Natural History Collections in the Science of the 21st Century presents a wide range of questions and answers raised by the study of collections. The billions of specimens that have been collected from all around the world over more than two centuries provide us with information that is vital in our quest for knowledge about the Earth, the universe, the diversity of life and the history of humankind.
These collections also provide valuable reference points from the past to help us understand the nature and dynamics of global change today. Their physical permanence is the best guarantee we have of a return to data and to information sources in the context of open science.
Table of Contents
Foreword xvii
Bruno DAVID
Acknowledgments xxi
Roseli PELLENS
Chapter 1 Natural History Collections: An Essential Resource for Science in the 21st Century 1
Roseli PELLENS
1.1 Collections in early 21st century science 2
1.2 New explorations because of the magnitude and diversity of the collections’ data 3
1.3 Research using and driving the constitution of natural history collections 5
1.3.1 Being able to return to the object: one of the major contributions of natural history collections 6
1.3.2 Collections at the heart of highly innovative research thanks to new technologies 7
1.3.3 A resource for global change research 8
1.3.4 Designing the science of the future based on collections 9
1.4 References 11
Chapter 2 Natural History Collections: An Ancient Concept in a Present and Future Perspective 13
Philippe GRANDCOLAS
2.1 Introduction 14
2.2 A tribute to curiosity and coupling with classifications 14
2.3 The structuring of our thoughts and actions by an ancient concept 16
2.4 Collections: more than species catalogues 18
2.5 Big Data collections in space and time 19
2.6 What future is there for the use of collections? 20
2.7 Conclusion 22
2.8 References 22
Chapter 3 Louis XIV’s Blue Gems: Exceptional Rediscoveries at the French National Museum of Natural History 27
François FARGES
3.1 Introduction 29
3.2 A scientific investigation of color 31
3.3 The digital decoding of the creative genius of the royal gem cutter 32
3.4 Epilogue: toward a renaissance 35
3.5 References 36
Chapter 4. Rediscovering Human Mummies: Unpublished data on the Chachapoya Mummy Exhibited at the Musée de l’Homme 37
Aline THOMAS, Arnaud ANSART, Christophe BOU, Jean-Bernard HUCHET, Véronique LABORDE, Samuel MERIGEAUD and Éloïse QUETEL
4.1 Introduction 38
4.1.1 The Muséum’s collection of human mummies 38
4.1.2 Origin, discovery, donation and exhibition: a brief history of the mummy 40
4.2 Materials and methods 43
4.2.1 The MNHN-HA-30187 mummy: position of the body, measurements and external appearance 43
4.2.2 Medical imaging protocol and technique 45
4.2.3 Protocol for experimental reproduction of trepanation 45
4.3 Results 46
4.3.1 Basic biological identity 46
4.3.2 Osteo-dental status 47
4.3.3 Internal organs 48
4.3.4 Archeoentomology 50
4.3.5 Cranial trepanation: location, size and mode of operation 52
4.4 Discussion 54
4.4.1 Identity of the deceased and health status 54
4.4.2 Treatment of the corpse and embalming 55
4.4.3 Chronology of mortuary gestures 56
4.5 Conclusion 58
4.6 References 59
Chapter 5 Reconstructing the History of Human Populations: A Challenge for Biological Anthropology 63
Martin FRIESS and Manon GALLAND
5.1 Introduction 63
5.1.1 How human remains have also become scientific objects 63
5.1.2 The MNHN biological anthropology collection 64
5.1.3 Cranial morphology as an indication of biocultural processes 65
5.2 Cranial morphology and settlement history 66
5.2.1 A new look at the diversity of Native Americans 69
5.3 Cranial morphology and adaptation to the environment 71
5.3.1 Cranial diversity beyond randomness 73
5.4 The importance of cranial collection for the advancement of research in biological anthropology 75
