Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2018-12-20
Page range: 69–73
Abstract views: 306
PDF downloaded: 0

Natural history collecting and the arrogance of the modern Ark researcher

Società Italiana per la Storia della Fauna ‘Giuseppe Altobello’, Viale Liegi 48, Roma, Italy
biological ethics vouchers taxonomy natural history collections

Abstract

A non-killing policy in biodiversity science has been recently promoted in some papers. Here the arguments pro collecting are reiterated and some issues concerning biological ethics, conservation biology and environmental awareness are stressed. Accordingly, naturalists involved with the study and preservation of biodiversity should not promote personal ethical beliefs masked by scientific arguments that may further slow down the description of life on Earth. Further, in agreement with Biological Ethic principles (sensu de Beaux), the need to assure long term maintenance of vouchers and collections and their availability to future generations of researchers is emphasized.

References

  1. Andreone, F., Bartolozzi, L., Boano, G., Boero, F.., Bologna, M., Bon, M., Bressi, N., Capula, M., Casale, A., Casiraghi, M., Chiozzi, G., Delfino, M., Doria, G., Durante, A., Ferrari, M., Gippoliti, S., Lanzinger, M., Latella, L., Maio, N., Marangoni, C., Mazzotti, S., Minelli, A., Muscio, G., Nicolosi, P., Pievani, T., Razzetti, E., Sabella, G., Valle, M., Vomero, V. & Zilli, A. (2014) Italian natural history museums on the verge of collapse? ZooKeys, 456: 139‒146.

    De Beaux, O. (1918) I mammiferi del Museo Zoologico della R. Università di Genova. Parte prima. Gli ungulati. Atti della Società ligustica di Scienze naturali e geografiche di Genova, 28: 1‒23.

    De Beaux, O. (1930) Etica biologica, tentativo di risveglio di una coscienza naturalistica. Trento (Temi): 1‒27.

    Clemann, N., Rowe, K. M. C., Rowe, K. C., Raadik, T., Gomon, M., Menkhorst, P., Sumner, J., Bray, D., Norman, M. & Melville, J. (2014) Value and impacts of collecting vertebrate voucher specimens, with guidelines for ethical collection. Memoirs of Museum Victoria, 72: 141‒151.

    Diamond, J. (1987) Justificable killing of birds? Nature, 330: 423.

    Doria, G (1887) Res ligusticae. I. I chirotteri finora trovati in Liguria. Annali del Museo civico di Storia naturale di Genova, (2), 4: 385–474.

    Dubois, A. (2009) Endangered species and endangered knowledge. Zootaxa, 2201: 26‒29.

    Dubois, A. (2017) The need for reference specimens in zoological taxonomy and nomenclature. Bionomina, 12: 4‒38.

    Frick, W. F., Baerwald, E. F., Pollock, J. F., Barclay, R. M. R., Szymanski, J. A., Weller, T. J., Russell, A. L., Loeb, S. C., Medellin, R. A. & McGuire, L. P. (2017) Fatalities at wind turbines may threaten population viability of a migratory bat. Biological Conservation, 209: 172–177.

    Gippoliti, S. & Aloise G. (2016) Why mammal study collections and vouchers are needed in Italy. Museologia scientifica, (n.s.), 10: 177‒183.

    Gippoliti, S., Amori, G., Castiglia, R., Colangelo, P. & Capanna, E. (2014) The relevance of Italian museum collection for research and conservation: the case of mammals. Rendiconti Lincei di Scienze fisiche e naturali, 25: 351‒357.

    Gippoliti, S., Capula, M., Ficetola, G. F., Salvi, D. & Andreone, F. (2017) Threatened by legislative conservationism? The case of the Critically Endangered Aeolian lizard. Frontiers in Ecology & Evolution, 5: 130.

    Hebert, P. D. N., Cywinska, A., Ball, S. L. & deWaard, J. R. (2003) Biological identification through DNA barcodes. Proceedings of the royal Society of London, (B), 270: 313‒321.

    Kemp, C. (2015) Museums: the endangered dead. Nature, 518: 292‒294.

    Kryštufek, B., Abramson, B. & Kotrošan D. (2015) Rescue Eastern Europe’s collections. Nature, 518: 303.

