The online exhibition of the Cynoterium sardous
In the situation of worldwide lockdown due to the ongoing pandemic, the museum of the Geological and Historical Collections of the Geological Survey of Italy (ISPRA) in the awareness of its role as a museum as a place of cultural diffusion and social inclusion and, increasingly, as a virtual meeting point thanks to the possibilities offered by the net, has decided to reach the public with the story of a Cynotherium sardous sample, a fossil dog extinct 10,000 years ago.
Exhibited in January 2019 at the ISPRA headquarters in Rome, after years of storage in the warehouse, it was a destination for visits by many guests, and especially by school children, during the Scienzansieme event held in September 2019.
To overcome the isolation imposed by health measures, it now also becomes a virtual exhibition, for the digital fruition by students and enthusiasts from all over the world. The objective of scientific dissemination is also flanked by the need to draw attention on the concept of protecting biodiversity, also through the study of fossil animal species, their paleo-environment of life and their extinctions.
Cynotherium sardous Studiati is a Pleistocene fossil canid, belonging to the Geological Collections, that include about 150,000 paleontological, lithological, mineralogical finds, as well as Historical Collections including geological models, technical instrumentation, historical and artistic artifacts related to the activities carried out in the Geological Survey during over a century.
For a long time, exactly from 1885, preserved in the historical seat of the Geological Agricultural Museum in Largo Santa Susanna in Rome, the collections in 1999 were moved and partially exhibited in a new seat until 2012, year in which they were fully packaged and placed in storage. The prestigious heritage is therefore currently not available.
Cynotherium sardous fossil sample, also conserved in a box and placed in the warehouse since 2012 until now, has recently been exhibited inside the ISPRA Headquarters in Rome, in an arrangement that allows accessibility in a safe situation both for exposure and control. The painting "The Tiber at the Stone Age" which represents paleo-biodiversity in the Upper Pleistocene, was also placed in the same room. The specimen exhibited in Rome is perhaps the only one of this species with a complete and reconstructed skeleton.
Similar to today's dogs, Cynotherium was an endemic species of Sardinia and Corsica, and is a clear example of the adaptation of a species to the environment of an island. The species was characterized by short legs and wide paws, skilled in digging. It probably fed on small mammals, birds and other small animals such as the Prolagus sardous, the remains of which were found in the same cave.
The canid, found in 1954 in Grotta Dragonara, near Alghero (Sardinia), in a layer corresponding to the Würm glaciation, is about 40.000 years old. The reconstruction of the individual, 76 cm. in length, was made in the sixties, after a careful anatomical study for the union of the single bones and for the position to give to the animal, through a delicate assembly on a metal structure. At the same time, the showcase that still holds it was also created.
The excellent packaging system, including the canid mounted on its support, has safeguarded the fragile find both from possible impacts and from sudden changes in temperature; it has in fact allowed to keep the Canid in an excellent state of conservation.
In January 2019 the find, through a very delicate unpacking work, was brought to light, by gradually releasing it from packaging and protection materials, through suction of small polystyrene balls, that in time have guaranteed maximum protection both from thermo-hygrometric changes and during the movements of the specimen box. Then, a thorough cleaning job was necessary in the interstices formed by the small bones, especially along the spine, in the occipital area of the skull and in the mandible.
Once completely cleaned, the canid was raised and removed from the box. It was also subjected to minor restoration work and to the unwrapping of the jaw, with the need to reposition by interlocking, along the metal support structure, the first cervical vertebra and the head.
After this unpacking, cleaning and restoration it was reinserted in its historical showcase and is now located in the ISPRA headquarters in Via Brancati, 48, continuously monitored and accessible by anyone.