Natural History Museum Of Denmark Research Articles

Elias Magnus Fries's fungus exsiccati Scleromyceti Sueciae: New light on the obscure “fascicle nine”

AbstractElias Magnus Fries's fungus exsiccati Scleromyceti Sueciae documents specimens cited in several of Fries's publications that are now considered sanctioning works in the nomenclature and taxonomy of several groups of fungi. The first eight fascicles of the first edition of the Scleromyceti Sueciae were issued periodically during the years 1819–1822. Each fascicle was issued as a bound booklet that included, among other information, a printed title page with a date, and an index followed by 30–40 specimens. A ninth fascicle that concluded the first edition was issued without a date. Scholars of the Scleromyceti Sueciae inferred an approximate date of issuance of mid‐1825 based on Fries's correspondence, but they were uncertain whether fascicle nine was issued as a booklet or on loose sheets. In addition, the location of the printed index to fascicle nine that they studied was unclear. We obtained images of a complete, original copy of fascicle nine from the collections of the Natural History Museum of Denmark of the University of Copenhagen. This copy proves that fascicle nine was issued as a bound booklet like the previous eight fascicles and contained a printed index and printed specimen labels. Because of the apparent rarity of a complete, original copy of fascicle nine, we describe the copy at the Natural History Museum of Denmark and provide images of the index. We discuss potential problems in typifying names from material issued in the Scleromyceti Sueciae second edition. Using an example from fascicle nine, we discuss Fries's omissions, errors, and lapses in citing specimens.

New finding of Bolbossus bervoetsi Gnezdilov et Bourgoin, 2016 (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea: Issidae) in Baltic amber, with description of a female and fifth instar nymph

New material on the planthopper species, Bolbossus bervoetsi Gnezdilov et Bourgoin, 2016 (Issidae, Issinae, Parahiraciini), originally described more than 100 years ago based on an adult of unknown sex from the Baltic amber, is redescribed and illustrated based on a female and fifth instar nymph recently discovered in the collection of the Natural History Museum of Denmark (Copenhagen).

Exploring the potential of extreme citizen science with Danish high school students using environmental DNA for marine monitoring

Citizen science involves non-professionals assisting with scientific research, contributing data, and conducting experiments under professional guidance. In this paper, we describe the citizen science project DNA & life, based at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, which actively engages high school students in both fieldwork and advanced laboratory analyses by collecting and analyzing eDNA samples from marine environments across Denmark. The analysis is performed via species-specific real-time PCR and in a case study we present data gathered in the project from 2017-2023 with focus on the potential of eDNA detecting in use for species monitoring. The results include seasonal occurrence of Mnemiopsis leidyi and national distributions of selected species of particular ecological interest Perca fluviatilis, Anguilla anguilla, Neogobius melanostomus and Alexandrium ostenfeldii. In addition to the eDNA case study, we present a new way of conducting citizen science and eDNA analysis, as a development of the established DNA & life project. Local DNA laboratories are created to shorten the path from sampling site to laboratory facility, creating the possibility for Danish high schools to participate in a new version of the project. In close collaboration with the academic staff of the DNA & life project both teachers and students help develop facilities, protocols and laboratory analyses in an extreme citizen science and co-creation approach, where the participants are involved in a higher level of laboratory work and data analysis. Allowing high school students to perform intricate molecular lab analyzes through an extreme citizen science approach has demonstrated encouraging outcomes and potential for data of high quality in terms of sampling and analyzing eDNA with the purpose of species monitoring and conservation.

Beescapes – extracting pollen from historical Danish beeswax to explore honeybee foraging

We extracted pollen from historical honeycomb specimens of beeswax to highlight the potential of beeswax as a source for palynological studies. The pollen composition was explored as a proxy for honeybee foraging in the past. Additionally, we wanted to illuminate the potential of the palynological analysis to provenance the specimens. Danish honeycomb samples from the Natural History Museum of Denmark, dating from the late 19th, early twentieth century were processed and analysed for pollen identification. We used Ellenberg values to represent functional traits for the identified taxa and applied these as explanatory variables to study the variation in foraging environment and plant preference of the honeybees. Our results indicate variations of an agricultural landscape, with bees foraging on plants that are high in nutritional value. We found that information gained from palynological analysis of museum samples may be useful in illuminating details of historical apiology. We present our study in light of the importance of environmental biodiversity in Denmark and its vitality for bees as key pollinators in our ecosystem.