5.5 References 76
Chapter 6 The Discovery of New Metal-Hyperaccumulating Plant Species in Herbaria 79
Vanessa R. INVERNÓN, Romane TISSERAND, Pierre JOUANNAIS, Dulce M. NAVARRETE GUTIÉRREZ, Serge MULLER, Yohan PILLON, Guillaume ECHEVARRIA and Sylvain MERLOT
6.1 Metal-hyperaccumulating plants 80
6.2 The screening of herbarium collections: from atomic absorption to X-ray fluorescence 83
6.3 The discovery of new metal-hyperaccumulating plants at the MNHN herbarium 85
6.3.1 The interest of the MNHN herbarium for the research of metal-hyperaccumulating plants 85
6.3.2 From the herbarium to the field: new nickel hyperaccumulators in the genus Orthion 87
6.3.3 Rinorea multivenosa, the first zinc hyperaccumulating species discovered in the Amazon basin 88
6.3.4 A large number of manganese hyperaccumulating species to be discovered 90
6.4 Conclusion 91
6.5 Acknowledgments 92
6.6 References 92
Chapter 7 Fossil Crustaceans in the Light of New Technologies 95
Sylvain CHARBONNIER and Marie-Béatrice FOREL
7.1 Introduction 96
7.2 Fossil crustaceans 96
7.3 The radiation of fossil crustaceans 98
7.3.1 Revealing characters with UV light (yellow fluorescence) 98
7.3.2 Revealing characters with green light (green-orange fluorescence) 99
7.3.3 X-ray radiography 100
7.4 Exceptional preservation of fossil crustaceans 102
7.5 Ostracods and paleogeography at the end of the Paleozoic 105
7.6 References 105
Chapter 8 The “Cyanobacteria and Microalgae” Collection in the Time of “-omics” 109
Sébastien DUPERRON, Charlotte DUVAL, Sahima HAMLAOUI, Katia COMTE, Claude YÉPRÉMIAN and Cécile BERNARD
8.1 Introduction 109
8.2 A living collection supported by research 111
8.3 New uses of the collection in basic research 114
8.3.1 Polyphasic identification and taxonomy of cyanobacteria and microalgae 114
8.3.2 Contribution to the evolutionary sciences 114
8.3.3 Contribution to the study of interactions between organisms 115
8.4 Enhancing the value of biological resources through the search for innovative bioactive molecules 116
8.5 Expertise in environmental diagnosis 118
8.6 The living collection of cyanobacteria and microalgae of today and tomorrow 119
8.7 References 121
Chapter 9 The Collection of Cryopreserved Cells and Tissues of Vertebrates: Methods and Application 125
Michèle GERBAULT-SEUREAU and Bernard DUTRILLAUX
9.1 Introduction 126
9.2 History of the collection 126
9.3 Can all living beings be cryopreserved? 127
9.3.1 Collection, culture and freezing 128
9.4 Current applications 130
9.5 Current composition of the bank 133
9.6 Perspectives 136
9.7 References 137
Chapter 10 Herbaria, the Last Resort for Extinct Plant Species 139
Serge MULLER, Valérie PRIOLET, Éric BADEL and Stéphane BUORD
10.1 Context and objectives 140
10.2 Proposed approach and protocol 141
10.3 First results 142
10.3.1. Selection of target species and identification of affine species 142
10.3.2 Assessment of the viability of available seeds 145
10.3.3. Cultivation experiments on affine species of the target species 149
10.4 Discussion and conclusion 152
10.5 Acknowledgments 154
10.6 References 154
Chapter 11 Ocean Cores, Climate Archives 159
Eva MORENO and Annachiara BARTOLINI
11.1 Introduction 160
11.2 The MNHN’s oceanic collection 160
11.3 Development of core drilling techniques 161
11.4 Ocean cores: archives of past climate variability 163
11.5 Climate proxies 164
11.5.1 Temperature proxies 165
11.5.2 Proxies of salinity 169
11.5.3 Paleo-pH proxies and carbonate ion concentration 170
11.6 Analytical techniques 171
11.7 Conclusion 172
11.8 References 173
Chapter 12 Clarifying the Radiocarbon Calibration Curve for Ancient Egypt: The Wager of Herbaria 177
Anita QUILES, Vanessa R. INVERNÓN, Lucile BECK, Emmanuelle DELQUE-KOLIC, Myriam GAUDEUL, Serge MULLER and Germinal ROUHAN
