Repatriation, Incorporation, and Destruction: the destination of the Caster Collection at the Museu Nacional/UFRJ, Brazil

Abstract

In the mid-twentieth century, geologist Kenneth E. Caster collected fossils of South American Paleozoic and Mesozoic invertebrates, further contributing to important research for Brazilian geology. The collected paleontological collection was later taken to study at the University of Cincinnati (USA), where it remained for more than six decades. In 2016, in an unprecedented agreement between the Universidade de Cincinnati and the Museu Nacional/UFRJ, the Caster collection was repatriated, incorporating it into the collection of paleoinvertebrates of the Museu Nacional/UFRJ. The report clarifying the trajectory of the collection's repatriation and its tragic, but partial, destruction in the institution's fire in 2018 and its current destination is the objective of this paper.

The Tropidoleptus carinatus controversy: Did this brachiopod occur in the Devonian of the Paraná Basin, Brazil?

“…The Museu Nacional specimens are the same ones previously analyzed by Caster (1947) and are part of the Caster Collection. Initially, these specimens were sent to the University of Cincinnati and later repatriated to the Museu Nacional collection in 2016 (see Scheffler et al, 2021). The specimens that were not affected by the tragic fire in 2018 because they were not inside the palace are MN Derby (1895), was lost in the fire and is no longer available for examination.…”