Pampean megamammals in Europe: the fossil collections from Santiago Roth

Santiago Roth was a Swiss fossil finder, naturalist, and paleontologist that emigrated to Argentina in 1866. His work largely influenced the discipline in the country at the end of the twentieth century, particularly the stratigraphy of the Pampean region. Some of his collections of Pampean fossils were sold to museums and private collectors in Europe and were accompanied by elaborated catalogues. Fossils in the Roth’s catalogues N° 2 and 3 are housed today in the Natural History Museum of Denmark, fossils from catalogues N° 4 to 6, were sold to Swiss museums, with Catalogue N° 5 currently housed at the Department of Paleontology, Universität Zürich. Here, we provide a general framework on the stratigraphy from the Roth’s Pampean fossil sites, summarize the history of the Pampean fossils in Europe originally collected by Roth, and provide historical and curatorial details of the Roth’s collection at the Department of Paleontology, Universität Zürich.

Digitization of the Greenland Vascular Plant Herbarium as a Unique Research Infrastructure to Study Arctic Climate Change and Inform Nature Management

The Greenland Vascular Plant Herbarium at the Natural History Museum of Denmark represents the largest collection of botanical specimens from Greenland and includes some of the oldest known specimens collected in the Arctic, as well as voucher specimens collected over time from important botanical expeditions. High-resolution digital images for all specimens in this collection have recently been obtained and accompanying specimen label data have been transcribed. Digitizing this invaluable botanical collection from Greenland allows us to make nearly 170,000 Arctic plant specimens available online to researchers, amateur botanists, nature managers and advisers, as well as the general public. Improved access to this museum collection will facilitate global change research and nature management in Greenland’s rapidly changing Arctic environment and will help promote the value of digitizing Arctic specimens maintained in natural history collections worldwide. Current and potential applications of Arctic herbarium material in climate change studies, and the biases and limitations of such herbarium material for these studies are discussed.

The GEUS Palynology, Nannofossil, and Microfossil Arctic Slide Collection

Since 1976 more than 25,000 Arctic sediment samples have been processed for their palynological, nannofossil, or microfossil content at the Geological Survey of Greenland (GGU) and the Geological Survey of Denmark (DGU); both institutes are now merged into the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). The samples represent nearly all ages from the Neoproterozoic to the Neogene, though dominated by the Mesozoic. A large proportion of the samples were processed for palynomorphs. Up to ten slides have been produced for each palynological sample and usually one slide is produced for each nannofossil and microfossil sample, making the GEUS collection one of the largest Arctic slide collections with more than 200,000 slides. All type specimens and some specimens illustrated in publications listed here have been assigned MGUH numbers ( Museum Geologica Universitas Hafniensis) and are housed in the type collection of the Geological Museum of the University of Copenhagen, now part of the Natural History Museum of Denmark.

New species of belytine and diapriine wasps (Hymenoptera: Diapriidae) from Eocene Baltic amber

The fossil diversity of Diapriidae in Baltic amber, dated Upper Eocene, has been poorly investigated. However, some studies suggest that this family was already diversified at this time. This is supported by our present study of the Baltic amber collection of the Natural History Museum of Denmark, from which we describe and figure ten new species belonging to the subfamilies Belytinae: Belyta knudhoejgaardi sp. nov., Cinetus breviscapus sp. nov., Cinetus elongatus sp. nov., Pantoclis globosa sp. nov., Pantolyta augustinusii sp. nov., Pantolyta chemyrevae sp. nov., Pantolyta similis sp. nov.; and Diapriinae: Basalys villumi sp. nov., Doliopria baltica sp. nov. and Spilomicrus succinalis sp. nov. The diversity of extant genera observed leads us to propose an origin in the early Cenozoic for these taxa. The fossil record of the Diapriidae in Baltic amber is also summarized.

