Main zoological collections of Brazilian echimyid rodents and the importance of preserving postcranial structures

Abstract

During our visits to the main Brazilian collections of echimyid rodents to conduct a study relating scapula and humerus morphometry with locomotor habits, we found a large number of specimens with absent postcranium or in a poor state of conservation, compromising our sampling and hindering our work. As a result, the scapulae accounted for only 35% and the humerus 32% of the total skulls present in mammalogy collections. We, therefore, alert all fellow mammalogists to the importance of preserving postcranial structures for deposit in zoological collections.