at that time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the first time, an attempt has been made to present, chronologically and in a systematized form, the development of ornithological studies at the National Museum of Natural History in Sofia (Bulgaria) from its foundation in the last decades of the 19th century to the present day. This 135-year period (1889–2024) includes the work of 12 curators of the ornithological collections. Their major contributions and most-significant ornithological publications are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three gastropod species were discovered in Utah in recent years that have not been previously documented in the state. These include the slug Arion fasciatus and 2 terrestrial snails: Cryptomastix magnidenta, found in Cache County, and Cepaea nemoralis, found in Salt Lake County. These species are also the first representatives of their genera found in the state. Voucher specimens are held at the Utah Museum of Natural History. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ornate Moth, Utetheisa ornatrix, has served as a model species in chemical ecology studies for decades. Like in the widely publicized stories of the Monarch and other milkweed butterflies, the Ornate Moth and its relatives are tropical insects colonizing whole continents assisted by their chemical defenses. With the recent advances in genomic techniques and evo-devo research, it is becoming a model for studies in other areas, from wing pattern development to phylogeography, from toxicology to epigenetics. We used a genomic approach to learn about Utetheisa's evolution, detoxification, dispersal abilities, and wing pattern diversity. We present an evolutionary genomic analysis of the worldwide genus Utetheisa, then focusing on U. ornatrix. Our reference genome of U. ornatrix reveals gene duplications in the regions possibly associated with detoxification abilities, which allows them to feed on toxic food plants. Finally, comparative genomic analysis of over 100 U. ornatrix specimens from the museum with apparent differences in wing patterns suggest the potential roles of cortex and lim3 genes in wing pattern formation of Lepidoptera and the utility of museum-preserved collection specimens for wing pattern research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mytilus edulis is a commercially and ecologically important species found along the east coast of the United States. Ecologically, M. edulis improves water quality through filtration feeding and provides habitat formation and coastal protection through reef formation. Like many marine calcifiers, ocean warming, and acidification are a growing threat to these organisms—impacting their morphology and function. Museum collections are useful in assessing long-term environmental impacts on organisms in a natural multi-stressor environment, where acclimation and adaptation can be considered. Using the American Museum of Natural History collections ranging from the early 1900s until now, we show that shell porosity changes through time. Shells collected today are significantly more porous than shells collected in the 1960s and, at some sites, than shells collected from the early 1900s. The disparity between porosity changes matches well with the warming that occurred over the last 130 years in the north Atlantic suggesting that warming is causing porosity changes. However, more work is required to discern local environmental impacts and to fully identify porosity drivers. Since, porosity is known to affect structural integrity, porosity increasing through time could have negative consequences for mussel reef structural integrity and hence habitat formation and storm defenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaria is a disease of global significance. Ongoing changes to the earth's climate, antimalarial resistance, insecticide resistance, and socioeconomic decline test the resilience of malaria prevention programs. Museum insect specimens present an untapped resource for studying vector-borne pathogens, spurring the question: Do historical mosquito collections contain Plasmodium DNA, and, if so, can museum specimens be used to reconstruct the historical epidemiology of malaria? In this Perspective, we explore molecular techniques practical to pathogen prospecting, which, more broadly, we define as the science of screening entomological museum specimens for human, animal, or plant pathogens. Historical DNA and pathogen prospecting provide a means of describing the coevolution of human, vector, and parasite, informing the development of insecticides, diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines local and global logistics involved in the transfer of animals to and from zoos in the twentieth century. The key contexts discussed here are, on the one hand, the relationship between the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (Museum of Natural History) and Berlin Zoo, and on the other hand, trade in and the market of exotic animals, a market that both exceeds and constitutes the institutions of the museum and the zoo. Taking the accidental death of a giant tortoise in