12.1 Introduction 178
12.2 Carbon-14 (14 C) dating and Egyptian chronology 179
12.2.1 The challenge of calibration 179
12.2.2 Chronology of ancient Egypt: contribution of 14 C and historic debates 181
12.3 Specificities of the Egyptian landscape and the objective of the project 182
12.4 The flora of Egypt in the MNHN Herbarium 184
12.5 Analytical and statistical challenges 186
12.5.1 Selection of herbarium specimens 187
12.5.2 Preliminary results of 14 C dating 187
12.6 Conclusion 190
12.7 References 191
Chapter 13 Herbaria, a Window into the Evolutionary History of Crop Pathogens 195
Lionel GAGNEVIN, Adrien RIEUX, Jean-Michel LETT, Philippe ROUMAGNAC, Boris SZUREK, Paola CAMPOS, Claudia BAIDER, Myriam GAUDEUL and Nathalie BECKER
13.1 Epidemics, emergences and re-emergences 196
13.2 Development of agriculture, domestication of cultivated plants and their diseases 197
13.3 Molecular biology and genomics as a tool for studying phytopathogenic micro-organisms 199
13.4 Contributions of the herbarium samples 199
13.4.1 Direct evidence 200
13.4.2 Molecular analyses 201
13.5 How to explore a herbarium 203
13.6 Characteristics of old nucleic acids and their treatment 205
13.6.1 The particular case of viral nucleic acids 206
13.7. Xanthomonas citri pv. citri and its emergence in the Indian Ocean 208
13.8 Emergence and evolutionary history of plant pathogenic viruses: the geminivirus model 209
13.8.1 Case of a species complex responsible for an emerging disease 210
13.8.2 Case of a cryptic geminivirus 211
13.9 Discussion 212
13.10 Acknowledgments and funding 213
13.11 References 213
Chapter 14 The Yellow-Legged Asian Hornet: Prediction of the Risk of Invasion and the Study of its Color Variations 219
Claire VILLEMANT, Quentin ROME and Adrien PERRARD
14.1 Introduction 220
14.2 Vespa velutina: some elements of taxonomy and biology 222
14.2.1 A species: 13 colored forms 222
14.2.2 One nest per year 223
14.2.3 Insectivore, but not exclusively 223
14.3 Sampling of specimens 224
14.4. The origin of invasive lineages of V. velutina in France and Korea 225
14.4.1 The history of the invasion explained by genetics 225
14.4.2. A single queen at the origin of the invasive lineage in France .. 226
14.5 Expansion risks in Europe and worldwide 226
14.5.1 Data and methods for inferring range and predicting invasion risk 226
14.5.2 Strong expansion in Europe and the Northern Hemisphere 227
14.6 Origin of color and shape variations 229
14.6.1 The importance of collection specimens 229
14.6.2 Discordance between genetic lineages and colored forms 231
14.7 Conclusion 232
14.8 References 233
Chapter 15 Exploring Temporal Changes in the Composition of Macroalgal Communities by Using Collections 235
Marine ROBUCHON, Éric FEUNTEUN, Romain JULLIARD, Florence ROUSSEAU and Line Le GALL
15.1 On the constitution of macroalgal collections 236
15.1.1 Large seaweeds 236
15.1.2 Algal herbaria 236
15.1.3 Data associated with the herbaria 237
15.1.4 Specimens and scientific evidence 237
15.1.5 The herbarium of the Dinard maritime laboratory 239
15.2 Exploring temporal changes in species distribution 239
15.2.1 Perspectives for exploring temporal changes in species distribution 245
15.3 Exploring temporal changes in community composition 246
15.3.1 Example of the study of the Dinard Herbarium 246
15.3.2 Perspectives for exploring temporal changes in community composition 247
15.4 Conclusion: sampling and analysis strategies for the future 248
15.5 References 249
Chapter 16 Herbaria, Witnesses of the Stakes of Biodiversity Conservation and the Impacts of Global Changes 251
Serge MULLER, Vanessa R. INVERNÓN and Germinal ROUHAN
16.1 Introduction 252
16.2 Evaluation of the floristic richness and conservation issues of territories 254
16.3 Studies of introduction pathways and colonization of invasive exotic plants and pathogens 257
