[Taxacom] Thousands of holotype burn

[Michael A. Ivie]

Goodness guys, can' we have a period of mourning before the snits start? 
Imagine what our colleagues are going through after 40, 50 years of 
productive work in that building?  I know of grad students whose PhD 
projects were assembled and not finished - they have to literally start 
over on a new group because all of the group they were working on 
burned!  It is time for support and sadness. Types,non-types or research 
notes, it is a tragedy of unequaled scale in our field.


Mike


On 9/3/2018 8:03 PM, Kenneth Kinman wrote:
>
> Hi Stephen,
>
>         I'm not sure I would say that such losses (holotypes vs. 
> non-type specimens) are equally tragic.  Especially in cases where a 
> holotype is the only known specimen (or all the non-type specimens 
> were also in the same museum).
>
>       In such cases, if the only remaining specimens are digital 
> photographs, can such a photograph be made the neotype?  More 
> importantly, the question is whether most of the holotypes of that 
> museum had good diagnostic digital photos stored elsewhere.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Taxacom <taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> on behalf of 
> Stephen Thorpe <stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz>
> *Sent:* Sunday, September 2, 2018 11:01 PM
> *To:* taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu; MichaelIvie
> *Subject:* Re: [Taxacom] Thousands of holotype burn
> Loss of holotypes isn't really any more tragic than loss of non-type 
> specimens (i.e. both are equally tragic). Neotypes can be designated 
> where necessary, so that isn't a big deal. Events such as this 
> illustrate the importance of having good diagnostic digital photos of 
> specimens (stored on multiple servers). Specimens cannot be 
> duplicated, but digital images of specimens can be. Images might not 
> give us all that we might want, but they give us a lot more than a 
> pile of smoking charcoal. All specimens in all natural history 
> collections will be reduced to dust some day, it is only a matter of time.
>
> Stephen
>
> --------------------------------------------
> On Mon, 3/9/18, Ivie, Michael <mivie at montana.edu> wrote:
>
>  Subject: [Taxacom] Thousands of holotype burn
>  To: "taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu" <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
>  Received: Monday, 3 September, 2018, 3:34 PM
>
>  This might well be the largest loss of
>  primary types ever in a single event, if the reported total
>  loss proves true.  Thousands of types in the
>  Cerambycidae alone.
>  Our hearts go out to our Brazilian
>  colleagues.  Horrible event, please no negative
>  comments while this tragedy is so fresh.
>
>  Mike
>
>
> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-45392668?ns_source=facebook&ocid=socialflow_facebook&ns_campaign=bbcnews&ns_mchannel=social 
>
> <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-45392668?ns_source=facebook&ocid=socialflow_facebook&ns_campaign=bbcnews&ns_mchannel=social>
> 	
> Fire ravages 200-year-old Brazil museum 
> <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-45392668?ns_source=facebook&ocid=socialflow_facebook&ns_campaign=bbcnews&ns_mchannel=social>
> www.bbc.co.uk
> The National Museum of Brazil, home to some 20m items spanning 
> centuries, is devastated.
>
>
>
>  __________________________________________________
>  Michael A. Ivie, Ph.D., F.R.E.S.
>
>  NOTE: two addresses with different Zip
>  Codes depending on carriers
>
>  US Post Office Address:
>  Montana Entomology Collection
>  Marsh Labs, Room 50
>  PO Box 173145
>  Montana State University
>  Bozeman, MT 59717
>  USA
>
>  UPS, FedEx, DHL Address:
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>  Marsh Labs, Room 50
>  1911 West Lincoln Street
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>  USA
>
>  (406) 994-4610 (voice)
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>  mivie at montana.edu
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>  Nurturing Nuance while Assaulting
>  Ambiguity for 31 Some Years, 1987-2018.
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-- 
__________________________________________________

Michael A. Ivie, Ph.D., F.R.E.S.

NOTE: two addresses with different Zip Codes depending on carriers

US Post Office Address:
Montana Entomology Collection
Marsh Labs, Room 50
PO Box 173145
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717
USA

UPS, FedEx, DHL Address:
Montana Entomology Collection
Marsh Labs, Room 50
1911 West Lincoln Street
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59718
USA


(406) 994-4610 (voice)
(406) 994-6029 (FAX)
mivie at montana.edu