the zoo in 1969 as its starting point, the paper studies the movement of animals, dead and alive. It traces the acquisition history of two new Galápagos giant tortoises by following the animals' trajectory from Ecuador to West Berlin during the Cold War. At the same time, it reconstructs the itineraries of the dead animals' remains through different natural history institutions, leading into the shared history of trade and traffic between zoos and natural history museums and into the political geographies of the Cold War. To put these episodes into a broader historical context, the article looks back on the expansion of global networks in animal trade through the lens of transport infrastructures, trading networks, and the accompanying red tape, tracing this back to the period around 1900 in order to reveal genealogies, thereby historicizing current logistical practices, policies, and problems. Taking logistics as a critical analytical category for natural history and thus examining natural history as logistics allows us to gain new insights into how logistics not only enabled but also shaped and reshaped natural history's material, economic, and epistemic frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An urban natural history museum and university partnered with rural conservation organizations to support a climate learning network in southwestern Pennsylvania, a region with a fossil fuels heritage. Network members recognized the urgent need to address climate change at the system scale and wanted to talk about climate action, but they had doubts about what climate actions to take, how much their actions matter (efficacy), and whether it was necessary to talk about climate change directly. Future visioning showed promise as a tool for identifying compelling actions and expanding participants' climate narratives to embrace systemic climate action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Europe, abundance, biomass and species richness of many insect taxa declined during the last decades. This decline might be accompanied by long‐term temporal changes in community composition and dominance orders. Here, we use the data base of the natural history museum of Salzburg based on museum records and field books on Austrian butterflies covering the years 1945–2018 and asked 1) whether and how community composition of important butterfly guilds changed and 2) whether these changes are in accordance with reciprocal shifts in species abundances leading to increased functional stability. In comparisons of annual changes in dominance orders, we found an increasing tendency of compositional stability of dominant species. The trend was most pronounced in generalist and dispersive species, while dominant grassland, xerothermophilic and sedentary species tended to decrease in relative abundance. We also demonstrate a temporal trend towards increasing regional stability in relative abundance rank orders. We did not find compelling evidence for reciprocal shifts in abundances of dominant and subdominant species of the same guild and of asynchronous population fluctuations as required by models that link abundance compensation and functional stability. Our study highlights the ongoing trend towards faunal homogenisation at regional spatial scales in the European Alps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digitization of herbarium collections guarantees a preservation and long-term use of scientifically valuable objects, e.g., wide and convenient access to these materials online and exchange between institutions. These are also important elements in the education and popularization of botanical knowledge. No less significant is the practical aspect of these studies due to the danger of these collections' destruction as a result of Russian aggression—some of them have already been destroyed. The analyzed Margittai collection (1500 specimens) is kept at the Uzhhorod National University Herbarium (UU) and belongs to the historical and regional ones. This material is valuable because of its scientific, historical and cultural significance. By the initiative and thanks to the efforts of Prof. S. Fodor, the studied collection (most of which are doublet specimens) was transferred in 1965 from the Hungarian Natural History Museum (BP), where the main herbarium of the researcher is preserved (40,000 specimens), to the Uzhhorod State University. Due to the fact that the collection has not been studied, in 2021, the authors began a special investigation of this collection and assessment of its current state. The structure of the database has been developed, it is being filled, and the digitization of type materials has begun. