Brazil’s outgoing president, Michel Temer, said the loss was “incalculable.” 2018 presidential candidate Marina Silva called the fire, “a lobotomy of the Brazilian memory.”
The National Museum was one of the largest natural history museums in the Americas and housed important archaeological, anthropological, zoological, botanical, paleontological, and geological collections.
They include thousands of artifacts from the Pre-columbian peoples of Brazil, as well as the oldest human remains from the Americas, a young woman nicknamed Luzia who died about 12,000 years ago. Hundreds of objects from Ancient Egypt and ancient Mediterranean cultures constituted one of the largest collections of them in the New World.
Thousands of fossil specimens documented Brazil’s prehistoric life. The museum was home to some of the most important and informative pterosaur fossils from anywhere on Earth, like Anhanguera, Tapejara, and Tupuxuara. The only remains of some rare dinosaurs unique to Brazil, like the spinosaurid Angaturama and the titanosaur Maxakalisaurus, were also in the museum.
The cause of the fire and the full extent of the damage is unknown at the time of this writing, but the entire collections of arachnids and lepidopterans are already known to have been lost. Fortunately, some meteorite specimens survived the fire, including the 5,000 kg Bendegó Meteorite, the largest ever found in Brazil. In fact, firefighters allowed curator Maria Elizabeth Zucolo to search for more specimens on the morning after the fire since she would know what to look for.
The world reacted to the news with shock and sadness, many decrying the years of budget cuts that led to the condition of the building. The government is already seeking funds to rebuild the museum and reconstitute its collection.
Very little of the museum’s collections were digitized and curators have put out a worldwide call for photos of exhibits and specimens from the museum. They’re especially in need of images with legible labels. If you have images that can help, share them with [email protected] and [email protected]
Image Credit:
Felipe Milanez
Pete
Buchholz
Senior Writer
