Disseminating “hidden” scientific collections: the medium and large-sized terrestrial mammals at the Museo di Anatomia Comparata “Giovanni Battista Grassi”, Roma, Italy

Abstract

The dissemination of specimen data in scientific collections is a crucial step in making them available to the scientific community. However, even today, especially in some countries, little or nothing is known about the contents of the naturalistic collections of some museums. This is regrettable, especially in cases where the collections include historic specimens and endangered species. The Museum of Comparative Anatomy “Giovanni Battista Grassi”, situated in Rome, Italy, houses historical anatomical and didactic collections, with specimens gathered from 1600s and almost worldwide. The collection holds 444 specimens of medium and large-sized terrestrial mammals, comprising 25 fossils, 40 skins, 186 skulls, 70 skeletons and 123 anatomical pieces, representing 63% of recent mammal orders, mainly from localities of Africa and Europe. A list of this material, indexed by the orders and families, is provided, as well as comments on the conservation status of the species. Remarkable data are summarised, including new data on a hippopotamus specimen from an extinct population and the record of three rhinoceros species from 1600s. Besides comparative anatomical studies, the Museum of Comparative Anatomy of Sapienza University emerges as a source of important material for biodiversity genomics.

Full text

Biodiversity Data Journal 12: e124810
doi: 10.3897/BDJ.12.e124810
Research Article
Disseminating “hidden” scientific collections: the
medium and large-sized terrestrial mammals at
the Museo di Anatomia Comparata “Giovanni
Battista Grassi”, Roma, Italy
Alexandra M. R. Bezerra , Edoardo Di Russo , Riccardo Castiglia
‡ Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belém, Brazil
§ Fiocruz/IOC, Rio de janeiro, Brazil
| Dipartimento Biologia e Biotecnologie "Charles Darwin", Università di Roma "La Sapienza", Rome, Italy
¶ Istituto Scienze Marine ISMAR, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche CNR, Venice, Italy
Corresponding author: Riccardo Castiglia (castiglia@uniroma1.it)
Academic editor: Krizler Tanalgo
Received: 05 Apr 2024 | Accepted: 03 Jun 2024 | Published: 05 Jul 2024
Citation: Bezerra AMR, Di Russo E, Castiglia R (2024) Disseminating “hidden” scientific collections: the medium
and large-sized terrestrial mammals at the Museo di Anatomia Comparata “Giovanni Battista Grassi”, Roma,
Italy. Biodiversity Data Journal 12: e124810. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.12.e124810
Abstract
The dissemination of specimen data in scientific collections is a crucial step in making
them available to the scientific community. However, even today, especially in some
countries, little or nothing is known about the contents of the naturalistic collections of
some museums. This is regrettable, especially in cases where the collections include
historic specimens and endangered species. The Museum of Comparative Anatomy
“Giovanni Battista Grassi”, situated in Rome, Italy, houses historical anatomical and
didactic collections, with specimens gathered from 1600s and almost worldwide. The
collection holds 444 specimens of medium and large-sized terrestrial mammals,
comprising 25 fossils, 40 skins, 186 skulls, 70 skeletons and 123 anatomical pieces,
representing 63% of recent mammal orders, mainly from localities of Africa and Europe. A
list of this material, indexed by the orders and families, is provided, as well as comments
on the conservation status of the species. Remarkable data are summarised, including
new data on a hippopotamus specimen from an extinct population and the record of three
‡,§,| |,¶ |
© Bezerra A et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY
4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are
credited.