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bavarian glassblower Herman Oscar Mueller (fl. 1900s–1960s) was employed for over forty years at the American Museum of Natural History, New York, in his role as a glassblower making intricate glass models of biological subjects. From 1903 to 1945 he produced over one thousand models of invertebrate organisms that combined beauty, morphological accuracy and exceptional glassblowing skill. His talent often surpassed that of the famous Blaschkas of Dresden. Mueller enjoyed worldwide fame in his lifetime, yet his life and models have since fallen into relative obscurity, and few publications record his achievements. In contrast, the Blaschkas are the subject of extensive documentation. To correct this imbalance, Mueller's life and work are here analyzed, drawing on the large collection of primary sources in the Research Library of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, the Library of Congress, Washington DC, and the Rakow Research Library of the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York, amongst others. Mueller's life provides important insights into his highly-specialized role as a museum glassblower, the changing role of natural history collections in the early twentieth century, and the ways in which the lives of important figures can be obscured by a focus on other, better documented individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the American Museum of Natural History, New York, there is an old specimen labelled as "Holodromia harrisonwilliamsi Boone, MS name" that was collected from Cocos Island in 1925. This name has never been published. An examination of the specimen shows that it is a juvenile specimen of Homolodromia robertsi Garth, 1973, a species described from Peru, which has since been reported from Chile and off the coast of Ecuador. This paper reports on the specimen Homolodromia robertsi Garth found in Costa Rica for the first time, a discovery that extends the known range of this species northwards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mozambique is experiencing the consequences of a severe energy crisis with economic and social impacts. Its strict dependence on hydroelectric sources is being severely tested by recent droughts that have drastically reduced water levels in dams. However, Mozambique is addressing energy poverty by exploring renewable energy sources thanks to investments in the sector by the European Union. The research concerns an energy analysis profile of the country and the penetration of renewable energy, presenting an energy upgrading scope through a semi-automatic calculation methodology in a Building Information Modeling (BIM) environment. The building under study, located in Maputo, is the Natural History Museum, which plays an important role in biodiversity conservation. Therefore, this paper proposes a BIM methodology for sizing an environmental control system tailored to serve the museum. The proposed system replaces the previous one and includes a photovoltaic system that not only meets the museum's load but also supplies electricity to the surrounding area. Energy production from renewable sources with a surplus of 30% has been achieved. The proposed digital methodology has identified a maximum gap of 1.5% between the dimensions of the BIM duct and those of a traditional plant design, meeting ASHRAE requirements for environmental control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new species of Hesperopenna Medvedev & Dang, 1981 are described from Singapore: H. temasek sp. nov. and H. bakeri sp. nov. The specimens of both new species were collected by Charles Fuller Baker and found in the unidentified Galerucinae material deposited in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Hesperopenna temasek sp. nov. is diagnosed by the black extreme elytral suture in the basal third, antennae longer than the body, the structure of the penis, and the last abdominal ventrite with two deep U-shaped incisions in females. Hesperopenna bakeri sp. nov. is diagnosed by the black tibia and first two tarsomeres, and the structure of the penis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: This study focuses on 71 human skeletal remains from the Luís Lopes Identified Collection, exploring atherosclerosis—and particularly calcified atherosclerotic plaques—in the context of forensic anthropology and the process of identification. Examining calcified atherosclerotic plaques can be valuable for confirming or disproving an identification, but this approach is contingent on the availability of pre-mortem imaging exams. It should always complement other identification methods for optimal accuracy. Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease that, in its more developed stages, can lead to the calcification of fatty plaques on the walls of arteries, resulting in the appearance of new bone elements. It is a condition that has been studied and documented little in the context of paleopathology, especially in the framework of forensic anthropology. This article analyzed the skeletal remains of 71 individuals (35 females and 36 males) from the Luís Lopes Identified Collection of the National Museum of Natural History and Science in Lisbon, 31 of whom had an autopsy report. An attempt was made to ascertain whether these bone elements resulting from atherosclerotic calcification would resist cadaveric decomposition and whether they would be recoverable several years after burial, and a survey was carried out of their distribution according to sex and age, as well as their association with other pathologies, such as