The Malacological Collection Professor Maury Pinto de Oliveira

Abstract

The Collection of the Malacological Museum Prof. Maury Pinto de Oliveira was initiated in the 1950s and, presently includes more than 8800 lots of specimens of all molluscan groups from marine, terrestrial and freshwater habitats and from different localities in Brazil and around the globe. Nowadays, the curatorial procedures adopted in the CMPMPO-UFJF have been adequate through the inclusion of ethanol preserved specimens with the respective backup of tissue samples aimed to future DNA extraction. The continued realization, in the last six years of inventories of the fauna of terrestrial and freshwater molluscs in the Minas Gerais state, has allowed the inclusion of specimens from families previously unrepresented in the collection, or for which there was no liquid preserved specimens, as the families Veronicellidae, Subulinidae, Physidae, Lymnaeidae, Ancylidae e Planorbidae. The finality of the CMPMPO is the continued formation and preservation of a collection that represents the diversity of the molluscan fauna from Brazil and other countries. This collection constitutes a universal heritage, serving as reference to the study of mollusks. The existence of this collection allows the accomplishment of research, human resources formation and public services through science popularization initiatives. In this sense, the CMPMPO meet all the roles attributed to biological collections: guard, preservation, research and education.