Museo De Research Articles

Colecciones antiguas, datos nuevos: Primeros resultados del análisis de las colecciones bioarqueológicas del Humedal del Paraná Inferior

Durante fines del siglo XIX y principios del siglo XX tuvieron lugar varias exploraciones y excavaciones en sitios arqueológicos del humedal del Paraná inferior, originando en consecuencia un gran acervo de materiales bioarqueológicos, entre otros, depositados hoy en día en el Museo de la Plata de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata y en el Museo Etnográfico de la Universidad de Buenos Aires. Si bien algunos de los resultados derivados de aquellos trabajos de campo fueron publicados, otros permanecen inéditos. El objetivo de este trabajo es dar a conocer algunas características de dichas colecciones bioarqueológicas a través del análisis de 252 individuos que las conforman. En este sentido, procedimos a la determinación sexual y estimación etaria de la muestra y al registro de variables tafonómicas, este último con el fin de poder identificar el posible contexto de inhumación de donde provienen dichos individuos. A partir de este análisis y siguiendo los datos publicados se discriminaron entre inhumaciones en contacto directo con la tierra o en urnas. A su vez, se dio cuenta de una segmentación espacial en base a categorías de sexo y edad para algunos sitios, como así también de la presencia de adornos personales de metal, ocre y marcas de corte en algunos huesos. De esta manera, esperamos resaltar el valor que tienen las colecciones de museos como así también contribuir y ampliar nuestro conocimiento sobre las características de las poblaciones prehispánicas de la región.

Safe Containers for Dangerous Memories

Since 1999, the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience has worked with historic house museums around the world who assist their visitors in connecting past and present, use dialogue as a central strategy in addressing needs in their immediate community, and encourage visitors to become active in the social issues their sites raise. Featuring case studies from Coalition members Centro Cultural y Museo de la Memoria (Montevideo, Uruguay), Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (Fayetteville, New York), and the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice (Durham, North Carolina), this article reviews the revolutionary approaches Sites of Conscience take toward addressing challenging histories and their contemporary legacies.

Patrimonial Education and Cultural Rights: The Contribution of Archaeological Heritage to the Construction of Collective Memories

The aim of this paper is to present our experiences as members of the Public Archaeology Program (PAP) — based at the Museo de Antropología, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC) — which focuses on north-east communities in Córdoba, Argentina, where we have performed several archaeological rescue excavations and educational activities based around the protection of regional archaeology and heritage. Since we recognize and respect the cultural rights of these communities in relation to the archaeological heritage, we conducted a scheme of activities to encourage people to participate in archaeological rescues, lectures, and workshops about the lifestyle of the indigenous people that inhabited Córdoba, on the basis of knowledge generated from material culture recovered in these sites. Our methodology derives from concepts framed by Heritage Education, which aims at yielding greater insights into identity and collective memory, in view of the way members of these communities interpret the past.

Descripción de una nueva especie de comadrejita ratona del género Marmosops Matschie, 1916 (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae)

Introduction: Within the genus Marmosops 17 species are currently recognized. Recent treatment of what has been recognized as the Marmosops parvidens group involves the recognition of five species: M. parvidens , M. pinheiroi [including woodalli ], M. bishopi , M. juninensis , and M. pakaraimae . The two former and the last species occurs in Venezuela, being the identity of the single record of M. parvidens north of the Orinoco river placed in doubt by most recent authors. Methods: External measurements were taken from museum labels; craniodental measurements were taken with a caliper to the nearest 0.01mm. Geographic coordinates of relevant localities were taken from literature and altitudes from museum labels. Reviewed specimens (Apendix) are housed in: Museo de la Estacion Biologica de Rancho Grande (EBRG, Aragua, Venezuela), Museo de Historia Natural La Salle (MHNLS, Distrito Capital, Venezuela), Museo de Zoologia de la Universidad de Carabobo (MZUC, Carabobo, Venezuela) and Colecao Zoologica de Mastozoologia, Universidad Federal de Mato Grosso (UFMT, Cuiaba, Mato Grosso, Brazil). Relevant characters of taxa unavailable to us were taken from literature. Results: Recently additional material assignable to Marmosops parvidens from northern Venezuela was analyzed. Closer examination of these specimens led to the description of a new species herein proposed, which is clearly distinguished from other species of the group by a unique combination of characters, among them, a triangle-shaped carpal tubercle in males; posterior accessory cusps on the upper canines in males and females; maxilla not completely covering the fourth upper molar, and fourth lower molar bicuspid (Table 2; Fig. 2, 3, 4 and 5). Known distribution embraces the Cordillera de la Costa Central and Cordillera de Merida in Venezuela (Fig. 1), with an elevation span of 50 to 1850 m a.s.l. Discussion and Conclusions: Before the recognition of Marmosops pinheiroi as a distinct species, many authors accepted the presence of M. p. parvidens in northern Venezuela and south of the river Orinoco (Amazonas) and M. p. pinheiroi in the south (Bolivar, Canaima National Park). More recently, the presence of parvidens was referred to the north and south of Venezuela and in sympatry with M. pinheiroi at Canaima National Park. However, examination of the specimens of Marmosops housed in Venezuelan natural history museums indicates that M. parvidens is not present in Venezuela (pending the confirmation of the identity of a single specimen from northern Venezuela housed in Washington). Equally, literature records might be misleading ( e. g. the sympatry of M. parvidens and M. pinheiroi at Canaima National Park). So far, records of the new species indicate it is restricted to the mountain ranges of northern and western Venezuela. Key words: Cordillera de la Costa Central, Cordillera de Merida, marsupials, taxonomy, Venezuela.