    McNeely, J. A. (2002) The role of taxonomy in conserving biodiversity. Journal for Nature Conservation, 10: 145‒153.

    Moratelli, R. (2014) Wildlife biologists are on the right track: a mammalogist’s view of specimen collection. Zoologica, 31: 413‒417.

    Ngo, H. N., Nguyen, T. Q., Nguyen, T. V., Barsch, F., Ziegler, T. & van Schingen, M. (2016) First population assessment of the endemic insular psychedelic rock Gecko (Cnemaspis psychedelica) in southern Vietnam with implications for conservation. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation, 10 (2) [e124]: 18–26.

    Pape, T. (2016) Taxonomy: species can be named from photos. Nature, 537: 307.

    Patterson, B. (2002) On the continuing need for scientific collecting of mammals. Mastozoologia neotropical, 9: 253‒262.

    Rocha, L. A., Aleixo, A., Allen, G., Almeda, F., Baldwin C. C., Barclay, M. V. L., Bates, J. M., Bauer, A. M., Benzoni, F., Berns, C. M., Berumen, M. L., Blackburn, D. C., Blum, S., Bolaños, F., Bowie, R. C. K., Britz, R., Brown, R. M., Cadena, C. D., Carpenter, K., Ceríaco, M., Chakrabarty, P., Chaves, G., Choat, J. H., Clements, K. D., Collette, B., Collins, A., Coyne, J., Cracraft, J., Daniel, T., de Carvalho, M. R., de Queiroz, K., Di Dario, F., Drewes, R.. Dumbacher, P., Engilis, A., Jr., Erdmann, M. V., Eschmeyer, W., Feldman, C. R., Fisher, B, L,, Fjeldså, J., Fritsch, P. W., Fuchs, J., Getahun, A., Gill, A., Gomon, M., Gosliner, T., Graves, G. R., Griswold, C. E., Guralnick, R., Hartel, K., Helgen, K. M., Ho, H., Iskandar, D. T, Iwamoto, T., Jaafar, Z., James, H. F., Johnson, D., Kavanaugh, D., Knowlton, N., Lacey, E., Larson, H. K., Last, P., Leis, J. M., Lessios, H., Liebherr J., Lowman, M., Mahler, D. L., Mamonekene, V., Matsuura, K., Mayer, G. C., Mays, H., Jr., McCosker, J., McDiarmid, R. W., McGuire, J., Miller, M. J., R. Mooi, R., Mooi, R. D., Moritz, C., Myers, P., Nachman, M. W., Nussbaum, R. A., Foighil, D. Ó., Parenti, L. R., Parham, F., Paul, E., Paulay, G., Pérez-Emán, J., Pérez-Matus, A., Poe, S., Pogonoski, J., Rabosky, D. L., Randall, J. E., Reimer, J. D., Robertson, D. R., Rödel, M.-O., Rodrigues, M. T., Roopnarine, P., Rüber, L., Ryan, M. J., Sheldon, F., Shinohara, G., Short, A., Simison, W. B., Smith-Vaniz, W. F., Springer, G., Stiassny, M., Tello, J. G., Thompson, C. W., Trnski, T., Tucker, P., Valqui, T., Vecchione, M., Verheyen, E., Wainwright, P. C., Wheeler, T. A., White, W. T., Will, K., Williams, J. T., Williams, G., Wilson, E. O., Winker, K., Winterbottom, R. & Witt, C. C. (2014) Specimen collection: an essential tool. Science, 344 (6186): 814–815.

    Russo, D., Lancilotto, L., Hughes A. C., Galimberti, A. & Mori E. (2017) Collection of voucher specimens for bat research: conservation, ethical implications, reduction, and alternatives. Mammal Review, 47: 237–246.

    Waeber, P. O., Gardner, C. J., Lourenço, W. R. & Wilmé, L. (2017) On specimen killing in the era of conservation crisis: a quantitative case for modernizing taxonomy and biodiversity inventories. PLoS One, 12 (9) [e0183903]: 1–16.

    Ward, D. F., Leschen, R. A. B. & Buckley, T. R. (2015) More from ecologists to support natural history museums. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 30: 373‒374.

    Wheeler, Q. D. (2004) Taxonomic triage and the poverty of phylogeny. Philosophical Transactions of the royal Society, London, (B), 359: 571‒583.