rhinoceros species from 1600s. Besides comparative anatomical studies, the Museum
of
Comparative Anatomy of Sapienza University emerges as a source of important material
for biodiversity genomics.
Keywords
17 century, natural history collection, scientific disclosure, threatened species
Introduction
The effort to disseminate specimen data in scientific collections is an important step in
making them known to the scientific community (Colella et al. 2021, Cilli et al. 2023).
Examples include databases of holdings from scientific collections made digitally available
on the World Wide Web through the online facilities, such as GBIF (GBIF 2024),
SpeciesLink (SpeciesLink 2002) and VertNet (VertNet 2016). However, much of these
data is sometimes not revised, i.e. it is directly replicated from the catalogue book. Some
attempts to solve this issue are the selected catalogues of specimens published by
curators and/or expert taxonomists (e.g. Bezerra et al. 2004, Calvini et al. 2016 Bezerra
and Bordallo 2018, Nascimento and Vendramel 2020, Serrano-Villavicencio et al. 2020,
Ghiraldi et al. 2021, Lo Brutto et al. 2023), which provide revised and detailed information
on one or more taxa, generally at the order and family levels.
The Museum of Comparative Anatomy “Giovanni Battista Grassi” (hereinafter referred as
the Museum), currently located at the Biology and Biotechnology Charles Darwin
Department of “La Sapienza” University of Rome, Italy, includes collections obtained from
the 17th century until today (Gippoliti and Castiglia 2020, Di Russo et al. 2024). The
present museum collection and location are derived from a complex history. Founded in
1873, the collection was handed down from the Mineralogia et Historia Naturalis Museum
at the “Pontificio Romano Archiginnasio”, whose first setting dates back to 1805
(Giuseppini and Capanna 2010, Anonymous 2015). Some of the specimens are even
more ancient, as they arrived at the Archiginnasio from the collections established at the
Roman College by the German Jesuit Attanasio Kircher (1602-1680) (Merzagora and
Capanna 2001). After the dismantling of the Archiginnasio, the Museum was initially
located in an ancient convent; then, around 1930, it was transferred to its current location (
Gippoliti and Castiglia 2020, Di Russo et al. 2024). Since then, the collection has grown
with new acquisitions, most of specimens aiming for didactic purposes, under the
responsibility of the evolutionist professor Giovanni Battista Grassi (1854-1925), after
whom the Museum is named. In 1979, the present Museum was established as an
independent structure and improvements and expansions began, gradually making it
possible to acquire new exhibition spaces, laboratories and warehouses (Anonymous
2015).
The Museum currently includes about 14,000 samples, representative of all higher
vertebrate taxa, being around 6,000 composed of representatives from 22 mammalian
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2Bezerra A et al

orders (Di Russo et al. 2024). Mammals have a worldwide distribution and account for
about 6,500 species currently recognised (Burgin et al. 2018). This number has increased
in the last two decades, mainly due to new taxonomic discoveries and occurrence records,
based on specimens housed in scientific collections (e.g. Feijó et al. (2018), Roos et al.
(2020), Semedo et al. (2020)). Despite the new discoveries, 85 mammal species have
recently become extinct (last 1500 years – IUCN 2023) or are going to become extinct
(Rondinini and Visconti 2015, Mendes Pontes et al. 2016, Ceballos et al. 2017). The only
testimonials for some of these locally extinct species or populations are housed in
scientific collections (e.g. Bezerra (2011), Németh et al. (2017), Roycroft et al. (2021)),
denoting a fundamental source of historical DNA (Nakahama 2021, Pasino et al. 2023).
Here, we present an account of the medium and large-sized terrestrial mammals at the
Museum of Comparative Anatomy “Giovanni Battista Grassi”, which are prepared for
exhibition display, didactic and scientific purposes. Previous efforts to disclose the
mammal specimens housed in this useum come from the catalogue of Cetacea by Maio et
al. (2014) and contributions on primates and Neotropical mammals ( Bruner and Gippoliti
2006, Gippoliti and Castiglia 2020). The present account includes the number of
specimens by family, preservation type, type of object and locality (when available). We
also comment on conservation status and other remarkable data.
Material and methods
As defined here, we have excluded the orders Chiroptera, Didelphimorphia, Eulipotyphla,
Lagomorpha and Rodentia, which will be addressed in a species-level catalogue after
taxonomic specialist identification. The nomenclature follows Burgin et al. (2018) and
updates on Mammal Diversity Database (2024), geographic distribution (Marsh et al. 2022)
and biogeographic provinces (Udvardy 1975). Threatened status classification follows the
IUCN Red List (IUCN 2023), including the categories Vulnerable – VU, Endangered – EN,
Critically Endangered – CR, Extinct – EX; additionally, we have used Near Threatened –
NT, since some populations may qualify for a threatened category in the near future. The
following were also considered: the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Fauna (CITES) Appendices I – threatened with extinction risk,
II – not necessarily now threatened with extinction, but that may become so unless trade is
closely controlled or species whose species in trade look like those listed for conservations
reasons and III – a list of species included at the request of a Party that already regulates
trade in the species and that needs the cooperation of other countries to prevent
unsustainable or illegal exploitation (CITES – Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora 2023).
Data on locality, collector, collection date, sex, preparation type and any other kind of
information (such as, if the skull and/or skin is damaged) were included in a spreadsheet
Excel® and summarised in table and graphics. Due to the complex history of the
collections (including specimens from zoological gardens or donations with no available
origin), only a few specimens have available data on the collection locality or collector. The
Disseminating “hidden” scientific collections: the medium and large-sized ter ... 3