Correspondencia sobre la estela romana de Araño (Rianxo) conservada en el Museo de Pontevedra

The aim of this collaboration is to present a series of documents, basically letters (signed by Casto Sampedro, Eladio Oviedo Arce, Ricardo Blanco-Ciceron and others) about a Roman tombstone that was found in 1907 in Arano (Rianxo, A Coruna, Spain), and at present is in the Museo de Pontevedra. The documents, which are reproduced in an appendix, come from four Galician archives ( Museo do Pobo Galego, Museo de Pontevedra, Real Academia Galega, Catedral de Santiago and Instituto de Estudios Gallegos Padre Sarmiento ), and they provide new data about the discovery of the stele, the laborious process for his acquisition, the admission into the Sociedad Arqueologica de Pontevedra, his exhibition in the Exposicion Regional Gallega de 1909, and the fruitless negotiations on the definitive permanency of the tombstone in Santiago. The stele’s description (text, anthropomorphic decoration and architectural decoration) and a bibliographical update over this gravestone precede the study of the documents and his transcription.

The palaeontological exhibition: a venue for dialogue.

Understanding the dialogue between museums and their visitors enables museums to subsist, undergo transformations and become consolidated as socially valued cultural venues. The Museo de La Plata (Argentina) was created in the late nineteenth century as a natural history museum, and this study shows that currently the museum is valued socially as a venue for family leisure and education, at which people make sense to the objects exhibited through characteristics conferred upon them by both the institution and the visitor. Nevertheless, such dialogue is somehow affected by the museographic proposal and the public interpretation of the institutional narrative, which could be analysed within the frame of contextual learning. As a consequence, the evolutionary idea that the museum aims to communicate is distorted by the public. This article highlights the importance of considering the visitors' interpretations when planning museum exhibitions, a perspective that has been rather absent in the Argentinian museums.

The pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil at the CosmoCaixa Science Museum (Barcelona, Spain)

An apparently nearly complete and fairly well-articulated specimen of a large toothed pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil is exhibited at the CosmoCaixa – Museo de la Ciencia, Barcelona, Spain. The museum label refers it to Anhanguera piscator and reports a provenance from the Crato Formation. Its study shows that it is from the Romualdo Formation and is an assembled and composite specimen over 45% reconstructed. The original skeletal elements show no diagnostic feature of Anhanguera piscator, belong to non-tapejarid pterosaurs, and do not furnish further significative scientific information. Several mistakes were made in the reconstruction and assemblage of the skeleton and some elements do not follow the proportions of Anhanguera piscator. Care is suggested when describing pterosaur material from the Romualdo Formation prepared and sold by private fossil dealers in the absence of an adequate documentation on the original material and its preparation.

