Museum Collection

Port Phillip Bay (PPB) is a large (1,930 km2), temperate embayment in southern Victoria, Australia. Extensive bay-wide surveys of PPB have occurred since 1840. In 1995/1996 the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) Centre for Research on Introduced Marine Pests (CRIMP) undertook an intensive evaluation of the region with the aims of developing a comprehensive species list of native and introduced biota and contrasting previous bay-wide assessments with a current field survey in order to detect new incursions and discern alterations to native communities. Two methods were used to meet these aims: a re-evaluation of regional museum collections and published research in PPB to identify and determine the timing of introductions; and field surveys for benthic (infauna, epifauna and encrusting) organisms between September 1995 to March 1996. One hundred and sixty introduced (99) and cryptogenic (61) species were identified representing over 13% of the recorded species of PPB. As expected, the majority of these are concentrated around the shipping ports of Geelong and Melbourne. Invasions within PPB appear to be increasing, possibly due to an increase in modern shipping traffic and an increase in aquaculture (historically associated with incidental introductions); however the records of extensive biological surveys suggest that this may, in part, be an artefact of sampling effort. In contrast to Northern Hemisphere studies, PPB (and Southern Hemisphere introductions in general) have significantly different suites of successfully invading taxa. PPB is presented as one of the most invaded marine ecosystems in the Southern Hemisphere.

Over the past century, the powerful but mythical image of knights in shining armour, with bright polished swords to match, has dominated our view of what ironwork looked like: that of a polished greyish-white metal. This impression is gained not only from descriptions and illustrations in many books but is also obvious from even a casual walk around museum collections specializing in high status ironwork (such as the Royal Armouries in Leeds). But a close examination of much of this ironwork is likely to reveal that this was not its original appearance. Many poorly preserved patinated surfaces have been mistakenly removed by restorers and conservators wishing to improve the appearance of the objects in their care, not realizing they were altering the appearance by removing surviving traces of the original surface.However, it is possible to work out what much early iron or steelwork was originally intended to look like even if very little of the original surfaces survive. This can be done by the study of a combination of things: actual surviving traces, related decorative features (such as inlays), early descriptions, pictures, and even the use of inhomogeneous metal for certain objects or the making of composite ferrous artifacts. From this we can start to find out that much ironwork was actually intended to be either one or more colors, mostly in the range black (hence blacksmith) or dark grey to brown or blue, sometimes with one color intended to show up in contrast to another, or to a decorative feature such as an inlay. The probability that induced patination on iron surfaces was also intended to serve as a protective film is also indicated by some written sources. These issues need to be examined to promote a much better understanding of this little understood aspect of early ferrous metalwork, both to find out how and why it was intended to look originally and avoid bad decisions on how it should be cared for and displayed.

The need to detect a broader range of pesticides and to develop more quantitative analyses has grown as the repatriation of Aboriginal objects has become more frequent and commonplace. This report summarizes information from literature surveys and object testing that shows the extent and type of pesticide contamination on museum objects. Global objectives for assessing pesticide-contaminated cultural objects are outlined. The most recent developments in x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (a common methodology for detecting inorganic pesticide residues) and detection of organic pesticide residues such as naphthalene, paradichlorobenzene, and DDT, among others, are presented. Future steps include developing collaborations that can lead to providing meaningful toxicological assessments of the artifacts to users along with handling guidelines or recommendations. Mitigation remains an area for future research.

The extant global Ephemeroptera fauna is represented by over 3,000 described species in 42 families and more than 400 genera. The highest generic diversity occurs in the Neotropics, with a correspondingly high species diversity, while the Palaearctic has the lowest generic diversity, but a high species diversity. Such distribution patterns may relate to how long evolutionary processes have been carrying on in isolation in a bioregion. Over an extended period, there may be extinction of species, but evolution of more genera. Dramatic extinction events such as the K-T mass extinction have affected current mayfly diversity and distribution. Climatic history plays an important role in the rate of speciation in an area, with regions which have been climatically stable over long periods having fewer species per genus, when compared to regions subjected to climatic stresses, such as glaciation. A total of 13 families are endemic to specific bioregions, with eight among them being monospecific. Most of these have restricted distributions which may be the result of them being the relict of a previously more diverse, but presently almost completely extinct family, or may be the consequence of vicariance events, resulting from evolution due to long-term isolation.

Between 1912 and 1913 Max Uhle excavated the “C” Cemetery of Pisagua, Northern Chile. The material collected is in the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural in Santiago. Uhle assigned these contexts to “Tiahuanaco”, and is in this way they are cited until now. Actually, the study of 113 textiles from this cemetery permit us assigned to the beginnings of the Late Intermediate Period. Only few pieces shows relations with local expressions of Tiwanaku in the Western Valleys, but the greater part of the materials, suggest a straight relation with the regional development known like Pica Tarapacá Cultural Complex.


El Cementerio “C” de Pisagua fue trabajado por Max Uhle entre 1912 y 1913 y sus materiales se encuentran en el Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, en Santiago. Uhle asignó los contextos a “Tiahuanaco”, y es así como han sido citados hasta ahora. Sin embargo, el estudio de 113 textiles de este cementerio permite ahora asignarlo a los inicios del Período Intermedio Tardío. Sólo escasas prendas son asignables a expresiones locales de Tiwanaku en los Valles Occidentales, en tanto, la mayoría de las prendas muestra una estrecha relación con el desarrollo regional conocido como Complejo Pica-Tarapacá.