osteoporosis and cardiac and renal pathologies. An imaging analysis of an atherosclerotic plaque was also carried out to complement the macroscopic analysis and present other methods of identifying plaques. It was concluded that each atherosclerotic calcification has a unique profile, which can be useful for identification, especially in cases where the individual shows a severe condition. In terms of identification potential, the analysis of calcified atherosclerotic plaques can be useful, as they can corroborate or reject an identification. However, it always requires the existence of ante-mortem imaging exams and must always be used in addition to other identification methods. Regardless of the identification, these plaques are bone elements resulting from a pathology and should, therefore, be known and recognized by the scientific community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lost Meteorites of Antarctica project was the first UK‐led Antarctic meteorite recovery expedition. The project has successfully confirmed two new high‐density meteorite stranding zones in the Hutichison Icefield and Outer Recovery Icefields areas and investigated the geology of three previously unvisited Antarctic nunataks (Turner Nunatak, Pillinger Nunatak, Halliday Nunatak). The project undertook meteorite searching on the ice surface via skidoo reconnaissance and systematic searching and developed a novel pulse induction metal detection system to search for englacial iron‐rich meteorites trapped within the upper one meter of ice. In total, 121 meteorites have been recovered from the ice surface searching activities, which are now curated in the United Kingdom at the Natural History Museum London and are available for scientific analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new distribution record for Rizal's jewel weevil - Pachyrhynchus rizali Schultze, 1934 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae: Pachyrhynchini). A single female specimen was collected at the Aurora Memorial National Park, Province of Aurora, Luzon Island, Philippines on 18 Jun 2023 - a day before the 162nd birth anniversary of the Philippine national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, after whom the species was named. The specimen was identified based on morphological comparison with the types deposited at the Senckenberg Natural History Museum in Dresden, Germany. Further explorations must be conducted to study the biology, ecology, population, and distribution of P. rizali. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interview with Chris Stringer, who studies human origins at the Natural History Museum of London. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on Saturnia pavoniella Scopoli, 1763, (Lep.: Bombycoidea) in western Hungary. Topics include the resolution of the pavoniella/pavonia problem in Hungarian faunistics; the discovery of twenty-four first instar Saturnia larvae on Salix cinerea in wet grassland near Nagyrákos; and their breeding and feeding on Salix caprea, the emergence of all twenty-four adults the following spring.

Background: Hantaviruses are negative-stranded RNA viruses that can sometimes cause severe disease in humans; however, they are maintained in mammalian host populations without causing harm. In Panama, sigmodontine rodents serve as hosts to transmissible hantaviruses. Due to natural and anthropogenic forces, these rodent populations are having increased contact with humans. Methods: We extracted RNA and performed Illumina deep metatranscriptomic sequencing on Orthohantavirus seropositive museum tissues from rodents. We acquired sequence reads mapping to Choclo virus (CHOV, Orthohantavirus chocloense) from heart and kidney tissue of a two-decade old frozen museum sample from a Costa Rican pygmy rice rat (Oligoryzomys costaricensis) collected in Panama. Reads mapped to the CHOV reference were assembled and then validated by visualization of the mapped reads against the assembly. Results: We recovered a 91% complete consensus sequence from a reference-guided assembly to CHOV with an average of 16X coverage. The S and M segments used in our phylogenetic analyses were nearly complete (98% and 99%, respectively). There were 1,199 ambiguous base calls of which 93% were present in the L segment. Our assembled genome varied 1.1% from the CHOV reference sequence resulting in eight nonsynonymous mutations. Further analysis of all publicly available partial S segment sequences support a clear relationship between CHOV clinical cases and O. costaricensis acquired strains. Conclusions: Viruses occurring at extremely low abundances can be recovered from deep metatranscriptomics of archival tissues housed in research natural history museum biorepositories. Our efforts resulted in the second CHOV genome publicly available. This genomic data is important for future surveillance and diagnostic tools as well as understanding the evolution and pathogenicity of CHOV. Author summary: Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) in Panama, caused by Choclo virus (CHOV, Orthohantavirus chocloense), is intimately linked to the primary mammalian reservoir