Contribution to the knowledge about mammal collections in Brazil

Abstract

We provide a brief introduction on the importance and use of scientific collections and a general overview of the articles that are part of the special issue of the Brazilian Journal of Mammalogy on Brazilian mammal collections. The 19 articles that comprise this issue refer to collections distributed across eight Brazilian states. Most of the collections hold specimens of living mammals, and two of them are paleontological collections. Two articles address specific orders of mammals, while the rest present data for all the orders. We hope that this issue represents a significant contribution to efforts to preserve Brazilian scientific collections, providing a more comprehensive view of their importance and the current and potential use of the specimens preserved therein.