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Digitization of Natural History Collections (NHCs) and mobilization of their data are pivotal for their study, preservation, and accessibility. Furthermore, thanks to digitization and mobilization, Natural History Museums can better showcase their collections, potentially attracting more visitors. However, the optimization of digitization workflows, especially when addressing small and/or historical NHCs, remains a challenge. Starting from a practical example, this contribution aims at providing a general guideline for the digitization of historical NHCs, with a particular focus on pre-digitization planning, during which some decisions should be made for ensuring a smooth, cost- and time-effective digitization process. The digitization of the algarium by Aristocle Vatova and Victor Schiffner was carried out following an image-to-data workflow, which allowed for reducing the handling of the specimens. The metadata were organized according to the Darwin Core standard scheme, and, together with the digital images of the specimens, have been made available to the scientific community and to the general public via an online portal. Thanks to the application of digital technologies and standardized methods, the accessibility of the collection has been enhanced, and its integration with historical data is possible, highlighting the relevance of shared experiences and protocols in advancing the digital transformation of natural history heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Muzea to nie tylko obiekty i ludzie, ale także miejsca, z którymi są związane. Muzeum Ziemi PAN w Warszawie mieści się w dwóch budynkach o wyjątkowej historii. Położone na skarpie wiślanej budowle stanowią inspirację do refleksji nad dziejami ogrodu na Frascati oraz działalności architektonicznej Bohdana Pniewskiego. Przede wszystkim przypominają dzieje dwóch instytucji, Muzeum Branickich, które dało podstawę Państwowemu Muzeum Przyrodniczemu oraz Muzeum Ziemi. Pierwsze z nich zostało zniszczone w czasie II wojny światowej, wraz z kolekcją zniknęło ono ze świadomości społecznej. Drugie, pomimo zniszczeń, dzięki determinacji Stanisława Małkowskiego zostało reaktywowane po 1945 r. Celem artykułu jest przypomnienie dziejów tych intuicji oraz łączących je budynków, które stanowią doskonały przykład lieu de memoire o wysokiej wartości historycznej i społecznej.

Butterfly thefts from Australian museums by Colin Wyatt in the 1940s are discussed, particularly Wyatt's changing and falsification of specimen data labels. During research for a monograph of Hypochrysops C. and R. Felder butterflies by Tennent and Müller, the presumed male holotype of Miletus meleagris Waterhouse, 1903, a synonym of the Australian endemic H. euclides (Miskin, 1889), in Museums Victoria, Melbourne, was found not to be meleagris (=H. euclides). It had passed through Wyatt's hands. The labels are correct, but the accompanying specimen was seen to be H. pythias C. and R. Felder, 1865, from New Guinea. Subsequently, identification of a series of H. pythias in the Zoologische Staatssammlung München, labelled by Wyatt as being from Darnley Island, Torres Strait, Australia, was found to be also flawed. Hypochrysops pythias does not occur in Australia including Darnley Island. Most of the specimens in the series were H. pythias, from New Guinea, but one was clearly a male H. euclides from Australia. Investigation presented strong circumstantial evidence that the München (Munich) specimen and the Melbourne holotype labels belonged together. The specimen has been repatriated to Museums Victoria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitization of Natural History Collections (NHCs) and mobilization of their data are pivotal for their study, preservation, and accessibility. Furthermore, thanks to digitization and mobilization, Natural History Museums can better showcase their collections, potentially attracting more visitors. However, the optimization of digitization workflows, especially when addressing small and/or historical NHCs, remains a challenge. Starting from a practical example, this contribution aims at providing a general guideline for the digitization of historical NHCs, with a particular focus on pre-digitization planning, during which some decisions should be made for ensuring a smooth, cost- and time-effective digitization process. The digitization of the algarium by Aristocle Vatova and Victor Schiffner was carried out following an image-to-data workflow, which allowed for reducing the handling of the specimens. The metadata were organized according to the Darwin Core standard scheme, and, together with the digital images of the specimens, have been made available to the scientific community and to the general public via an online portal. Thanks to the application of digital technologies and standardized methods, the accessibility of the collection has been enhanced, and its integration with historical data is possible, highlighting the relevance of shared experiences and protocols in advancing the digital transformation of natural history heritage.

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]