host, the Costa Rican pygmy rice rat (Oligoryzomys costaricensis). Although the prevalence of hantavirus disease is relatively low in Panama, over a quarter of the country has the agroecological conditions that favor this rodent. In addition, serologic evidence suggests infections are under-reported. Sequence data of the pathogen and host collected across temporal and spatial scales is necessary for diagnostics, surveillance, and forecasting; however, only one complete genome is available in NCBI GenBank. By leveraging deep metatranscriptomics of archived frozen mammal tissues, we generated a low-coverage genome using a reference-guided assembly approach. Sequence data can be used to develop pan-hantavirus diagnostic tools to facilitate acquisition of more detailed genetic data from archival samples to increase our understanding of the evolutionary and population dynamics of rare and neglected hantaviruses. This approach further illustrates the utility of cryopreserved biorepositories archived in natural history museums for pathogen discovery and pathobiology. Generating additional genomic sequence data will also be essential for developing a rigorous taxonomic framework to improve the understanding of hantavirus diversity and distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Brazilian National Week of Science and Technology, promoted annually by government agencies, aims to develop actions for the dissemination and popularization of science to bring scientific and technological knowledge to society. This work reports the experience of the Araguaia Museum of Natural History (MuHNA) in promoting the popularization of science in the eastern region of Mato Grosso, from the cities Barra do Garças and Água Boa, reaching an approximate audience of 6,000 participants in the third edition of SNCT-Araguaia in scientific dissemination actions. It is highlighted, in this experience report, the fundamental role of strategic communication actions for the dissemination of information about the scientific knowledge presented in the event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new species of the genus Lophostreptus Cook, 1895 is described, based on specimens hidden for over a century among the syntypes of its congener Lophostreptus regularis Attems, 1909 housed in the Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet Stockholm (NRMS) and the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (NHMW). A lectotype is designated for Lophostreptus regularis Attems, 1909 in order to stabilize its taxonomy. Updates to the millipede fauna of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Mass extinctions' have been a hot topic for several decades. What triggers a mass extinction? How does a mass extinction impact the evolution of life? How does our ecosystem recover after a mass extinction? These questions attracted the interest of both scientists and the public alike. NSR spoke to two renowned researchers in the field of mass extinctions: Prof. Douglas H. Erwin from the National Museum of Natural History of the USA, and Prof. Shuzhong Shen from Nanjing University, China. Prof. Erwin has been interested in the end-Permian mass extinction since graduate school. He has worked on a variety of problems, from Permian gastropod systematics to the origin of animals. Currently his work focuses on the nature of evolutionary novelty and innovation. Prof. Shen's research career is centered upon the end-Permian mass extinction, Permian stratigraphy and global correlations, with taxonomic expertise on brachiopods and conodonts. The International Commission on Stratigraphy recognizes his outstanding singular contribution to stratigraphy and awarded him the ICS Stratigraphy Medal in 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Torpedo rays (Torpedinidae, Torpediniformes) are small to moderately large batoids that produce an electric discharge. They are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical seas and are, as a result of their bottom‐dwelling behaviour, susceptible to trawl fishing and often end up as victims of bycatch. The distribution ranges of most recognized species seem to be restricted; however, their species‐level systematics is not adequately resolved. In the genus Torpedo, in which many species require revision, there are possibly several undescribed species, while numerous misidentifications add to the complexity of the issue. In the latest lists of living rays, 13 species are accepted in the genus Torpedo, including three of doubtful validity and several recently discovered undescribed species. Among the valid species is the critically endangered, possibly extinct, Torpedo suessii Steindachner, 1898, the Red Sea torpedo, of which only four specimens have been recorded in the literature until now, three of which still exist in the fish collection of the Natural History Museum of Vienna. Museum collections are the most important archive of biodiversity on Earth, and are increasingly being used for various studies, including phylogenetics, population genomics, and biogeography. Nevertheless, molecular analysis of old museum material remains challenging because the genetic