Morphology, Pandemic, and 3D

Abstract

The COVID‑19 pandemic imposes the biggest restrictions on access to morphological information housed in scientific collections, compromising the progress of scientific research. Even though it is not the first event to impose restrictions on access, it is undoubtedly the most global in range. Based on this, we discuss the barriers to access information and we show 3D technology as an important tool to create routes to mitigate the effects of future restrictions. In a global sphere, there are initiatives of inter-institutional integration and international networks focused on facilitating and disseminate the implementation of digitization tools and techniques to facilitate access to diverse biological information. Notwithstanding, when we speak in 3D technology in Latin American countries, as is well noted in Brazil, this type of progress is lacking, with only isolated initiatives from some laboratories and research centers that implement 3D digitization tools, but often as experimental uses. Moreover, recent events, such as the Museu Naciona fire and the mobility restriction imposed by the COVID‑19 pandemic, reinforce the need and urgency to discuss the virtualization of natural history collections in the national territory. In this sense, we recommend photogrammetry as a more accessible and versatile technology, which could be quickly implemented in curatorial procedures. We, also, have defined criteria to establish priorities for virtualizing the collection. The virtualization of the type specimens is an inevitable and necessary task to ensure their access and expansion of their safe preservation, as established by the ICZN, and should therefore be considered as a high priority, followed by reference specimens, which are frequently accessed. Finally, to ensure Latin America advances to levels similar to those observed in other continents, it is important to establish a collaborative network of museums and other research institutions.