Re-discovery of the type series of the Indian freshwater mussel Parreysia corrugata (O. F. Müller, 1774) with the designation of the lectotype (Bivalvia: Unionidae: Parreysiinae)

ABSTRACT India represents a tropical biodiversity hotspot, harbouring a unique and largely endemic fauna of freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae). Unfortunately, the type series of many freshwater mussel taxa historically described from this country are thought to be lost. Here, we report on the rediscovery of the type series of Parreysia corrugata (O.F Müller, 1774) (Parreysiinae: Parreysiini) in the Natural History Museum of Denmark (NHMD), Copenhagen. It contains four syntypes (complete shells), which were examined by means of morphological and geometric morphometric techniques. We show that the nominal taxon Parreysia corrugata was established based on a composite type series, because one of the syntypes belongs to another species, Potomida semirugata (Lamarck, 1819) (Gonideinae: Lamprotulini), originating from the Middle East. To fix the taxonomic identity of the Indian species, a syntype (lot NHMD 916309) that was most likely illustrated by O.F. Müller in 1779 is designated here as the lectotype of Parreysia corrugata. The lectotype, paralectotypes and corresponding labels are illustrated in detail. Our new findings clarify the taxonomic concept of Parreysia corrugata and contribute to the further development of the Indian Unionidae taxonomy. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:AD4E3637-66BC-4C48-BCC6-2E910451CB89

Furongian (upper Cambrian) trilobites and agnostoids from the Alum Shale Formation of Bornholm, Denmark: revised taxonomy and biostratigraphy

The Furongian (upper Cambrian) trilobite-agnostoid fauna from the Alum Shale Formation of Bornholm, Denmark, is reviewed and revised. The study is based on the museum material stored at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, including the material originally monographed by C. Poulsen (1923) [Bornholms Olenuslag og deres fauna. Danmarks Geologiske Undersøgelse II. Række, Vol. 40, 83 pp]. A total of 8502 specimens, mostly disarticulated sclerites, have been registered. The taxonomy of all species is updated and the best preserved specimens are illustrated. A total of 39 olenid and 5 agnostoid taxa (incl. the Miaolingian Agnostus pisiformis) are recorded including one new species, Ctenopyge magna n. sp. Two specimens of Ctenopyge, treated in open nomenclature as Ctenopyge sp. 1 and sp. 2, may also rep-resent new species. 14 taxa have not been previously reported from Bornholm, viz. Ctenopyge ahlbergi, Ctenopyge tumidoides, Eurycare brevicauda, Leptoplastus abnormis, Leptoplastus crassicornis, Olenus transversus, Parabolina lobata praecurrens, Peltura acu-tidens, Peltura minor, Peltura westergaardi, Protopeltura planicauda, Protopeltura praecursor, Pseudagnostus leptoplastorum? and Sphaerophthalmus drytonensis. Ctenopyge pecten and Ctenopyge affinis are also new to Bornholm as the material formerly described under these names represent Ctenopyge tenuis and C. magna n. sp., respectively. Lotagnostus americanus, Ctenopyge fletcheri, Sphaerophthalmus alatus and Triangulopyge humilis were described under different names by C. Poulsen (1923). Peltura westergaardi and Ctenopyge tenuis are elevated from subspecies to species rank. A redescription of Leptoplastus bornholmensis is presented; the species is transferred to Eurycare. The identification of isolated skeletal parts of L. abnormis and Leptoplastus ovatus and Sphaerophthalmus flagellifer and S. drytonensis are remarked on. The presence of three agnostoid and 14 trilobite zones is confirmed by fossils and all six Furongian superzones are developed on Bornholm. At least the Leptoplastus paucisegmentatus and Leptoplastus raphidophorus zones seem to be absent. Other undocumented zones may be unfossiliferous, not exposed or truly absent. Three different trilobite assemblages (potential subzones) are discerned in the Peltura acu-tidens–Ctenopyge tumida Zone; Ctenopyge tumidoides and Sphaerophthalmus angustus range into the basal part of this zone. All exposures of the Furongian Alum Shale Formation along the Læså and Øleå streams on southern Bornholm are briefly described including GPS coordinates.