material has degraded, is fragmented, and of low quantity. In molecular taxonomy, the necessity of including type specimens as name‐bearing specimens is increasingly recognized. Here, the extended specimen approach was applied to re‐describe the lectotype of T. suessii. The approach included research of historical information and whole genome sequencing, followed by genome assembly and phylogenetic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three gastropod species were discovered in Utah in recent years that have not been previously documented in the state. These include the slug Arion fasciatus and 2 terrestrial snails: Cryptomastix magnidenta, found in Cache County, and Cepaea nemoralis, found in Salt Lake County. These species are also the first representatives of their genera found in the state. Voucher specimens are held at the Utah Museum of Natural History. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bees of the tribe Anthidiini (Apoidea: Megachilidae) are notable pollinators consisting of resin bees, wool-carder bees, and cleptoparasitic bees. Twelve anthidiine species were historically reported in Thailand, though the taxonomic information of the group was needed revising. In this study, 165 (97♀, 68♂) anthidiine bee specimens deposited at the Chulalongkorn University Natural History Museum, Thailand, were examined with material obtained from various museum collections. Specimens were principally collected in Thailand with some from Laos and Myanmar. Here, at least eight genera and 15 species of anthidiine bees are recognized: Anthidiellum (5), Bathanthidium (1), Eoanthidium (1), Euaspis (4), Pachyanthidium (1), Pseudoanthidium (1), Stelis (1), and Trachusa (1). Dianthidium chinensis Wu, 1962, Eoanthidium chinensis (Wu, 1962), Eoanthidium semicarinatum Pasteels, 1972, and Eoanthidium punjabensis Gupta & Sharma, 1953 are relegated as junior synonyms of Eoanthidium (Hemidiellum) riparium (Cockerell, 1929), stat. nov. Both Anthidiellum (Pycnanthidium) latipes (Bingham, 1897) from Phang Nga and Euaspis aff. wegneri Baker, 1995 from Chumphon were identified as new records for Thailand. Trachusa aff. vietnamensis Flaminio & Quaranta, 2021 from Phitsanulok is a new record for the genus found in Thailand, whereas Pseudoanthidium (Pseudoanthidium) orientale (Bingham, 1897) is a new record for Laos. Annotated comments are provided for some taxa and identification keys for the Thai anthidiine bees is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Count Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, a Finnish entomologist and government administrator, made significant contributions to the understanding of beetles in Pacific Northwestern America. Despite never visiting North America himself, Mannerheim enlisted the help of Finnish settlers in Russian America to collect insects for him, resulting in a valuable collection that supported his research for 15 years. Mannerheim's four monographic publications on the beetle fauna of the region were considered comprehensive and authoritative at the time, and he is recognized as a founder of coleopterology in western North America. His work was highly collaborative and followed progressive systematic approaches. The Finnish Museum of Natural History houses the Coleoptera Mannerheim collection, which contains about 20,000 species and 100,000 specimens, including 800 type specimens described by Mannerheim himself. [Extracted from the article]

The blue antelope or bluebuck (Hippotragus leucophaeus) is an extinct species of antelope that lived in South Africa until ca. 1799–1800. Disappearing only 34 years after it was described, it was the first large African mammal species to have become extinct in recent times. Therefore, current scientific knowledge of the blue antelope is limited to museum specimens. However, these are extremely rare and further complicated by uncertainties surrounding their taxonomic status due to morphological similarity with the closely related extant roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus) and sable antelope (Hippotragus niger). A previous study found that only four (out of ten) genetically analysed historical museum specimens could be confirmed as Hippotragus leucophaeus. Here, we analyse a further five potential blue antelope specimens, two of which had been morphologically identified as blue antelope (one from the Natural History Museum (NHM) in London and one from National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh), plus an additional three specimens identified here as candidate blue antelope specimens (from the NHM). We find that only one of the five specimens can be genetically validated as Hippotragus leucophaeus, whereas the other four specimens were identified as H. equinus. Furthermore, using hybridisation capture, we generated two complete mitochondrial genomes for blue antelope specimens that were formerly known only from partial mitochondrial genomes. The diversity analyses including all newly generated genomes further confirm that the mitochondrial nucleotide diversity across this species was low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The meteorite