Natural history museums are irreplaceable tools to study and preserve the biological diversity ar... more Natural history museums are irreplaceable tools to study and preserve the biological diversity around the globe and among the primary actors in the recognition of species and the logical repositories for their type specimens. In this paper we surveyed the consistency of the preserved specimens of amphibians and reptiles housed in the major Italian scientific collections, and verified the presence of threatened species according to the IUCN Red List, including the Extinct (EX), Extinct in the Wild (EW), Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), and Vulnerable (VU) categories. Altogether, we analyzed 39 Italian zoological collections. We confirmed the presence of one extinct reptile (Chioninia coctei) and five extinct or extinct in the wild amphibian species (Atelopus longirostris, Nectophrynoides asperginis, Pseudophilautus leucorhinus, P. nasutus, and P. variabilis). Seven CR amphibians, fourteen CR reptile species and the extinct skink C. coctei are shared by more than one insti...
The article discusses results of organic residue analysis performed on ten copper-alloy daggers f... more The article discusses results of organic residue analysis performed on ten copper-alloy daggers from Bronze Age Pragatto, Italy, c.1550-1250 BCE. Metal daggers are widespread in Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Europe, yet their social and practical roles are still hotly debated. Are they symbolic or functional? Are they tools or weapons? How were they used? For what tasks and on what materials? The research addresses these questions through a novel application of biochemical staining and SEM-EDX analysis. The method has proved successful in extracting and identifying animal residues located on cutting edges including bone, muscle, and tendons. These are interpreted as evidence of prehistoric carcass butchering and carving. Further residues were observed on blade faces and hafting plates or tangs; these are interpreted as remnants of bone handles and sheaths, the latter made of either wood fibers or processed hide and fur. The readings proposed in the article are validated by original ex...
The herpetological material deposited in the Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali of Trento inclu... more The herpetological material deposited in the Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali of Trento includes three different collections. The historical collection is made up of 169 specimens, 150 of them are Reptiles, mostly snakes belonging to the families Colubridae and Viperidae; the rest are Amphibians. Most of the samples have no collecting data, therefore the overall collection has limited scientific value. The local collection includes 159 specimens collected over the last 25 years, two thirds being Amphibians. The herpetology collection of tropical Africa includes about 4000 specimens, mainly collected in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania, (a global biodiversity hotspot) since 1998. The collection is mostly made up of Amphibians (75%) belonging to 15 different families. Taxonomic studies carried out on the collection revealed over 50 species new to science; 11 of them have already been named and described and the related type material is deposited in the collection (9 holotypes...
The mineralogical collections of the Museo delle Scienze of Trento: reorganization and new purcha... more The mineralogical collections of the Museo delle Scienze of Trento: reorganization and new purchases - The origin of the mineralogical collections of the Museo delle Scienze of Trento dates back to the end of the XVIII c.: they have been increased during the centuries thanks to the Museum curators and to the collectors’ donations. During the last 25 years, and in particular since 2004, the collections have been considerably reorganized and a new cataloguing method has been adopted: the minerals are now recorded on a dedicated database. Recently some important purchases have been concluded, with a view to the moving in the new museum site (MUSE) and thanks to the fruitful collaboration with local collectors. In December 2012 the mineralogical collections consist of 5347 samples for a total of 8051 pieces.
Natural history museums are irreplaceable tools to study and preserve the biological diversity ar... more Natural history museums are irreplaceable tools to study and preserve the biological diversity around the globe and among the primary actors in the recognition of species and the logical repositories for their type specimens. In this paper we surveyed the consistency of the preserved specimens of amphibians and reptiles housed in the major Italian scientific collections, and verified the presence of threatened species according to the IUCN Red List, including the Extinct (EX), Extinct in the Wild (EW), Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), and Vulnerable (VU) categories. Altogether, we analyzed 39 Italian zoological collections. We confirmed the presence of one extinct reptile (Chioninia coctei) and five extinct or extinct in the wild amphibian species (Atelopus longirostris, Nectophrynoides asperginis, Pseudophilautus leucorhinus, P. nasutus, and P. variabilis). Seven CR amphibians, fourteen CR reptile species and the extinct skink C. coctei are shared by more than one insti...
The article discusses results of organic residue analysis performed on ten copper-alloy daggers f... more The article discusses results of organic residue analysis performed on ten copper-alloy daggers from Bronze Age Pragatto, Italy, c.1550-1250 BCE. Metal daggers are widespread in Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Europe, yet their social and practical roles are still hotly debated. Are they symbolic or functional? Are they tools or weapons? How were they used? For what tasks and on what materials? The research addresses these questions through a novel application of biochemical staining and SEM-EDX analysis. The method has proved successful in extracting and identifying animal residues located on cutting edges including bone, muscle, and tendons. These are interpreted as evidence of prehistoric carcass butchering and carving. Further residues were observed on blade faces and hafting plates or tangs; these are interpreted as remnants of bone handles and sheaths, the latter made of either wood fibers or processed hide and fur. The readings proposed in the article are validated by original ex...
The herpetological material deposited in the Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali of Trento inclu... more The herpetological material deposited in the Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali of Trento includes three different collections. The historical collection is made up of 169 specimens, 150 of them are Reptiles, mostly snakes belonging to the families Colubridae and Viperidae; the rest are Amphibians. Most of the samples have no collecting data, therefore the overall collection has limited scientific value. The local collection includes 159 specimens collected over the last 25 years, two thirds being Amphibians. The herpetology collection of tropical Africa includes about 4000 specimens, mainly collected in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania, (a global biodiversity hotspot) since 1998. The collection is mostly made up of Amphibians (75%) belonging to 15 different families. Taxonomic studies carried out on the collection revealed over 50 species new to science; 11 of them have already been named and described and the related type material is deposited in the collection (9 holotypes...
The mineralogical collections of the Museo delle Scienze of Trento: reorganization and new purcha... more The mineralogical collections of the Museo delle Scienze of Trento: reorganization and new purchases - The origin of the mineralogical collections of the Museo delle Scienze of Trento dates back to the end of the XVIII c.: they have been increased during the centuries thanks to the Museum curators and to the collectors’ donations. During the last 25 years, and in particular since 2004, the collections have been considerably reorganized and a new cataloguing method has been adopted: the minerals are now recorded on a dedicated database. Recently some important purchases have been concluded, with a view to the moving in the new museum site (MUSE) and thanks to the fruitful collaboration with local collectors. In December 2012 the mineralogical collections consist of 5347 samples for a total of 8051 pieces.
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mineralogical collections of the Museo delle Scienze of Trento dates back to the end of the XVIII c.: they have been increased during the
centuries thanks to the Museum curators and to the collectors’ donations. During the last 25 years, and in particular since 2004, the collections
have been considerably reorganized and a new cataloguing method has been adopted: the minerals are now recorded on a dedicated
database. Recently some important purchases have been concluded, with a view to the moving in the new museum site (MUSE) and thanks
to the fruitful collaboration with local collectors. In December 2012 the mineralogical collections consist of 5347 samples for a total of
8051 pieces.
mineralogical collections of the Museo delle Scienze of Trento dates back to the end of the XVIII c.: they have been increased during the
centuries thanks to the Museum curators and to the collectors’ donations. During the last 25 years, and in particular since 2004, the collections
have been considerably reorganized and a new cataloguing method has been adopted: the minerals are now recorded on a dedicated
database. Recently some important purchases have been concluded, with a view to the moving in the new museum site (MUSE) and thanks
to the fruitful collaboration with local collectors. In December 2012 the mineralogical collections consist of 5347 samples for a total of
8051 pieces.