Glossário de patologias em taxidermias de espécimes vertebrados

: um caso de estudo nas coleções do Museu de História Natural e da Ciência da Universidade do Porto (MHNC-UP)

Abstract

Taxidermy is a common mounting practice in natural history collections, usually applied to vertebrate specimens. This practice is used as a tool for the preparation and conservation of zoological specimens for future study, research, and exhibition. That said, these specimens are regularly manipulated and are subject to damage. Accordingly, the field of conservation and restoration becomes central to the preservation and management of these collections, being an ally of the curator in his actions. Since one of the most important phase in a conservation and restoration intervention is the technique / material analysis and the diagnosis of the state of conservation of the specimen, it is fundamental that both the materials of execution and the problems associated with the state of conservation are framed in predefined concepts on the evaluation of the degenerative process of materials, resulting in the terminological definition of pathologies. An exhaustive and clear survey of pathologies provides a more assertive proposal and consequent conservation and restoration treatment. However, there is no specific training in Portugal on Natural History conservation collections and institutions that own them need guidelines to improve theirs protocols and protocols and review them and ambiguous terminology must be eliminated. This lacuna hampers the curators and conservators- restorers activity the actions and impacts the evaluation of conservation condition. - Moreover, considering that taxidermy specimens have a complex construction due to the techniques and materials used, their knowledge and the use of more detailed, specific, direct, and specialized terminologies are essential. In this dissertation, definitions of pathologies - to be applied during the diagnosis and survey of the state of conservation are highlighted in an illustrated glossary that facilitates the identification and understanding of the damage. The approach to this glossary was based in a case the study that was carried out through a rigorous analysis of a core of about 400 specimens from various vertebrate collections (amphibians, mammals, fishes, and reptiles), to ensure the greatest possible diversity of identified problems. Simultaneously an approach to an alternative evaluation method to clarify the criteria of the traditional evaluation scale of conservation state is also performed.

Date of Award	15 Mar 2023
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Eduarda Vieira (Supervisor), Luís Ceríaco (Co-Supervisor) & Joana Salgueiro (Co-Supervisor)