Clemente Onelli's sketch map and his first-hand, retrospective account of an early fossil-hunting expedition along the Río Santa Cruz, southern Patagonia, 1888–1889

A 1922 letter from Clemente Onelli to North American paleontologist Elmer S. Riggs, found at Chicago's Field Museum, is one of only a few known first-hand accounts of the former's participation on a fossil hunting expedition along the Río Santa Cruz, southern Patagonia, 1888–1889. Onelli and his companions, who were sent to Patagonia by Francisco P. Moreno, director of the Museo de La Plata, were among the first to collect fossil mammals at this important locality. Moreno had first discovered fossil mammals there in 1876–1877. He then sent Carlos Ameghino, who worked as an assistant preparator of palaeontology at the museum, to revisit his discoveries in January 1887. Ameghino later lost his position at the museum over a dispute between his brother, paleontologist Florentino Ameghino, and the director, in March 1889. Onelli, who had only been associated with the Museo de La Plata for a few short months, was asked by Moreno to accompany a new expedition outfitted in 1888–1889. In December 1922, Riggs travelled to South America to make a representative collection of the fossil mammals of Argentina and Bolivia. Learning of his arrival in Buenos Aires, Onelli wrote him a letter, in Spanish, providing detailed information about fossil localities along the Río Santa Cruz. This letter, translated here, along with the accompanying sketch map, provides previously unknown details about Onelli's itinerary and his observations.

Another Approach to our Knowledge of Early Neogene South American Biomes

Charles Darwin, the English naturalist and father of evolutionary theory, was the first scientist to have dealt with fossils from the Santa Cruz Formation of Argentine Patagonia. However, our understanding of the history of the early Miocene continental vertebrates from Santa Cruz Province is closely tied to two sustained collaborative efforts separated by more than a century. The first occurred near the end of the 19th century between two pioneering giants of Argentine paleontology, the Ameghino brothers, Florentino the biologist and Carlos the geologist; and the second has been unfolding over the last decade and a half between colleagues from Duke University (USA) and the Museo de La Plata (Argentina). In addition, the contributions made near the end of the 19 and early part of the 20 centuries by the Princeton University paleontologists J.B. Hatcher in the field and W.B. Scott through comprehensive monographs on fossil vertebrates, form an important intermediate step between the work of the Ameghinos and the Duke University-Museo de La Plata collaboration. The fauna represented by the diverse, abundant, and generally very well-preserved remains of vertebrate mammals recovered from the Santa Cruz is the basis of the early Miocene Santacrucian South American Land Mammal Age (ca. 19–14 Mya). The forests and grasslands present in this area during this period supported the presence of extinct and surviving lineages of mammals, reptiles, and birds. Thus, Sergio F. Vizcaino and M. Susana Bargo, specialists in the paleobiology of South American mammals, and Richard F. Kay, a specialist in South American fossil primates, undertook to spearhead a long-term program that follows and expands upon the trail of Carlos Ameghino in search of Santacrucian fossils under difficult conditions. Their efforts involved the collaboration of numerous international scientists and graduate students, as well as additional staff, from several institutions. Their results have so far included recovery of some 1600 new specimens, including several nearly complete vertebrate skeletons, mainly from the beach deposits of Santa Cruz Province between the Rios Coyle and Gallegos. This wealth of new remains, combined with precise stratigraphic control, has allowed both the revision of numerous taxa based initially on (often) less well-preserved remains of older collections, as well as the opportunity to conduct rigorous paleobiological analyses, including but not limited to ecological interactions and paleoenvironmental conditions. It is this latter discipline that is the main focus of the contribution under review, which probably represents the first overarching, comprehensive, and broad-based set of paleobiological analyses for South American mammals. There is great uniformity among the paleobiological chapters, which results in a high degree of balanced coverage among the different groups treated. This is clearly intentional and the editors are to be commended for implementing a protocol and seeing to it that it was followed. This is a main strength of this book and is, in large part, what distinguishes it from many other texts on paleobiology. This multi-authored book comprises a detailed study involving 43 paleontologists, both students and established researchers, including anthropologists, biologists, and geologists from Argentina and the USA a wonderful example of scientific and international cooperation. From the outset, it is F. Pujos Instituto Argentino de Nivologia Glaciologia y Ciencias Ambientales (IANIGLA), CCT-CONICET-Mendoza, Avda.Ruiz Leal s/n, Parque Gral. San Martin, Mendoza 5500, Argentina

El público opina: estudio acerca de la exhibición de restos humanos en el Museo de La Plata