specimens were identified, based on direct comparison with other specimens previously
identified by taxonomists and specific literature.
Collection management
When necessary, original labels were repaired and/or enveloped with protective plastic and
worn label lines were replaced. All specimens were catalogued and ‘mapped’ in an Excel
spreadsheet, in a manner to mirror the arrangement inside the cabinets. The museum
cabinets are organised with three exhibition rooms and one corridor, while another five
rooms are dedicated to the collections. Each room is named differently, as are the cabinets
within the rooms and the drawers within the cabinets.
Due to educational purposes, some specimens may have been dismembered in the past
and displayed in different display cases. We have tried to minimise this problem by
reconstructing the identity of each single individual during the listing of the specimens and
vouchers, but this bias may still be partly present.
Data resources
The Museum is accessible through GBIF at the https://scientific-collections.gbif.org/
institution/cb7d2ed6-13b4-4a04-ba14-f88ca9ef94d8 and the data from the medium and
large-sized terrestrial mammals at the https://registry.gbif.org/collection/61a49292-
9dd9-4746-89cf-21f6aad9435e.
Results
Medium and large-sized terrestrial mammal specimens in the Museum are represented by
444 specimens, including 25 fossils, distributed in 133 species, 16 orders and 50 families
from every terrestrial ecoregion (Table 1, Fig. 1, Suppl. material 1). This collection
comprises 39 stuffed skins, one open skin, 186 skulls, 70 whole skeletons (hereafter
referred as ‘skeletons’), 82 bones and structures, such as vertebra, horns, antlers, teeth
and pelvic girdle, and 41 whole and body pieces preserved in spirits, such as tongue,
stomach and hearts (summarised data in Fig. 2 and detailed in Suppl. material 1). Due to
some anatomical structures being difficult to identify at the genus or family level, they were
labelled as ‘Not identified’ and account for 53 anatomical pieces attributed to the marsupial
order Diprotodontia and to the placental orders Proboscidea, Primates, Artiodactyla,
Carnivora and Perissodactyla (Table 1).
Remarkable taxa, due to their conservation status, account for 36 species, belonging to 26
families and eight orders (Table 2). Twenty-eight species are in IUCN Red List under
threatened categories (Vulnerable, Endangered and Critically Endangered), while seven
species are in the Near Threatened category. Nothing from recent species in the collection
was considered Extinct (EX). Excluding a bovid species, the Grey rhebok Pelea capreolus
(NT category by IUCN), all other species (n = 35) are included in one or more appendices
of CITES. It was not possible identify at the species level the primate specimens of the
4Bezerra A et al

genus Tarsius (n = 2). However, this genus includes 11 species under some IUCN
threatened category and one species as Data Deficient, while all species are included in
CITES Appendix II.
Taxon Genera Species Fossil Skin Skull Skeleton Bones Spirits N
Class Mammalia
Subclass Prototheria
Order Monotremata
Family Ornithorhynchidae 1 1 1 2 3
Family Tachyglossidae 1 1 1 1 2
Subclass Theria
Infraclass Marsupialia
Order Dasyuromorphia
Family Dasyuridae 1 1 1 1
Order Diprotodontia
Family Macropodidae 3 5 1 3 1 5
Not identified - - 1 1
Family Phalangeridae 1 1 1 1
Family Phascolarctidae 1 1 1 1
Infraclass Placentalia
Superorder Afrotheria
Order Hyracoidea
Family Procaviidae 1 2 1 2 2 5
Order Macroscelidea
Family Macroscelididae 1 1 1 1
Order Proboscidea
Family Elephantidae 3 4 5* 1* 6
Not identified - - 16* 16
Order Sirenia
Family Dugongidae 1 1 1 1
Table 1.
Family-level account of medium and large-sized terrestrial mammal specimens at the Museo di
Anatomia Comparata “Giovanni Battista Grassi”. Skin - includes stuffed and open skin
preparations; Skull – not including detached horns and antlers; Skeleton – only skull + postcranium
skeletons; Bones - including any detached bone and keratin appendices; Spirits – 70% ethanol or
formaldehyde. N = number of specimens per family, asterisk (*) = teeth samples, either in Fossil or
Bones columns. Obs: 1. One Falange and one claw of extinct ground sloths; 2. Burgin et al. (2018)
include Callitrichidae under Cebidae; here we separated for didactic proposal; 3. Includes a
formalin-fixed and dry-preserved encephalic.
Disseminating “hidden” scientific collections: the medium and large-sized ter ... 5