Monitoring the influx of new species through citizen science: the first introduced ant in Denmark

Climate change and invasive species threaten biodiversity, yet rigorous monitoring of their impact can be costly. Citizen science is increasingly used as a tool for monitoring exotic species, because citizens are geographically and temporally dispersed, whereas scientists tend to cluster in museums and at universities. Here we report on the establishment of the first exotic ant taxon (Tetramorium immigrans) in Denmark, which was discovered by children participating in The Ant Hunt. The Ant Hunt is a citizen science project for children that we ran in 2017 and 2018, with a pilot study in 2015. T. immigrans was discovered in the Botanical Garden of the Natural History Museum of Denmark in 2015 and confirmed as established in 2018. This finding extends the northern range boundary of T. immigrans by almost 460 km. Using climatic niche modelling, we compared the climatic niche of T. immigrans in Europe with that of T. caespitum based on confirmed observations from 2006 to 2019. T. immigrans and T. caespitum had a 13% niche overlap, with T. immigrans showing stronger occurrence in warmer and drier areas compared to T. caespitum. Mapping the environmental niches onto geographic space identified several, currently uninhabited, areas as climatically suitable for the establishment of T. immigrans. Tetramorium immigrans was sampled almost three times as often in areas with artificial surfaces compared to T. caespitum, suggesting that T. immigrans may not be native to all of Europe and is being accidentally introduced by humans. Overall, citizen scientists collected data on ants closer to cities and harbours than scientists did and had a stronger bias towards areas of human disturbance. This increased sampling effort in areas of likely introduction of exotic species naturally increases the likelihood of discovering species sooner, making citizen science an excellent tool for exotic species monitoring, as long as trained scientists are involved in the identification process.

Corrigendum: A new genus and species of Staphylininae rove beetle from the Peruvian Amazon (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae). https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.904.48592

In a recent paper (Jenkins Shaw et al. 2020) we stated that the holotype of Amazonothops aslaki would be deposited in the Natural History Museum of Denmark (NHMD). According to the conditions of the permit RDG 0328-2017-SERFOR-DGGSPFFS/RDG 356-2017-SERFOR-DGGSPFFS, the holotype and one paratype (SEM coated male with same data as holotype but from 4°53.210'S, 73°38.921'W, 7–10.IX.2017, rainforest, FIT near creek (PER 17-22l ) of Amazonothops aslaki described in Jenkins Shaw et al. (2020) were sent for the permanent deposition to the Museo de Historia Natural de la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Peru (MHN-UNMSM).

The changing symbolic meaning of the extinct great auk and its afterlife as a museum object at the Natural History Museum of Denmark

This article examines the historical context and afterlife of the great auk as a museum object. The focus is on the changing meaning of the bird as it travels across cultural boundaries, material forms and historical periods. It starts by focusing on how the bird was contextualized within Ole Worm’s cabinet in the 17th century and then moves on to more recent museum representations. By conducting interviews with museum staff and professionals and analysis of items stored and/or exhibited at the museum, the symbolic meanings and representative functions of the great auk are brought into light. As proposed in this paper, certain characteristics, values and meanings stem from the materiality of the objects but also from their travels and re-locations. The investigation reveals how the role of the great auk in relation to collective museum (and human) challenges such as emerging ecological limits and biodiversity loss has been developing.