16.4 Analysis of the impact of pollution and changes in air quality 259
16.5 Study of phenological changes in flora as a result of climate change 260
16.6 Conclusion 262
16.7 References 263
Chapter 17 Digital Photography In Natura in Zoology: More Biology in Natural History Collections? 271
Romain GARROUSTE
17.1 Images and collections for comparative biology 272
17.2 Accelerating the process of the incomplete inventory of life 274
17.3 Why more biology in natural history collections? 277
17.4 Images in the natural sciences: a collection like any other? 280
17.5 The Hemiptera of France: an exemplary iconography 282
17.6 Trait databases, query automation and bio-inspiration 282
17.7 Conclusion: a new challenge for natural history 284
17.8 References 285
Chapter 18 The Use of Large Natural History Datasets to Respond to Current Scientific and Societal Issues 289
Anne-Christine MONNET, Thomas HAEVERMANS, Anne-Sophie ARCHAMBEAU, Philippe GRANDCOLAS and Roseli PELLENS
18.1 Introduction 289
18.2 Making data available: a revolution 290
18.3 Challenges for data providers 293
18.3.1 Reading labels or directories 293
18.3.2 Structure of the information related to the specimens 294
18.3.3 The taxonomic framework: moving information 295
18.3.4 The importance of tracing the source of data 296
18.4 The role of access portals 296
18.4.1 The provision standards 297
18.5 The importance of scientific analysis design in appropriating the specificities of data from collections 299
18.5.1 Detecting the biases in collection data: advantages and opportunities for scientific analyses 299
18.5.2 Toward a good balance between the question and the available data 300
18.5.3 Playing the advantage of multiple spatial scales 301
18.6 Moving from raw data to sorted data that can be used for scientific analyses 301
18.6.1 From open data to open science, a responsibility for the traceability of data and operations 303
18.6.2 Toward a necessary reorganization of collaborative work 304
18.7 Conclusion 306
18.8 References 307
Chapter 19 Is There a Need for Biocultural Collections? State of the Art and Perspectives 311
Serge BAHUCHET
19.1 Introduction 311
19.2 Origin of these collections 312
19.2.1 Ethnobotany 312
19.2.2 Ethnology 313
19.3 Collection principles and the function of collections 313
19.3.1 The role of objects in “Maussian” ethnology 313
19.3.2 Ethnobotanical collections 315
19.3.3 Biocultural collections 317
19.4 Principles for the articulation of sets 319
19.5 Description of the collections 324
19.5.1 Ethnobiological specimens 325
19.5.2 Objects and artifacts 329
19.6 What changes? 332
19.7 References 334
Chapter 20 Why Preserve? 337
Véronique ROUCHON
20.1 The museum’s collections: between study and heritage 338
20.2 Disrupting the equilibrium 339
20.3 Preparation and storage 342
20.4 The main principles of conservation 346
20.5 The main principles of conservation being undermined 347
20.6 Multiple values 349
20.7 The scientific value of the collections 351
20.8 Conclusion 357
20.9 References 357
Chapter 21. Collections for Scientific Research in the 21st Century and Beyond 359
Roseli PELLENS
21.1 Collections in the quest for knowledge 359
21.2 Three main kinds of new uses for collections 360
21.2.1 Enriching the life sciences, human sciences and the sciences of the universe with new technologies 360
21.2.2 A pool of information on the environment 360
21.2.3 The era of digital data 362
21.3 Lessons from these new uses 362
21.3.1 The importance of richness and diversity 363
21.3.2 Information at the heart of new research 363
21.3.3 Good conservation and good practices 365
21.3.4 The importance of sets 366
21.4 Collections in 21st century science and beyond 367
21.5 Conclusion 367
21.6 References 369
List of Authors 373
Index 381