Taxon Genera Species Fossil Skin Skull Skeleton Bones Spirits N
Superorder Xenarthra
Order Cingulata
Family Dasypodidae 3 3 2 2 2 6
Order Pilosa
Family Bradypodidae 2 2 1 1 2
Family Megatheriidae 1 1 2 2
Family Myrmecophagidae 2 3 1 1 1 3
Superorder Euarchontoglires
Order Dermoptera
Family Cynocephalidae 1 1 1 1
Order Primates
Not identified - - 2 6 1 9
Family Atelidae 2 2 1 1 1 3
Family Callithrichidae 1 1 1 1 2
Family Cebidae 2 2 2 1 1 4
Family Cercopithecidae 6 7 2 8 7 2 3 22
Not identified - - 1 1 2
Family Daubentoniidae 1 1 1 1
Family Galagidae 1 1 1 1
Family Hominidae 4 4 1 13 5 10 12 41
Family Hylobatidae 1 1 1 1
Family Lemuridae 3 3 1 3 4
Family Lorisidae 2 2 2 1 3
Family Tarsiidae 1 2 1 1 2
Order Scandentia
Family Tupaiidae 1 1 1 1
Superorder Laurasiatheria
Order Artiodactyla
Not identified - - 1 3 4
Family Bovidae 13 19 1 23 9 17 4 54
Not identified - - 1 4 5
Family Camelidae 2 2 2 1 1 4
Not identified - - 1 1
Family Cervidae 3 5 1* 1 5 9 16
Not identified - - 1 1
Family Giraffidae 1 1 1 2 3
1
2
3
6Bezerra A et al

Taxon Genera Species Fossil Skin Skull Skeleton Bones Spirits N
Family Hippopotamidae 1 2 1 1 2* 4
Family Suidae 2 2 4 1 3 3 11
Not identified - - 2 2
Family Tayassuidae 1 1 1 1 2
Family Tragulidae 1 1 1 1
Order Carnivora
Not identified - - 2 1 1 4
Family Canidae 2 6 2 45 3 3 5 58
Not identified - - 1 1
Family Felidae 4 9 1 21 7 1 6 36
Not identified - - 2 2 4
Family Herpestidae 3 3 1 3 4
Family Hyaenidae 2 2 4 1 5
Family Mephitidae 1 1 1 1
Family Mustelidae 4 7 7 5 4 1 17
Family Odobenidae 1 1 1 1
Family Phocidae 2 2 1 2 1 4
Family Procyonidae 2 2 1 1 2
Family Ursidae 1 2 4 2 6
Family Viverridae 2 4 1 6 1 8
Order Perissodactyla
Not identified - - 1 1
Family Equidae 1 2 1* 5 2 10 1 19
Not identified - - 1 1 2
Family Rhinocerotidae 3 3 1 6 7
Family Tapiridae 1 1 1 1
Order Pholidota
Family Manidae 1 1 1 1 2
Total 101 133 25 40 186 70 82 41 444
The most ancient specimens date back to the early 17 century (ca. 1600-1620) and
belong to the Kircherian collection. This material consists of fifteen specimens, including
anatomical pieces from three species of Rhinocerontidae and one walrus, Odobenus
rosmarus, all of them under some threatened category.
th
Disseminating “hidden” scientific collections: the medium and large-sized ter ... 7