A new species detected in the collection of the Natural History Museum of Denmark of the Dana Expedition from 1928–30: <i>Carybdea irregularis</i> sp. nov. (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa, Cubomedusae, Carybdeida, Carybdeidae) from French Polynesian waters

A new species detected in the collection of the Natural History Museum of Denmark of the Dana Expedition from 1928–30: <i>Carybdea irregularis</i> sp. nov. (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa, Cubomedusae, Carybdeida, Carybdeidae) from French Polynesian waters

Biodiversity Community Cyberinfrastructure in the Specify Collections Consortium

The Specify Collections Consortium ("SCC") is a member-funded organization currently comprised of 70 biodiversity collection institutions--universities, research centers, and government agencies from around the globe. In 2018, the SCC was created as a follow-on to the Specify Software Project that had a 20-year history as a US NSF grant funded biological collections software engineering and technical support project. Founding members of the Consortium include the National Natural History Museum of Denmark, and in the United States, the Universities of Florida, Michigan, and Kansas. The SCC plans to build on its open-source collections computing platforms to bring research analysis and integration to the collections curation environment. The inclusion and integration of genetic data standards, Nagoya Protocol business rules, and biogeographical analysis in Specify platforms will extend museum digitization and cataloging to engage collections in broader computational communities, for increased research, educational, and policy impact. Significant investments by the South African National Biodiversity Institute, the Natural History Museum of Geneva, and regional collections in additional countries are contributing to the Consortium's growth and financial sustainability. Code contributions from Consortium members have supplemented their financial commitments to produce capabilities that immediately benefit all members. We will present an update on the Specify Consortium's progress during its first 1.5 years, and outline its near- and long-term priorities for collections community engagement and technological innovation.

Hybridization between two high Arctic cetaceans confirmed by genomic analysis

In 1990, a skull from a morphologically unusual Monodontid was found in West Greenland and collected for the Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen. From its intermediate morphology, the skull was hypothesized to be a beluga/narwhal hybrid. If confirmed, the specimen would, to our knowledge, represent the sole evidence of hybridization between the only two toothed whale species endemic to the Arctic. Here we present genome-wide DNA sequence data from the specimen and investigate its origin using a genomic reference panel of eight belugas and eight narwhals. Our analyses reveal that the specimen is a male, first-generation hybrid between a female narwhal and a male beluga. We use stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis to investigate the dietary niche of the hybrid and find a higher δ13C value than in both belugas and narwhals, suggesting a foraging strategy unlike either parental species. These results further our understanding of the interaction between belugas and narwhals, and underscore the importance of natural history collections in monitoring changes in biodiversity. In addition, our study exemplifies how recent major advances in population genomic analyses using genotype likelihoods can provide key biological and ecological insights from low-coverage data (down to 0.05x).

Millipedes of the order Chordeumatida (Diplopoda) from the Russian Far East and Siberia in the collection of the Natural History Museum of Denmark

Millipedes of the order Chordeumatida (Diplopoda) from the Russian Far East and Siberia in the collection of the Natural History Museum of Denmark

Lakes, Labs and Learning: How an Environmental DNA Citizen Science Project Makes Sense for High School Students, Researchers and Environmental Managers

Citizen science (CS) is a fairly new concept where ordinary citizens contribute to scientific research. At the Natural History Museum of Denmark, a successful pilot CS project was followed up by an actual full-scale project. As part of their curricula, high-school students learned and tested newly developed environmental DNA (eDNA) working methods on lake water to document which fish, amphibians, insects, crayfish and mammals were living in the lakes. Initially CS was met with scepticism by researchers but now CS is becoming more visible among researchers as well as environmental managers and STEM educators.

Catalogue of the type material in the entomological collection of the Natural History Museum of Denmark: basal hexapods

A catalogue of type specimens of basal hexapods (Collembola, Protura, Diplura, Archaeognatha, Zygentoma) in the collection of the Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen is presented. The NHMD collection harbours type material of 175 species, and it is composed of 132 holotypes, 4 neotypes, 3 syntypes, 32 lectotypes, and 39 paratypes. For Diplura one neotype is newly designated. The order Protura is represented by 5 families, Collembola by 7 families, Diplura by 6 families, Archaeognatha by 1 family and Zygentoma by 2 families.

Type designation of the name of the conifer Araâr-tree Tetraclinis articulata (Cupressaceae)

The typification of the name Tetraclinis articulata (Cupressaceae) is discussed. Previous type designation is considered ineffective. Original material conserved in the herbarium of the Natural History Museum of Denmark at C is designated as the lectotype.