La exhibición de restos humanos es un tema controvertido. Cuestiones de índole política, ética y científica unidas a la sensibilidad que acompaña el tratamiento de estos temas genera posiciones encontradas. En este trabajo se evaluaron las opiniones de los visitantes en torno a la exhibición de restos humanos, tomando como referente la exhibición permanente “Ser y Pertenecer: un recorrido por la evolución humana” del Museo de La Plata, inaugurada en el año 2009. Se realizó una encuesta semi-estructurada a 200 individuos en la que se indaga acerca de su perfil sociodemográfico, sus motivaciones y expectativas de la visita, así como sus opiniones acerca de las políticas institucionales de exhibición de restos humanos. Sobre los datos se aplicaron análisis estadísticos (t de Student, Tablas de Contingencia y Prueba de Bondad de Ajuste). Los resultados indicaron que los visitantes mayoritariamente tienen preferencia por la observación de restos humanos, pero paradójicamente acuerdan con la decisión institucional de no exhibir restos de origen americano. Se espera que el estudio contribuya al diseño de una política institucional en materia de exhibiciones que otorgue un lugar significativo a los estudios de público.

Featherwork and divine chieftainship in Tonga

Pala tavake were sacred regalia, feather headdresses, reserved for the traditional sacred ruler of Tonga, the Tu'i Tonga. Recently a fanned feathered headdress whose materials and construction are commensurate with 18th-century Tongan objects was uncovered at Madrid's Museo de America. This paper considers the feather headdress located in Madrid, its probable historical context and connections - both Tongan and Spanish. In addition we discuss the association of pala tavake with the Tu'i Tonga, the sacred ruler of Tonga, and the changing nature of the title in the late 18th century.

Variación intraespecífica en Cryptotis aroensis (Mammalia, Soricomorpha, Soricidae) de Venezuela

Introduction: In Venezuela, the genus Cryptotis Pomel 1848 is represented by four species: C . meridensis Thomas 1898, C . tamensis Woodman 2002, C . aroensis Quiroga-Carmona and Molinari 2012; and C . venezuelensis Quiroga-Carmona 2013 (Quiroga-Carmona and Molinari 2012; Quiroga-Carmona 2013). C . meridensis , and C . tamensis have been documented in the Andes (Cordillera de Merida, El Tama, and Sierra de Perija). On the other hand, C . aroensis , and C . venezuelensis are recorded only in the Cordillera de la Costa (Sierra de Aroa, and Serrania del Litoral). Cryptotis aroensis , was recently described and is known from only three specimens from type locality (Sector Milla, Sierra de Aroa, Yaracuy State), in Northern Venezuela. Based on a new series (45 specimens) from Yurubi National Park, Sierra de Aroa, Yaracuy State, Venezuela, in this article, we evaluated the intraspecifi c variations of Cryptotis aroensis , previously unknown in the literature. Metodology: Specimens studied are preserved in the Museo de la Estacion Biologica de Rancho Grande (EBRG, Aragua State, Venezuela), and the Museo de Zoologia, Universidad de Carabobo (MZUC, Carabobo, State, Venezuela). External measurements (mm) and weight (g) were taken from the colector’s tag. Craniodental terminology follows Woodman (2002, 2003), Quiroga-Carmona and Molinari (2012), and Woodman et al . (2013), and the craniodental measurements were taken with a digital caliper. Finally, for each measure, mean and range were calculated and we used a Student t test with intervals confi dence not less than 95% to explore differences related to sex. Results: Our morphological and metric analysis indicates that specimens of Cryptotis aroensis from Yurubi National Park are smaller and with longer tails, compared with C . meridensis , C. tamensis and C. venezuelensis . There were no signifi cant differences between sexes for the individuals studied, suggesting that there is no sexual dimorphism in C . aroensis . Within this sample there were highly variable morphological characters such as the shape of the wart on the nasolabial groove in the rhinarium, numbers of postnasal warts on the muzzle, hindlimb digits, presence and position of the fourth unicuspid tooth, presence and size of dorsal foramina on the skull, presence and size of foramina on posterior border of tympanic process of petromastoids. The humerus was slightly smaller, less robust and slightly curved in C . aroensis compared with one humerus available for C . meridensis . Discussion: The high intraspecifi c variation in C . aroensis is consistent with previous reports that indicates a high morphological and metric variation among individuals in the groups Cryptotis nigrescens (Woodman and Timm 1993), C . goldmani (Woodman and Timm 1999; Woodman 2011), C . thomasi (Woodman 2002), C . mexicana (Ramirez-Pulido et al . 2004), and C . parva (Ramirez-Pulido et al . 2004). With respect to the characters in the original description of C . aroensis (Quiroga-Carmona and Molinari 2012), there are similarities when the sample increases from three (holotype and two paratypes) to 45 specimens. Such characters include body-head length, and length of mandible, besides the presence of cusps on the third upper molar that defi ne a complex molar. Additionally, the result of this study suggests that tail length (extremely long) can be useful to separate C . aroensis of the different taxa in Venezuela. When we compared the type series of C . venezuelensis , a species known only from three specimens from the Cordillera de la Costa, like C . aroensis (Quiroga-Carmona 2013), there are several similarities in morphology and metrics. Those characters include its size and body coloration, presence and visibility of the fourth unicuspid tooth, shape of the wart and its extension on the nasolabial groove in the rhinarium, the numbers of postnasal warts, size and shape of the angular and coronoid processes, and the average of scales per centimeter on the tail. These characters suggest that C . aroensis and C . venezuelensis might be closely related taxa.