Discussion
This catalogue represents the status of the medium and large-sized terrestrial mammals
present at the Museum of Comparative Anatomy “Giovanni Battista Grassi” in early 2024.
Currently, 27 orders of recent mammals are recognised (Burgin et al. 2018), five them not
being considered in the present study, but are represented in the collection:
Figure 1.
Representation of genera, species and specimens of medium and large-sized terrestrial
mammal specimens in the collection of Museo di Anatomia Comparata “Giovanni Battista
Grassi” in absolute numbers. Right axis refers to the number of genera and species.
Figure 2.
Proportion (%) of medium and large-sized terrestrial mammal specimens in the collection of
Museo di Anatomia Comparata “Giovanni Battista Grassi” per preparation type. Skin: stuffed
skins for scientific or exhibition proposal; Spirits: whole specimen or parts preserved in 70%
ethanol or formaldehyde.
8Bezerra A et al

Didelphimorphia, Rodentia, Eulipotyphla, Lagomorpha and Chiroptera. Considering only
the categories studied here, 63% of recent mammalian orders were identified, while the
orders Paucituberculata, Microbiotheria, Notoryctemorphia, Peramelemorphia,
Tubulidentada and Afrosoricida are not represented.
Taxon IUCN CITES Biographic Realm Habitat Total
Order Cingulata
Myrmecophagidae
Myrmecophaga tridactyla Linnaeus,
1758
VU II Neotropics Terrestrial 1
Order Proboscidea
Elephantidae
Loxodonta africana (Blumenbach,
1797)
EN II Afrotropic Terrestrial 1
Order Sirenia
Dugongidae
Dugong dugon (Müller, 1776) VU I Afrotropic, Indo-Malay,
Australasia
Marine 1
Order Primates
Atelidae
Alouatta palliata (Gray, 1849) VU I Neotropics Terrestrial 2
Cercopithecidae
Erythrocebus patas (Schreber, 1774) NT II Afrotropic Terrestrial 1
Macaca sylvanus (Linnaeus, 1758) EN I Palearctic Terrestrial 2
Daubentoniidae
Daubentonia madagascariensis
(Gmelin, 1788)
EN I Afrotropic Terrestrial 1
Galagidae
Sciurocheirus alleni (Waterhouse,
1838)
NT II Afrotropic Terrestrial 1
Hominidae
Gorilla gorilla (Savage, 1847) CR I Afrotropic Terrestrial 1
Pan troglodytes (Blumenbach, 1799) EN I Afrotropic Terrestrial 3
Pongo pygmaeus (Linnaeus, 1760) CR I Indo-Malay Terrestrial 2
Table 2.
Threatened species at the Museo di Anatomia Comparata “Giovanni Battista Grassi”. IUCN
categories: NT – Near Threatened, Vulnerable – VU, Endangered – EN, Critically Endangered –
CR. CITES Appendices I, II and III. Including biographic realm origin and habitat (terrestrial or
aquatic) and total of specimens (Total). Obs: 1. The genus Tarsius includes 11 species under some
IUCN threatened category and one species as Data Deficient, while all species are included in the
CITES Appendix II.
Disseminating “hidden” scientific collections: the medium and large-sized ter ... 9