Lieksa was found in 2017 in Löpönvaara, Finland, and later donated to the Finnish Museum of Natural History. Here, we report siderophile element concentrations, genetic isotopic data, and a metal–silicate segregation age for the meteorite. The ~280 g Lieksa is ~80% metal and ~20% silicate and oxide inclusions by volume, with the inclusions consisting primarily of Fe‐rich olivine. Due to Lieksa's silicate content, coupled with a texture characterized by metal enclosing the silicates, it has been classified as a pallasite. Lieksa's olivine and bulk chemical characteristics are distinct from those of the known pallasite and iron meteorite groups, consistent with its classification as ungrouped. The meteorite exhibits a flat, chondrite‐normalized highly siderophile element pattern, consistent with an origin as an early crystallization product from a metallic melt with chondritic relative abundances. Molybdenum, Ru, and 183W isotopic data indicate that Lieksa formed in the non‐carbonaceous (NC) domain of the solar nebula. Radiogenic 182W abundances for Lieksa yield a model metal–silicate segregation age of 1.5 ± 0.8 Myr after calcium‐aluminum‐rich inclusion formation, which is within the range established for other NC‐type pallasite and iron meteorite parent bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A short history of taxidermy in the National Museum of Natural History “Grigore Antipa” from Bucharest is presented, from the beginning, in 1834, until nowadays. The main trends of this art of animal preparation were pointed. Prodigious contributions to this science were brought by Carol Valstein (1837), who worked with several taxidermists: Carlo Ferreratti, Nicolae Stahi, Petrache Georgiu (Gheorghiu, then Georgescu) and his sons, Cristian and Simion, Constantin Hepites – pharmacist, Carlo Ferreratti. Other notable figures in this field who have made outstanding contributions to bird and mammal collections are: Ion P. Licherdopol, Vasile Dumitrescu – engineer, R. R. Dombrovski and his most valuable help Constantin – “old man” Dăianu, Rudolf Ion Pop, Richard Canisius, Anghelie Bardan, Richard Hoenicke, Max Bleich, Tănase Modval, Nicolae Semen, Carol Borsiczky, Nicolae Pușcașu, Pamfil Polonic, Octavian Crăciunescu, Mircea Lucian Șerban, Aurel Papadopol, Marcel Ionescu, Adrian Mihalcea-Suru, Radu Ștefan Pană, Mircea-Liviu Ciobanu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New machaeridian material housed in the National Museum of Scotland alongside the type material held in the Natural History Museum London and the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, Cambridge, is documented here from the Ordovician of Girvan. The specimens are included in four taxa, three of these in open nomenclature. Syntypes and figured specimens of Plumulites scoticus by Nicholson and Etheridge (1879) and Withers (1926) are reviewed and the diagnosis emended. The description of these specimens follows standard terminology and we also introduce here a new terminology for Anterior Outer Shell Plate (AOSP). We also figure for the first time three unpublished letters from Mrs Elizabeth Gray to Thomas Henry Withers, where she criticises the illustrations of machaeridians published by Nicholson and Etheridge (1880) and Reed (1908), recognising issues identifying machaeridian plates and also clarifies a misunderstanding on some of the specimens described and illustrated in Reed (1908), being key for the distribution of Plumulites peachi. We assess the importance of machaeridians as part of the Lower Palaeozoic palaeobenthos and a key element of the palaeo-food chain. A review of the palaeogeographical distribution of the machaeridians is undertaken in the context of the Ordovician biodiversifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Angela Marmont Centre for U.K. Nature, located in the Natural History Museum, and its entomological resources. It highlights the services offered by the Centre, including identification assistance, access to reference collections, microscopy equipment, and expert support, catering to various entomological interests and projects for different experience levels.

Whilst undertaking curation in the collections of the Natural History Museum, London, the senior author came across a jar of scorpions marked 'scorpions with curled feet'. Further investigation showed this jar was full of scorpions with teratological anatomy. We hereby document and illustrate all of the specimens and discuss their respective anomalies. Furthermore, a comprehensive checklist of the literature on anomalies in scorpions, including giving the life stage and sex where known, is compiled for the benefit of future workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural history museum collections are essential for understanding biodiversity and environmental changes, especially in large cities with rapid urbanization. While the collaboration between curators and taxonomists with ecologists becomes more frequent, the museum collections still are not used to their full potential. This study aimed to digitize beetle specimens from Zagreb, which are kept in the Croatian Natural History Museum