National museum of Brazil goes up in smoke

[EarthboundEiniosaurus]

Here's the link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45392668

A number of important fossils are said to have been destroyed, such as Oxalaia, Maxakalisaurus, Santanaraptor, Gondwanatitan, Anhanguera, Tupuxuara, Tapejara, Cearadactylus, Aymberedactylus, Tropeognathus, and undescribed Irritator postcranial material. The holotypes of both Irritator and Thalassodromeus where luckily moved before the fire, but this is still a tragedy. 

[IrritatorRaji]

I just saw this on Facebook. I have no words, this is tragic.

[Ravonium]

This is definitely sad news, and not just for palaeontology enthusiasts either, but also for enthusiasts of pretty much all eras of history   What makes this sadder is that from what I've read, the museum had been severely underfunded for a while (although, to be fair, I'm not really surprised about that, for reasons that I'm best off not mentioning here) 

[ceratopsian]

As a museum worker, it made my blood run cold when I read the news this morning. I understand they also lost the oldest human skeleton excavated in the Americas.

[MLMjp]

No words. This is horrible. All those specimens lost forever.

[Ezikot]

It really hurts

[DinoToyForum]

Such sad news. An awful loss of cultural heritage, scientific data, and irreplaceable artefacts. As @ceratopsian, I work in a museum, so this hits close to home. I could cry at the pictures of museum staff clutching onto specimens in an effort to save what they could. I can't imagine how they must feel.

One journalist put it best when they described it as "a sort of national suicide. A crime against our past and future generations"

@EarthboundEiniosaurus, what's the source for your list of specimens lost and salvaged?

[EarthboundEiniosaurus]

member=1596]EarthboundEiniosaurus[/member], what's the source for your list of specimens lost and salvaged?

My source: https://www.deviantart.com/carnoferox/journal/Ornithodirans-Lost-in-the-Museu-Nacional-Fire-762370297
The list is currently speculation based on what was housed at the museum, it would seem the holotypes of Irritator and Thalassodromeus where never housed at the museum. Hopefully some of the things on this list will be proven wrong when official reports come out.

[Halichoeres]

I worked in a museum during my PhD and this was heartbreaking to hear of. Collections staff worked until the last moment to save holotypes of mollusks, which shows a heroic dedication to science and posterity, but there is just no cure for chronic under-funding.

[Ikessauro]

Hey guys, we Brazilians are devastated with this incident. I personally feel sad, angry and ashamed at the same time, specially ashamed of our government and its complete lack of respect in regard to science and education. But there is still hope that at least some of the museum's content has been spared.

Just now there is information that part of the geology and paleontology department may not have been totally burned and that most important fossil specimens were housed at special metal cabinets and storage. Some people working at the museum say these cabinets are covered by debris, but seem to be otherwise in good shape. There's hope that the metal structure has protected the fossils from impact and heat. We wait anxiously and hopeful for more news.


Artwork by Márcio L. Castro

[Libraraptor]

A   devastating tragedy for everyone close to science.  Any News about the reason?

[ITdactyl]

@Ikessauro  thanks for sharing that bit of positive news.  All the international coverage I have access to have very sparse details about this tragic event.  Most were focusing on the loss of the "oldest human remains in the americas" (which seems to be a good idea to at least get the attention of an otherwise aloof general public).

I sincerely hope they get the support and funds to rebuild the museum.

[IrritatorRaji]

Artwork by Márcio L. Castro

So much heartbreak and emotion in this drawing, truly makes my blood go cold.

But the news about the possibly surviving fossils is uplifting, I do hope it's true

[Ravonium]

Good to hear that some fossils may not have been destroyed    As ITdactyl said, a lot of international coverage has fairly sparse (and sometimes exaggerated) details about the extent of the fire's damage.

[Ikessauro]

I have some news. It is possible that the oldest human's remains from America, Luzia's skull, has been recovered. There's a rumor that fireman found a human skull in a box where Luzia's material was. It's not something confirmed, but may be indeed the precious Luzia.

Several mineral samples were recovered, despite many that were lost. Also there is word that some of the fossil holotypes were molded for replication and the molds had been transferred to another section of the museum that wasn't hit by the fire. So, we may be able to replicate the lost fossils in case they didn't survive.

The best news so far is that Nyctosaurus lamegoi is safe! Its holotype was moved to the building that wasn't destroyed. It was being molded for casting and is safe. So far the fire department are still clearing the area so researchers can start the search and recovery of what's left. A paleontologist friend of mine has told me that Oxalaia's holotype was in the area hit by the fire, so no clue if there's anything of it left (it wasn't much to begin with). 

[Halichoeres]

Thank you for the update! That first night it looked like a complete loss, and of course for certain collections it was, but it's heartening that a few specimens have survived. It's painful to think that objects that survived tens of millions of years were done in by government negligence. A lesson for funding agencies everywhere.

[IrritatorRaji]

This is amazing news! And I do hope that the skull found really is Luzia While this is still a tragedy, it's nice to see that some specimens have managed to survive.

[JohannesB]

It sounds quite incredible to me, but did the national museum really not have a sprinkler system?! Anyway, a sad day for science, culture and exploration. (I am Dutch. Imagining for example the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam going up in smoke - that thought alone makes me shiver..)

[Ravonium]

Thanks yet again for sharing news directly from Brazil    It is nice to hear that Luzia and N. lamegoi are safe. While it is sad to hear that Oxalaia was likely lost, it is, as you say, not much, and I would be more saddened if any of the pterosaurs, Santanaraptor or Maxakalisaurus were lost.


I also read that the Bendegó meteorite wasn't lost, which is good, but it doesn't surprise me considering that it mainly consists of iron 

On the other hand, I read that the indigenous languages, entomology, and arachnology collections were entirely destroyed. This, from what I've read, seems like a big loss to both departments. In the case of indigenous languages, all known audio and written records, as well as distribution maps, of many languages have been destroyed, and as some of the records were of now-extinct languages, this means that some of them have now been completely removed from existence  In the case of entomology and arachnology, many type specimens have been lost, and for some species, this likely means that all records of their existence have been lost 

[Lizerd]

Oh no, this sucks  well such is life... maybe a few will be salvaged?