Taxon IUCN CITES Biographic Realm Habitat Total
Hylobatidae
Symphalangus syndactylus (Raffles,
1821)
EN I Indo-Malay Terrestrial 1
Lemuridae
Eulemur fulvus (É. Geoffroy, 1796) VU I Afrotropic Terrestrial 1
Varecia variegata (Kerr, 1792) CR I Afrotropic Terrestrial 1
Lorisidae
Loris tardigradus (Linnaeus, 1758) EN II Indo-Malay Terrestrial 1
Perodicticus potto (Müller, 1766) NT II Afrotropic Terrestrial 2
Tarsiidae
Tarsius sp. ? II Indo-Malay Terrestrial 2
Order Artiodactyla
Bovidae
Addax nasomaculatus (de Blainville,
1816)
CR I Afrotropic Terrestrial 1
Gazella dorcas (Linnaeus, 1758) VU III Palearctic Terrestrial 1
Pelea capreolus (Forster, 1790) NT - Afrotropic Terrestrial 1
Giraffidae
Giraffa camelopardalis (Linnaeus,
1758)
VU II Afrotropic Terrestrial 3
Hippopotamidae
Hippopotamus amphibius Linnaeus,
1758
VU II, III Afrotropic Terrestrial, Freshwater,
Marine
3
Suidae
Babyrousa celebensis (Daninger,
1909)
VU I Indo-Malay Terrestrial 1
Order Carnivora
Felidae
Acinonyx jubatus (Schrebr, 1775) VU I Afrotropic, Palearctic Terrestrial 3
Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758) VU I, II, III Afrotropic Terrestrial 6
Panthera pardus (Linnaeus, 1758) VU I Afrotropic, Palearctic,
Indo-Malay
Terrestrial 4
Panthera tigris (Linnaeus, 1758) EN I, II Indo-Malay Terrestrial 2
Hyaenidae
Hyaena hyaena (Linnaeus, 1758) NT III Afrotropic, Palearctic,
Indo-Malay
Terrestrial 3
Mustelidae
Lutra lutra (Linnaeus, 1758) NT I, III Palearctic, Indo-Malay Terrestrial, Freshwater,
Marine
1
1
10 Bezerra A et al

Taxon IUCN CITES Biographic Realm Habitat Total
Odobenidae
Odobenus rosmarus (Linnaeus, 1758) VU III Palearctic, Nearctic Terrestrial, Marine 1
Phocidae
Monachus monachus (Hermann,
1779)
EN I Palearctic Terrestrial, Marine 1
Ursidae
Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1774 VU II, III Palearctic, Nearctic Terrestrial, Marine 2
Order Perissodactyla
Rhinocerotidae
Ceratotherium simum (Burchell, 817) NT I, II Afrotropical Terrestrial 1
Diceros bicornis (Linnaeus, 1758) CR I, II Afrotropical Terrestrial 5
Rhinoceros cf. unicornis VU I Indo-Malay Terrestrial 1
Order Pholidota
Manidae
Manis javanica Desmarest, 1822 CR I, II Indo-Malay Terrestrial 2
Total 66
The collection includes specimens from all major biogeographical regions. For example,
there are specimens from the "Wallacea", organised in a specific display case (including
Babyrousa celebensis, Tarsius sp. and Pongo pygmaeus) and from the Neotropical
Region, already widely discussed in Gippoliti and Castiglia (2020). The collection also
includes historical specimens derived from Italian expeditions in Africa during the early 20
century (e.g. Primates - Bruner and Gippoliti (2006)).
Museomic and specimens of special interest
Despite the lack of data on the collection location in numerous specimens, the mammal
collection at the Museum constitutes an important source for various research areas
focused on the functional and evolutionary morphology of vertebrates, as well as on
molecular genetics. Besides taxonomic and systematic studies, species conservation
could greatly benefit from biodiversity genomics approaches (Ernst et al. 2022), while
specimens from ancient or extinct populations can help to understand extinction
processes and genetic diversity (Cilli et al. 2023, Theissinger et al. 2023).
The Museum collections have already been used in studies on ursids (Meloro et al. 2017),
rhinocerotids (Pandolfi et al. 2019), suids (Iannucci et al. 2020, Iannucci et al. 2022),
canids (Cerilli and Fatucci 2021), and hippos (Caloi et al. 1980, Mecozzi et al. 2023).
Furthermore, in times of ‘museomics’ (Mandrioli 2016), having access to historical
specimens is advantageous for studies on taxonomy, systematics and population and
landscape genetics (e.g. Bi et al. 2013, Abreu-Jr et al. 2020, Giarla and Voss 2020,
Roycroft et al. 2021), including samples from the Museum collections (Pasino et al. 2023).
th
Disseminating “hidden” scientific collections: the medium and large-sized ter ... 11