collections, provide recent nomenclature, analyse the proportion of currently endangered species, georeference, and compare the sampling locations with today's iNaturalist citizen science records, as well as land cover changes between the time of collection creation and now. Comparing the sampling locations of collection specimens and citizen science records, it is possible to track the city's expansion. Beetle family composition is more similar in the city centre than on the outskirts of Zagreb, where land cover changes are more pronounced. The districts in the northern part of Zagreb held higher numbers of threatened saproxylic beetles in both museum collections and citizen science records, highlighting the importance of urban parks and forests and providing insights into potential conservation threats. Museum collections have proved to be a valuable source of biodiversity records frozen in time, helping us track the urban beetle fauna decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nicholas Edward Brown, a botanist primarily interested in the African flowering plant flora, was also an active member of the Quekett Microscopical Club. In 1933, he published a monograph on the genus Arachnoidiscus. Brown had described Arachnoidiscus antarcticus in 1920 and went on to add a further 19 more new species to the genus. The present contribution is not intended as a review of Brown's species in Arachnoidiscus, but an account of the specimens available in BM that went towards its creation, with some notes on nomenclature. A few words are devoted to other species Brown described, and other names he proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural history museums are vital repositories of specimens, samples and data that inform about the natural world; this Formal Comment revisits a Perspective that advocated for the adoption of compassionate collection practices, querying whether it will ever be possible to completely do away with whole animal specimen collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution honors the life of Dr E. A. (Billy) Hankins III, a board-certified dermatologist and dermatopathologist with 40 years of practice experience, now retired, having American Indian heritage as a minor part of his ethnic background. Hankins spent many years as a physician volunteer for an indigent clinic serving the urban American Indian community of the city and county of Los Angeles, California (the American Indian Free Clinic). He is a Vietnam era war veteran as well as a master sculpture taxidermist and wildlife recreation artist. He has been active for many years with the Association of American Indian Physicians, of which he is a member. Hankins is the founder and curator of vertebrate zoology and chief preparator for the World Museum of Natural History, an international, nonprofit public museum of natural history located on the campus of La Sierra University in Riverside, California. Dr Hankins' life story offers insight into American Indian culture as it relates to dermatology, and hopefully it will inspire more American Indian medical students to pursue a career in that specialty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work presents, chronologically, the stages of the evolution of the Museum of Natural History of Craiova, starting from 1923, respectively of the Section of Natural Sciences of the Oltenia Museum, starting from 1928 until nowadays. In the first part, we provide the arguments and objectives that lied at the basis of the establishment and operation of the Museum of Natural History Craiova, under the patronage of Craiova Scientific Circle, and then the basis of the Regional Museum of Oltenia, with three sections, including the Section of Natural Sciences. Then, we emphasize the efforts of the founders and of their successors to establish the most diverse scientific collections and to capitalize the heritage of the museum through exhibitions and science, so that it would become accessible and as well-known as possible to the general public. The museum followed a winding and difficult path (especially in certain periods). In the first two decades of its existence (from 1923 to 1934), the museum functioned in the premises of Dolj Prefecture (the Administrative Palace), then, it was moved and reorganized in the premises of the Casa Băniei / Băniei House (the oldest building in Craiova) between 1934 and 1948, and, in 1948, it was transferred and reorganized in the 3rd premises (the Primary School “Madona Dudu”), where the museum functioned with all its sections, until 1974. Starting with 1975, the Section of Natural Sciences would function in inappropriate locations until 1984, when the building known as “Ramuri Palace” was allocated to it, and has hosted it ever since. Among the first personalities who organized and maintained the specific activities of the museum, we mention the founder of the Museum, Marin Demetrescu (the president of the Craiova Scientific Circle and the director of the museum, between 1923 and 1939) and Constantin Nicolăescu-Plopșor (the director of the museum during 1939-1946-1952). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]