Museum of Geology and Palaeontology “Domenico Lovisato”
History
The Museum of Mineralogy “Leonardo De Pruner” and the Sardinian Museum of Geology and Palaeontology “Domenico Lovisato”, both at the Department of Chemistry and Geology of the University of Cagliari, were founded to host the collection owned by the Viceroy of Sardinia Carlo Felice di Savoia (1765-1831). Upon his request, the collection was initially housed in the Palazzo Regio (Royal Palace) so as to be made available to all scholars interested in it. During that period, Major Leonardo De Pruner served as the Director of the museum. He was a German military officer in the service of the Kingdom of Sardinia and he was passionate about entomology and mineralogy.
In 1806, the collection was moved to Palazzo Belgrano, in Via Università (the building that is host to the Chancellor’s office today) and divided into different rooms, which made it become a real museum exhibition.
Meanwhile, several pieces were added the collection, including those that were previously part of the La Marmora Collection, which comprised geological specimens from all over Sardinia and had been collected by the eminent scholar Alberto Ferrero Conte De La Marmora between 1824 and 1853. He divided all specimens into three identical collections and donated them respectively to the Museum of Natural History in Turin, the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle (Jardin des Plantes, The Mineralogy and Geology Gallery) in Paris and the Museum of Natural History in Cagliari. In 1858, the collection was further expanded thanks to the then director Patrizio Gennari (1820-1897) who was Professor of Botany and founder of the Botanical Garden at the University of Cagliari. Gennari carried out the first real categorisation of the existing collections, separating the Gabinetto Anatomico (a section containing the anatomical waxes created by Clemente Susini currently housed in the Cittadella dei Musei in Cagliari) from the rest and appointing the then professor of Anatomy as its director.
In 1859 the Museum of Natural Science was also separated from the Museum of Antiquities; the Royal Decree of 20th November 1859 officially established that each museum had to have its own director. Nonetheless, Professor Patrizio Gennari was appointed director for both museums and kept these positions until 1862.
Pursuant to the Royal Decree of 28th August 1864, the Museum of Natural Science was divided into the Royal Museum of Zoology and the Royal Museum of Mineralogy and Geology. Professor Meloni Baïlle was appointed Director of the Royal Museum of Zoology, while Professor Professor Gennari was appointed Director of the Museum of Mineralogy and Geology.
In 1884, the collection was further expanded by the scientist Domenico Lovisato who, after being appointed Professor in Mineralogy at the University of Cagliari, added all the Sardinian specimens he collected during his research.
In 1896, the Museum of Mineralogy and Geology was mentioned in the Bulletin of the Italian Society of Geology, thus confirming its widespread scientific importance at the national level. During that period, Palazzo Belgrano still housed the Museum.
In 1899, the Museum of Mineralogy and Geology acquired two extremely important pieces, a pair of giant fossilised and silicated tree trunks that were found in Zuri. They were part of a forest in the Tirso valley which dates back to the Miocene epoch. The museum continued expanding up until 1916, when Lovisato died. This caused the decline of the whole structure.
In 1922, the museums were rearranged into the Museum of Mineralogy and the Sardinian Museum of Geology and Palaeontology while the hosting institution was also divided into the Institute of Mineralogy and the Institute of Geology. Professor Michele Gortani was appointed director of both institutions and significantly contributed to improve the collections both from a qualitative and quantitative point of view. Indeed, his work on the Sardinian Palaeozoic fauna (and Graptolites in particular) is well known.
During the bombings of World War II, the collections suffered severe damage and many pieces went missing or were destroyed. Professors Carlo Lauro and Vasco Ressetti managed to move part of the surviving collection to Ghilarza, where the whole Institute of Mineralogy had also been moved. They also took with them everything else that was still stored in the basement of Palazzo Belgrano.
In 1956-1957, the two museums were brought back to Cagliari, initially in Via dei
Genovesi and later in Via Trentino. The two museums are now housed on the ground floor of the Department of Chemistry and Geology of the University of Cagliari, in Via Trentino 51. The total floor space is approximately 200 square metres. Many interesting specimens are displayed in fine purpose-built cabinets lining the corridors of the Department, while many others are temporarily stored in boxes while waiting to find an adequate exhibition venue.
http://sites.unica.it/geomusei/storia/
Collections
Lovisato – Echinidi (LE) Collection
The Lovisato- Echinoids (LE) Collection is currently housed in the Museum of Geology and Palaeontology “D. Lovisato” of the University of Cagliari. It comprises several echinoids of the Miocene epoch found in diverse stratified sections of the Sardinian soil (i.e. in areas around Cagliari, Arbus, Oritano and Sassari). Among the most representative orders, it is worth mentioning Cidaroida, Clypeasteroida and Spatangoida. The LE Collection was most likely formed between 1884 (when Domenico Lovisato was appointed Professor of Geology and Mineralogy) and 1916 (when Lovisato died). Most specimens were pictured and reported on I. Comaschi Caria’s (1972) work Gli Echinidi del Miocene della Sardegna. Of the whole collection, 334 pieces are presently filed in the Archive of the ICCD Catalogue of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. However, the real number of finds housed in the Museum is much higher; among them, there are several holotypes, 13 of which are exhibited in the main Exhibition Room of the Lovisato Museum.
Lovisato – Miscellanea (LM) Collection
The Lovisato- Miscellanea (LM) Collection is currently housed in the Museum of Geology and Palaeontology “D. Lovisato” of the University of Cagliari. It comprises many specimens from several stratified sections of the Sardinian soil (i.e. areas around Cagliari, Arbus, Oritano and Sassari) from different geological eras.