The giant deep-sea oyster Neopycnodonte zibrowii Gofas, C. Salas & Taviani, 2009 is a keystone deep-sea habitat builder species. Discovered about fifteen years ago in the Azores, it has been described and assigned to the genus Neopycnodonte Fischer von Waldheim, 1835 based on morphological features. In this study, we generated DNA sequence data for both mitochondrial (COI and 16S) and nuclear (ITS2 and 28S) markers based on the holotype specimen of N. zibrowii to establish a molecular phylogenetic framework for the systematic assessment of this species and to provide a reliable (i.e., holotype-based) reference sequence set for multilocus DNA barcoding approaches. Molecular data provide compelling evidence that the giant deep-sea oyster is a distinct species, rather than a deep-water ecophenotype of Neopycnodonte cochlear (Poli, 1795), with extremely high genetic divergence from any other gryphaeid. Multilocus phylogenetic analyses place the giant deep-sea oyster within the clade "Neopycnodonte/Pycnodonte" with closer affinity to N. cochlear rather than to P. taniguchii Hayami & Kase, 1992, thus supporting its assignment to the genus Neopycnodonte. Relationships within this clade are not well supported because mitochondrial variation is inflated by saturation that eroded phylogenetic signal, implying an old split between taxa within this clade. Finally, the set of reference barcode sequences of N. zibrowii generated in this study will be useful for a wide plethora of barcoding applications in deep-sea biodiversity surveys. Molecular validation of recent records of deep-sea oysters from the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea will be crucial to clarify the distribution of N. zibrowii and assess the phenotypic variation and ecology of this enigmatic species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than 60 zoonoses are linked to small mammals, including some of the most devastating pathogens in human history. Millions of museum-archived tissues are available to understand natural history of those pathogens. Our goal was to maximize the value of museum collections for pathogen-based research by using targeted sequence capture. We generated a probe panel that includes 39,916 80-bp RNA probes targeting 32 pathogen groups, including bacteria, helminths, fungi, and protozoans. Laboratory-generated, mock-control samples showed that we are capable of enriching targeted loci from pathogen DNA 2,882‒6,746-fold. We identified bacterial species in museum-archived samples, including Bartonella, a known human zoonosis. These results showed that probe-based enrichment of pathogens is a highly customizable and efficient method for identifying pathogens from museum-archived tissues.

Abstract Internationally, the value and usefulness of museum zoological specimens are compromised when supporting contextual data are lost or disconnected from the specimen. In this pilot study, twelve Macropodidae Thylogale (pademelon) skins with known provenance from the Australian Museum (Sydney) were analysed using portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and principal component analysis. Elemental composition of preservative residues was assessed to establish if common patterns existed and could be associated with particular field collectors. Specimens were differentiated, and the field collector deduced, based on elemental analysis of preservative residues on skins. Each of the nineteenth century field collectors, in this study, were found to have applied the same or similar preservatives to zoological specimens over a number of years, which showed a consistent pattern of practice. Additionally, the specimens obtained by each of the field collectors could be distinguished from one another based on the preservative residues. These discoveries provide exciting prospects for the use of X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to couple museum specimens with unknown contextual data via their field collector and associated archival evidence, and hence, enable a considerable enhancement of their value as museum and research objects.

An overview of the potential role of natural history museums in the socialisation of citizens under conditions of revolutionary worldview changes is presented, the meaning of which in Ukraine is the reinvention and final formation of the political nation and civil society. The unique set of means of information presentation and unobtrusive influence on visitors that a museum can offer for socialisation were analysed in the context of N. Lugman’s vision of society as a complex of cycles of self-reference and autopoiesis, which is realised through interpersonal and public communications. The power of the inertia of interpersonal communication is conclusive, both in the promotion of new ideas and in resistance to their influence. Therefore, reforms of society are impossible without systemic changes at this level, for which language serves as the main mediator. Language is identified as the basis for other ‘communication facilitators’: the means of storing and transmitting information and the ‘generalised exchange mediators’ that are increasingly the product of public communication. Analysing the modern changes that a museum must take into account, both in relations with the audience and in the content of messages, they are considered as a consequence of the finalisation or ‘change of sign’ in various-scale fluctuations of social and cultural dynamics, which embody fluctuations in the confrontation of certain oppositional principles. The most short-term of them in Ukraine turned out to be changes in European integration sentiments and the corresponding actions of the authorities. A fragment of the longest confrontation can be considered the transition of Humanity from the realities of state-caste societies, which are about six thousand years old, to the ideals of civil society, which is just beginning to form. For changes in the field of philosophy, the transition from the narratives of postmodernism to the foundations of metamodernism, which, in particular, includes the ‘new ontology’ of M. Hartman, has become significant. An overview of ideas and narratives that the National Museum of Natural History can share with the audience are offered. At the same time, the content of ideas and narratives is adjusted by the provisions of ontology in the interpretation of N. Hartman, and considerations regarding the possible forms of presenting information are oriented, first of all, to the understanding of the age-related features of its perception by J. Piaget.

Internationally, the value and usefulness of museum zoological specimens are compromised when supporting contextual data are lost or disconnected from the specimen. In this pilot study, twelve Macropodidae Thylogale (pademelon) skins with known provenance from the Australian Museum (Sydney) were analysed using portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and principal component analysis. Elemental composition of preservative residues was assessed to establish if common patterns existed and could be associated with particular field collectors. Specimens were differentiated, and the field collector deduced, based on elemental analysis of preservative residues on skins. Each of the nineteenth century field collectors, in this study, were found to have applied the same or similar preservatives to zoological specimens over a number of years, which showed a consistent pattern of practice. Additionally, the specimens obtained by each of the field collectors could be distinguished from one another based on the preservative residues. These discoveries provide exciting prospects for the use of X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to couple museum specimens with unknown contextual data via their field collector and associated archival evidence, and hence, enable a considerable enhancement of their value as museum and research objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]