Collections
The origins of the collections of the Carmagnola Natural History Museum go back to the naturalist from Carmagnola Giacinto Carena (Carmagnola, 25 April 1778 – Turin, 8 March 1859), formerly Secretary of the Accademia Reale delle Scienze di Torino (Royal Academy of Sciences of Turin).
The Museum's collections now include many thousands of specimens. The most important collection, and not only in terms of numbers, is the entomological one.
Most of the material kept in the Museum's collections comes from Italy, but a substantial part also comes from various African countries. Much of this material derives from the entomological expeditions carried out by Gianfranco Curletti and from the herpetological research of Roberto Sindaco.
Old and new specimens serve as samples of particular animal and plant species, or of fossils and minerals, used by scientists for various kinds of research (find out more).
The collections are used as essential reference material by the researchers attached to the Museum and by researchers from other institutions or simply by enthusiasts. They are fundamental for taxonomic research, for the description of species new to science and for the identification of insects or other animals that may have harmful effects on agriculture or on other sectors of economic importance.
The Museum's curators carry out research in the field, publish their research, assist researchers visiting the collections and respond to requests for loans and exchanges of material. Research in the field brings in a constant flow of new material, which enriches the collections.
The official acronym adopted for citing material from the Museum's collections is MCCI (Museo Civico di storia naturale di Carmagnola, Italy), which replaces others used in the past, mainly for vertebrates (MCSNC and MCC).
The Museum's CITES code is IT016