La tribu Phanaeini (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae) en el Perú

La presencia de la tribu Phanaeini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) en el Perú fue revisada en base a la colección del Museo de Historia Natural de la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (Lima) y literatura especializada. Cada especie es presentada con citas para su diagnosis y datos de distribución y algunos comentarios. En este estudio se registran 30 especies que pertenecen a diez géneros: Coprophanaeus, Dendropaemon, Gromphas, Diabroctis, Oruscatus, Oxysternon, Phanaeus, Sulcophanaeus, Tetramereia y Megatharsis. La especie Oruscatus davus es la única especie distribuida en la parte alta y occidental de los Andes; Phanaeus lunaris y P. achilles son especies que se encuentran en el norte del Perú, mientras que las restantes especies son amazónicas.

A Systematic Revision of the Late Furongian Trilobites from Cerro Pelado, Mendoza, Argentina

Late Furongian (late Cambrian) trilobites are described from the black, deep water limestones of the El Relincho Formation in Cerro Pelado, Precordillera of Mendoza, western Argentina. In addition, selected type specimens of the Carlos Rusconi collections at the Museo de Ciencias Naturales y Antropológicas J.C. Moyano, (Mendoza) are revised. The assemblages are largely dominated by the agnostoid Lotagnostus peladensis (Rusconi), which proved to be a species with variably effaced dorsal furrows. Polymeroids include Mendoparabolina pirquinensis Rusconi, Hungaia peladensis Rusconi, and Loganellus cf. macropleurus Rasetti, as well as some fragmentary remains of uncertain affinities. Generic occurrences strongly support connections with Laurentia. Although the species identified are endemic to the southern Precordillera, they mostly resemble faunas from the lower Saukia Zone of western North America, and the Onchonotus richardsoni and Keithia subclavata faunas of eastern Canada and USA.

First distribution record of Schildia Aldrich, 1923 (Insecta: Diptera: Asilidae: Leptogastrinae) for Colombia

The presence of the genus Schildia Aldrich, 1923 is reported for the first time in Colombia. A female specimen of S. microthorax Aldrich, 1923 was discovered in the Museo de Entomología de la Universidad del Valle (MUSENUV), collected on the university campus. A complete photographic record of the reviewed specimen is provided.

The History of the Cast Skeleton ofDiplodocus carnegiiHatcher, 1901, at the Museo De La Plata, Argentina

ABSTRACT Diplodocus carnegii Hatcher, 1901, is a sauropod dinosaur that was originally recovered in the late 19th century in the Upper Jurassic of North America. The large amount of bones recovered permitted the reconstruction of the original skeleton at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America. A series of casts of the specimen were made and donated by Andrew Carnegie to different countries in Europe and Latin America. The cast of D. carnegii mounted in 1912 at the Museo de La Plata was one of the nine replicas donated by Carnegie. The history of the discovery, the trip to Argentina by Carnegie Museum personnel, and the mounting of the cast skeleton are related in this contribution.