The pieces in this collection were most likely assembled between 1884 (when Domenico Lovisato was appointed Professor of Geology and Mineralogy) and 1916 (when Lovisato died). Many palaeontologists, including Parona, Seguenza, Pantanelli, Ugolini, etc. contributed to the analyses and revision of these specimens. Out of the whole LM Collection, 480 specimens were filed in the Archive of the ICCD Catalogue of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, including 362 molluscs of the Miocene epoch that were mainly collected in the hills around Cagliari, Capo San Marco, Sassari and Bosa. They comprise many bivalvia, gastropods and cephalopods. Also, there are 52 arthropods, mainly remains of crustaceans (Neptunus and Callianassa) from the Miocene epoch and found in the areas around Cagliari, Bosa and Torralba; there are also 35 corals and bryozoa from the Miocene epoch found in the stratified sections of the Cagliari soil; 3 brachiopods from different Jurassic areas of Sardinia; 12 foraminifera and 3 annelids from the Miocene epoch; and 5 cephalopods and 2 specimens of Jurassic bivalvia and gastropods from the Nurra area.
However, the total number of specimens housed in the Lovisato Museum is much higher.
Lovisato – Plant (LP) Collections
The Lovisato-Plant (LP) Collection is currently housed in the Museum of Geology and Palaeontology “D. Lovisato” of the University of Cagliari. It comprises many vegetal fossils from several stratified sections of the Sardinian soil (i.e. areas around Cagliari, and the Nurra, Sulcis and Ogliastra areas). The pieces in this collection were filed in the Archive of the ICCD Catalogue of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and include:
The Lovisato-Plant Collection
In addition, there are several fossil plants from the Miocene epoch, 98 of which are filed in the ICCD catalogue and taken from several stratified sections of the Sardinian soil. They include seeds, fruits and fronds of plants and trees; several types of seed-producing plants (angiosperms) were collected in the Cagliari area, e.g. Juglans, Carya, Olea, Typha and many seed-bearing pine cones of pine trees (Pinus). The silicate trunks of Bombeioxylonds in this collection come from the lakes in Olmedo and Martis (in the province of Sassari) and can reach an amazing size. On the whole, 415 fragments were catalogued as belonging to several taxonomic groups.
Lovisato – Vertebrate (LV) Collections
The historic D. Lovisato Collection is housed in the Museum of Geology and Palaeontology “D. Lovisato” of the University of Cagliari, next to the Department of Earth Sciences. It comprises several fossil fragments; most of them are Sardinian and belong to different geological periods. This collection mainly includes fossils of vegetal organisms and invertebrates, as well as some vertebrates from the Miocene epoch and Quaternary period (mainly shark teeth). In addition, there are fish bone fragments and single shark vertebras (Selachii). Of the reptile fragments, it is worth mentioning the partial skull (or holotype) and plaques of a crocodile (Tomistoma calaritanus), as well as the pterygoid palate of a reptile Python sp. As for the mammals, the collection includes vertebras and ribs of Sirenia (Metaxytherium) and the holotypes of whales such as the Eurhinodelphis sassariensis and Rhinostodes lovisatoi. The remains of mammals from the Quaternary period (but most probably from the Pleistocene) are mainly fragments of deer, dogs, goats and pigs. Most specimens were collected by Domenico Lovisato himself, as demonstrated by the handwritten tags attached to them, which provided details of the areas where they were found. Most fragments were collected in the hills around Cagliari, as they abound in remains of fish from the Miocene. Moreover, some caves in the province of Nuoro have provided specimens of macro-mammal fauna from the late Pleistocene. The Lovisato-Vertebrate collection was formed between the last decade of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Only part of this collection was filed in the Archive of the ICCD Catalogue of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, including 110 fragments of Miocene fishes (including one holotype), 19 mammals (including two holotypes), some specimens from the Quaternary period and 3 fragments of reptiles from the Miocene (including one holotype).
Lovisato - Issel (LI) Collection
The Lovisato-Issel Collection comprises approximately 700 fossil pieces of the Tyrrhenian stage (0.126 – 0.0117 Ma), which were collected in several stratified sections of the southern Sardinian soil (i.e. Cagliari area), including Santa Gilla, Cagliari train station, Villa Mossa – S. Mauro (previously known as the Monserrato pong), Bonaria Cemitery, San Bartolomeo, Poetto beach, Is Mesas – Calamosca. Of the whole collection, 356 specimens are filed in the archive of the Museum of Geology and Palaeontology “D. Lovisato” of the University of Cagliari as well as the Archive of the ICCD Catalogue of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. The remaining part is housed in the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Pisa. The pieces were collected by Domenico Lovisato from 1884 to 1913 and analysed by Arturo Issel. In 1914, Issel determined the ‘Piano Tirrenico’ fossiliferous deposits on the basis of the stratotype malacofaune in the Is Mesas-Calmosca area. This palaeontology collection was further revised by Professor Carlo Spano and his findings are included in his work titled ‘Fauna del Tirreniano – Tipo di Is Mesas – Calamosca (Sardegna meridionale)’ in Comptes – Rendu Excursion – table ronde thyrrhenien de Sardaigne, Cagliari 21 – 28 avril 1980 pp.65 – 101. The LI Collection mostly features molluscs (bivalvia, gastropods and cephalopods) but also includes echinoids and corals. Among the most important specimens, the Strombus bubonius, Conus testudinarius and Patella ferruginea (gastropods) and the Arca noae, Panopea glycymeris, Pinna nobilis and Mytilus galloprovincialis (bivalvia) are worthy of note; among the echinoids it is worth noting the Paracentrotus lividus whereas the corals are almost exclusively of the Cladocora caespitose species.
