Papers by Gippoliti Spartaco
Tlse irupoÉance of primates in the conseruation o;f Aftotropical ecoslstems ls hlghlighted alo g ... more Tlse irupoÉance of primates in the conseruation o;f Aftotropical ecoslstems ls hlghlighted alo g Loitb case studies illustuating their different roles as key elemenx in the fuxctioning of tropical foresî communities, as bioindicators, and as taryet species in tbe d.euelopmext of ecotourism. Since pimates, particular$ apes, are the focus of nanJ) coflseraatiofl proglammes and effolts, tbe prcsetuation of these flagship species often facilítates the conseruatlon of enthe forest ecosystems ubicb uould otheruise renain uflprotected.. Tbe airxs, techniques afld strategies of plimate conseruation projects are.critically vnall,zecl, togetbet aith tbe eualuatlox ctiteria of species conseruation printl.ties. The inportance ìx biodiuersitl conseruatiox planníng of geogtaphic aariation and subspecies is outÌined. The rcleoance of experimental rctearcb on dffirent populatlons in otder to achieue a better knouledge of genetic distance axd the phylogenetíc rclationsbips among plinrate taxa k empbasized. This objectíue, owing to tbe scarcity of funds aoailab/e for bíological conseruation, is rleemed. essextíal ir order to properly estimate the conseloation ualue of many taxa. Paúiculat emphasls ís giuen to the identifìcation of small forested areas uhere the occurrence of endemíc plimate taxa is often associated uitb euolutionary ticissitudis ahich haue also ínuolued many other lesser knoun organisms of great scientific íxterest. Finally, the role of pritnates as a food rcsource for many African peoples is described, as well as their importaxce ìx tbe tural economy as tmd.e and. excbange items, frotn hamlets to cities. Such exploìtation of game, together uith tbe carrent increase of hutxax populations and tbe auailability of guns, has led to the local extirpatíon of sone primate specíes long before destruction of habitats. Adequate etbnozoological research throughout tbe contíneflt is essential ta dttain a dctailed knowbdge of tbe paúicalar socío-economic reality of modern day Afríca, uhicb still requires the inteftse exploítatíofl of wildlife prcclucx at d.ìfferent leoelg sct as tct gualafltee the long-term success of biologìcal conseruation ptogtamrues.
A Mario De Iorio, che tanto amò le Mainarde, nel trentennale della costituzione del Gruppo Orso I... more A Mario De Iorio, che tanto amò le Mainarde, nel trentennale della costituzione del Gruppo Orso Italia al Parco nazionale d'Abruzzo.
la collezione primatologica del museo civico di storia naturale "g. doria" di genova Ri... more la collezione primatologica del museo civico di storia naturale "g. doria" di genova Riassunto. Nella seconda metà dell'Ottocento si registra la nascita e il massimo incremento (più del 70%) della collezione dei Primati del Museo di Genova grazie alle spedizioni organizzate dal Museo; tra i raccoglitori di questo periodo vanno menzionati Giacomo Doria, Odoardo Beccari, Orazio Antinori, Leonardo Fea ed Elio Modigliani. Un successivo ampliamento (circa 17%) avviene, tra il 1925 e il 1944, ad opera principalmente di Saverio Patrizi ed Edoardo Zavattari. Tra il 1913 e il 1947 Oscar De Beaux (dapprima come conservatore e poi come direttore del Museo) ha studiato la collezione dei Primati, incrementandola con esemplari provenienti prima dallo Zoo di Amburgo e, successivamente, dallo Zoo di Genova Nervi che egli stesso aveva fondato. Attualmente sono rappresentate 119 specie distribuite in 15 famiglie; sono conservati 29 reperti in alcool, 27 scheletri, 317 crani, 165 pelli e...
ZooKeys, 2014
The Italian natural history museums are facing a critical situation, due to the progressive loss ... more The Italian natural history museums are facing a critical situation, due to the progressive loss of scientific relevance, decreasing economic investments, and scarcity of personnel. This is extremely alarming, especially for ensuring the long-term preservation of the precious collections they host. Moreover, a commitment in fieldwork to increase scientific collections and concurrent taxonomic research are rarely considered priorities, while most of the activities are addressed to public events with political payoffs, such as exhibits, didactic meetings, expositions, and talks. This is possibly due to the absence of a national museum that would have better steered research activities and overall concepts for collection management. We here propose that Italian natural history museums collaborate to instate a "metamuseum", by establishing a reciprocal interaction network aimed at sharing budgetary and technical resources, which would assure better coordination of common long-term goals and scientific activities.
Quaternary International, 2008
Rodents on islands are usually thought of by conservationists mainly in reference to invasive pes... more Rodents on islands are usually thought of by conservationists mainly in reference to invasive pest species, which have wrought considerable ecological damage on islands around the globe. However, almost one in five of the world's nearly 2300 rodent species is an island endemic, and insular rodents suffer from high rates of extinction and endangerment. Rates of Quaternary extinction and current threat are especially high in the West Indies and the species-rich archipelagos of Southeast Asia. Rodent endemism reaches its most striking levels on large or remote oceanic islands, such as Madagascar, the Caribbean, the Ryukyu Islands, the oceanic Philippines, Sulawesi, the Galapagos, and the Solomon Islands, as well as on very large land-bridge islands, especially New Guinea. While conservation efforts in the past and present have focused mainly on charismatic mammals (such as birds and large mammals), efforts specifically targeted toward less conspicuous animals (such as insular rodents) may be necessary to stem large numbers of extinctions in the near future. r
Oryx, 2001
Rodents account for 40 per cent of living mammal species. Nevertheless, despite an increased inte... more Rodents account for 40 per cent of living mammal species. Nevertheless, despite an increased interest in biodiversity conservation and their high species richness, Rodentia are often neglected by conservationists. We attempt for the ®rst time a world-wide evaluation of rodent conservation priorities at the genus level. Given the low popularity of the order, we considered it desirable to discuss identi®ed priorities within the framework of established biodiversity priority areas of the world. Two families and 62 genera are recognized as threatened. Our analyses highlight the Philippines, New Guinea, Sulawesi, the Caribbean, China temperate forests and the Atlantic Forest of south-eastern Brazil as the most important (for their high number of genera)`threat-spots' for rodent conservation. A few regions, mainly drylands, are singled out as important areas for rodent conservation but are not generally recognized in global biodiversity assessments. These are the remaining forests of Togo, extremè western Sahel', the Turanian and Mongolian±Manchurian steppes and the desert of the Horn of Africa. Resources for conservation must be allocated ®rst to recognized threat spots and to those restricted-range genera which may depend on species-speci®c strategies for their survival.
Conservation Biology, 2004
Conservation Biology, 1997
Rendiconti Lincei, 2014
The recent publication of the travel journal by Giacomo Savorgnan di Brazzà, head of a scientific... more The recent publication of the travel journal by Giacomo Savorgnan di Brazzà, head of a scientific mission to Western Equatorial Africa on behalf of the French government in the years 1883-1886, provides a great opportunity to increase our knowledge of a small sample of primate specimens, now preserved in the Zoological Section of the University of Florence Natural History Museum. In the present paper, some of the taxonomic aspects of the new primate species proposed on the basis of the Brazzà-Pecile's collection deposited at the Museum National de Histoire Naturelle in Paris are also discussed. Thanks to the newly available information stored in their diaries, it is now possible to restrict more precisely type localities of newly described taxa: namely Cercopithecus brazzae, Cercocebus agilis, Colobus guereza occidentalis and Piliocolobus bouvieri.
Der Zoologische Garten, 2015
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Papers by Gippoliti Spartaco