FICCIONES DEL ACCIDENTE, ACCIDENTES DE LA FICCIÓN: TRAGEDIAS DE LA TECNOLOGÍA EN LA NARRATIVA HISPANOAMERICANA DE (POS)VANGUARDIA

This article describes the dialogue between Latin American (post)vanguard narrative and the figure of the accident during the twentieth century. We propose a model of analysis that examines the assimilation of this socio-cultural phenomenon in terms of literary structure, reception and content. We propose a reading model based on the insightful contributions of Macedonio Fernandez's Museo de la Novela de la Eterna, and analyze the political-aesthetical figuration of the accident in a corpus of exemplary texts.

A new record of an aristonectine elasmosaurid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of New Zealand: implications for the Mauisaurus haasti Hector, 1874 hypodigm

O’Gorman, J.P., Otero, R.A. & Hiller, N., 2014. A new record of an aristonectine elasmosaurid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of New Zealand: implications for the Mauisaurus haasti Hector, 1874 hypodigm. Alcheringa 38, 504–512. ISSN 0311-5518An indeterminate aristonectine elasmosaurid is recorded from a lower Maastrichtian bed of the Conway Formation, Waipara River, South Island, New Zealand. The described specimen (CM Zfr 104), previously considered part of the hypodigm of Mauisaurus haasti, came from the upper part of the Alterbidinium acutulum biozone, the same zone from which the only well-known aristonectine from New Zealand, Kaiwhekea katiki, is recorded. The cervical vertebrae of CM Zfr 104 have the same distinctive features (i.e., with extremely broad rather than long centra) as those from previously recorded juvenile aristonectines from Argentina, Chile and Antarctica. This new record is congruent with the biogeographic relationships of Cretaceous marine amniotes from the Weddellian Palaeobiogeographic Province (i.e., Patagonia, western Antarctica, New Zealand and southeastern Australia). Therefore, this type of vertebra is regarded as a distinctive feature of the Weddellian aristonectine elasmosaurids.José P. O’Gorman [joseogorman@fcnym.unlp.edu.ar], División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n., B1900FWA, La Plata, Argentina; [CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas)]; Rodrigo A. Otero [paracrioceras@gmail.com], Red Paleontológica U-Chile. Laboratorio de Ontogenia y Filogenia, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Av. Las Palmeras 3425, Santiago, Chile; Norton Hiller, [norton.hiller@canterbury.ac.nz], Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, PB 4800, Christchurch, 8001, New Zealand and Canterbury Museum, Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch, New Zealand, 8013.

Prehispanic goldwork technology study by PIXE analysis

Technological characterization of pre-Hispanic gold metallurgy has still a wide deficit of analytical data. A set of 103 pieces from the so called “Quimbaya’s treasure” (QT) and the “Costa Rica collection” (CRC) of the Museo de America of Madrid were submitted to IBA analysis (PIXE and RBS) at the CMAM in three phases and the metal composition was determined. Only in a limited number of cases, due to the dramatic erosion of the gilded layer, produced by abrasive cleaning methods applied after the discovery and before the seventies, it was possible to determine also the sequence of layers, which gives information on the manufacture technology and the type and purity of the metals. PIXE results are reported and discussed. Data show that the CRC objects have very high gold levels (>80% in weight) while the QT have a more variable composition with significant Cu levels associated to the so called Tumbaga-alloy. In the cases where polishing had a tolerable effect, PIXE (and RBS), point to depletion gilding as a standard finishing process in the Costa Rica production, resulting in a gold rich surface alloy, while the variable composition of the QT objects may well be linked to deliberate colour choice.

Notes on the geographic distribution and subspecific taxonomy of Sais rosalia (Cramer) (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Ithomiini), including the first records in Paraguay

Notes on the geographic distribution and subspecific taxonomy of Sais rosalia (Cramer) (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Ithomiini), including the first records in Paraguay. This paper provides comments on the subspecific taxonomy and geographic distribution of Sais rosalia (Cramer, 1779) (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Ithomiini), as well as an up-to-date distributional map, complemented with unpublished distributional data based on specimens deposited in the Coleção Entomológica Pe. Jesus S. Moure, Curitiba, Brazil and the Museo de Historia Natural, Lima, Peru. The following synonyms are proposed: Sais rosalia camariensis Haensch, 1905 syn. rev. as junior subjective synonym of Papilio rosalia Cramer, 1779 and Sais rosalia brasiliensis Talbot, 1928 syn. rev. as junior subjective synonym of Sais rosalia rosalinde Weymer, 1890. Additionally, the first country records of Sais rosalia in Paraguay, including the southernmost record of the species, are documented.