Natural history museum collections harbour valuable information on species. The usefulness of such data critically depends on the accurate identification of species, which has been challenged by introduction of molecular techniques into taxonomy. However, most collections may suffer from DNA degradation, due to age and/or improper preservation; hence the identification of specimens depends solely on morphological features. This study explores how and to what extent morphological data can help to solve ambiguous taxonomic cases based on selected species concepts and with the use of operational criteria in a species-hypothesis testing procedure. The studied taxon, the Niphargus tatrensis species complex, comprises freshwater subterranean amphipods, distributed across Central Europe, the taxonomic status of which was debated extensively between 1930 and 1960. Using the general species concept, character- and tree-based operational criteria reveal northern and southern diagnosable and exclusive lineages identified here as N. tatrensis Wrześniowski, 1888 and N. scopicauda sp. n., respectively. The remaining populations represent the non-exclusive N. aggtelekiensis Dudich, 1932, which occurs from the eastern Alps to Hungary. In the entire complex, altitudinal distribution is largely limited to areas above 400 m, where the mean annual temperature never exceeds 9°C. Seemingly well-defined distributional ranges of N. tatrensis and N. aggtelekiensis are fragmented in an ecological sense, which raises the question whether two of the three species recognised here actually consist of several unidentified taxa. Morphological similarity between the species, numerous polymorphic features, and the association with cool temperatures lead to a hypothesis in which fragmentation of the ancestral range occurred during post-Pleistocene climate warming, reducing gene flow across lowland populations due to niche conservatism of the ancestral species and/or to invasion of competitive species along the Danube and Drava rivers. The results are discussed regarding how old museum samples are conducive to more detailed molecular-taxonomic and conservation studies.

The extant global Ephemeroptera fauna is represented by over 3,000 described species in 42 families and more than 400 genera. The highest generic diversity occurs in the Neotropics, with a correspondingly high species diversity, while the Palaearctic has the lowest generic diversity, but a high species diversity. Such distribution patterns may relate to how long evolutionary processes have been carrying on in isolation in a bioregion. Over an extended period, there may be extinction of species, but evolution of more genera. Dramatic extinction events such as the K-T mass extinction have affected current mayfly diversity and distribution. Climatic history plays an important role in the rate of speciation in an area, with regions which have been climatically stable over long periods having fewer species per genus, when compared to regions subjected to climatic stresses, such as glaciation. A total of 13 families are endemic to specific bioregions, with eight among them being monospecific. Most of these have restricted distributions which may be the result of them being the relict of a previously more diverse, but presently almost completely extinct family, or may be the consequence of vicariance events, resulting from evolution due to long-term isolation.

muzeumbs.sk). Key words — Museum, collections, exhibitions: natural, technical, historical and gallery. The Slovak Mining Museum in Banská Štiavnica belongs to museums of Slovak field activity and includes several exhibition departments: Natural history – collection of minerals and fossils in Berggericht building with 37,500 pieces. Historical – collections and exhibitions linked to specific community developments of miners in the region: archeology, history, numismatics, ethnography, development of architecture, lapidary. Exhibi-tions in the Old and New Castles of 17,628 pieces. Gallery – a collection of art-historical character from the region, modern fine art; for example sacral art, portraits of chamber earls, artists of the 20th century – the Gallery of Jozef Kollár of 3650 pieces. Technical – a unique Slovak collection with majority of objects from Banská Štiavnica region – mining tools, lamps, models of mines, etc. 9651 pieces altogether. Open-air mining museum – situated i...

Since the mid 1990s populations of non-native apple snails (Ampullariidae) have been discovered with increasing frequency in the continental United States. Given the dramatic effects that introduced apple snails have had on both natural habitats and agricultural areas in Southeast Asia, their introduction to the mainland U.S. is cause for concern. We combine phylogenetic analyses of mtDNA sequences with examination of introduced populations and museum collections to clarify the identities, introduced distributions, geographical origins, and introduction histories of apple snails. Based on sampling to date, we conclude there are five species of non-native apple snails in the continental U.S. Most significantly, we recognize three species within what has been called the channeled apple snail: Pomacea canaliculata (California and Arizona), Pomacea insularum, (Florida, Texas, and Georgia) and Pomacea haustrum (Florida). The first established populations of P. haustrum were discovered in...

Bumblebees ( Bombus Latreille 1802) are important native pollinators in North America. However, in the last decade at least six North American Bombus have experienced significant range contraction or population declines. A major limitation to studying species declines is the level of knowledge of historic occurrences and abundance. Here we review the current status of a bumblebee subgenus in North America, Bombus sensu stricto Latreille 1801 , and present a method for generating a database and probable historic range maps from multiple museum collections. These databases and range maps can be useful tools when facilitating monitoring programs for at risk species.

White-ground lekythoi ceramics offer important evidence for funeral practices in Ancient Greece (5th century BC). The images painted-on these oil containers provide the best visual narrative for the events surrounding death, including indications that the vessels themselves were used as part of the funerary rites. However, until now, their specific function and treatment within the funeral ceremony was not well

This chapter began by noting that Australian maritime archaeologists have engaged in innovative theory and practice, and the review of relevant studies from the last 15 years supports this contention. I have also aimed to show where some critiques of theory in Australian maritime archaeology have probably been somewhat polemical in nature. I conclude that it is only reasonable and

A previous list of scorpions from the Brandberg Massif and vicinity, north-western Namibia (Omaruru District, Erongo Region), is updated, based on a survey of the Massif and surrounding areas (the region delimited by 21°00'S-21°30'S and 14°00'E-15°00'E) conducted during three separate expeditions, and augmented by an examination of material in museum collections. More than 1000 specimens, representing more than 100 point-locality