It is essential to mention the presence of an entire skeleton of Hippopotamus amphibius,
already discussed by Di Russo et al. (2024) and here with complementary data. This
specimen (catalogue number ac0193) comes from the Archiginnasio collection and was
catalogued by Metaxà (1853) with the notation on a label “«Esemplare dell’Egitto. Dono
dalla S.M. Gregorio XVI, che ebbe da Clot-Bey, medico del viceré d’Egitto»” (translating as
“Specimen of Egypt. Gift from the P.M. Gregory XVI, which he received from Clot-Bey,
doctor of the viceroy of Egypt"). Pope Gregory XVI pontificated during 1831-1846, while
the French doctor Antoine Clot-Bey arrived in Egypt in early 1825 (Burrow 1975) and
published a monograph on Egypt with personal comments 15 years later (Clot-Bey 1840).
In his monograph, Clot-Bey comments that hippopotamus individuals were found along
the high Nubie River, in Nubia, where the collector Prosper Alpin told him he had hunted
an individual (Clot-Bey 1840, page 136). Thus, it is the probable period of collection of the
specimen, between 1825 and 1840 and it was collected along the high Nubie River. This
specimen has also been studied for its morphological characters of the skull and
postcranium skeleton (Caloi et al. 1980) and could be the subject of future studies,
including molecular ones.
Of special interest are also the specimens from the Kircherian collection, dating from the
early 17 century. This collection consists of 15 specimens and samples (Bonanni 1709,
Anonymous 2015) and includes a hippopotamus specimen and all eight rhinoceros
specimens housed in the Museum. These species are under some threatened category
and international trade regulation (IUCN 2023, CITES – Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora 2023) and it is probable that the
specimens from this collection are derived from extinct populations.
Conclusions
Important outcomes can derive from this study, both in scientific scope and human
resources formation. By disclosing the holdings of the historical mammal collections of the
Museum, we hope that the international academic community be made aware of these
representative specimens of extirpated populations of threatened species. Another key is
the enrolment of undergraduate students in scientific areas, towards which few of them
move, such as morphology, taxonomy and scientific collections (Carvalho et al. 2005,
Pearson et al. 2011). Together, scientific disclosure and training students can shed light on
biological scientific collections and generate interest in them, helping to minimise the
progressive loss of scientific relevance of Italian natural history collections Andreone et al.
2014, Andreone et al. 2022
Acknowledgements
We thank Alessandro Aruta and all the staff of the Polo Museale Sapienza for support to
maintenance of the collection. Thanks are extended to Lucia D’Amato (Direzione Ambiente
della Regione Lazio) who provided new specimens as part of a collaboration agreement
between the Museum, the Lazio Region and the Zooprophylactic Institute of Lazio and
th
12 Bezerra A et al

Tuscany. Our gratitude is also extended to Ernesto Capanna and Spartaco Gippoliti who
provided valuable information regarding the specimens present in the Museum collection.
This project was implemented under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP),
Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.4 - Call for tender No. 3138 of 16 December 2021,
rectified by Decree n.3175 of 18 December 2021 of Italian Ministry of University and
Research funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU; Project code
CN_00000033, Concession Decree No. 1034 of 17 June 2022 adopted by the Italian
Ministry of University and Research, CUP, H43C22000530001 Project title “National
Biodiversity Future Center - NBFC”. ARB received a research fellowship from PCI/MPEG/
CNPq from 2019 and Professor/Researcher Visiting Grant bando 2020 from Università di
Roma “La Sapienza”.
Hosting institution
Univerisità di Roma "La Sapienza"
Ethics and security
Not applicable.
Author contributions
Alexandra M.R. Bezerra: delineated the study, analysed the data, interpreted the results,
wrote the paper and prepared the figures and tables; Edoardo Di Russo: organised the
data, identified specimens, interpreted the results and provided comments and additions to
the manuscript; Riccardo Castiglia: delineated the study, obtained funds, identified
specimens, interpreted the results and provided comments and additions to the
manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
Conflicts of interest
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Disclaimer: This article is (co-)authored by any of the Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editors
or their deputies in this journal.
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Supplementary material
Suppl. material 1: Medium and large-sized terrestrial mammal specimens at the
Museo di Anatomia Comparata “Giovanni Battista Grassi”
Authors: Alexandra M.R Bezerra, Edoardo Di Russo and Riccardo Castiglia
Data type: Collection database
Brief description: Excel database of the specimens, including voucher numbers, taxa levels up
to species level, Conservations status, sex, Anatomic structure, Preservation type, Collection date,
Country, Locality and Ecoregion.
Download file (41.72 kb)
Disseminating “hidden” scientific collections: the medium and large-sized ter ... 19