Founded in 1818, the museum is Brazil's oldest scientific institution and one of the largest and most renowned museums in Latin America, amassing a collection of some 20 million scientifically and culturally invaluable artifacts.
Including Luzia, an 11, 500 - year - old skull considered one of South America's oldest human fossils, as well as the bones of uniquely Brazilian creatures such as the long - necked dinosaur Maxakalisaurus. Because of the auction tastes of Brazil's 19th - century emperors, the Museu Nacional also ended up with Latin America's oldest collection of Egyptian mummies and artifacts.
Even the building holds historical importance: It housed the exiled Portuguese royal family from 1808 to 1821, after they fled to Rio de Janeiro in 1807 to escape Napoleon. The complex also served as the palace for Brazil's post - independence emperors until 1889, before the museum collections were transferred there in 1902.
As per experts, some of the metal cabinets, which contained fossils may have withstood the fire, though it's unclear whether the fossils inside survived. The technicians seem to have saved some of the museum's more than 40, 000 mollusk specimens which is a relief. But now, many of the fossils, the Egyptian collection, the museum's invertebrate specimens, and more artifacts housed in the main building are probably destroyed. The museum's fish and reptile specimens, herbarium, and library were housed separately and are thought to have survived.
Paleontologist Dimila Mothé, a postdoctoral researcher at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, adds that the blows to science extend beyond the collections themselves. “It's not only the cultural history, the natural history, but all the theses and research developed there, ” she says. “Most of the laboratories there were lost, too, and the research of several professors. I'm not sure you can say the impact of what was lost. ”
It's not yet clear how the fire started, but it did begin after the museum was closed to the public, and no injuries have yet been reported. Firefighters worked through the night to douse the burnt - out shell of the main building, but it seems the blaze has already seared a gaping hole in many scientists' careers.
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