Carnegie Museum of Natural History

One of the Four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh

Discoverers Expedition Vilcabamba 2016: Lima

A large crowd meets at night a park of Lima to watch marine biology and and conservation documentaries during an open event of the 36th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation (Photo: Juan C. Chaparro).
A large crowd meets at night a park of Lima to watch marine biology and and conservation documentaries during an open event of the 36th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation (Photo: Juan C. Chaparro).
Dr. Corine Vriesendorp, Director of the Andes-Amazon program of the The Field Museum of Natural History, presents preliminary results of the Rapid Biological and Social Inventory #28: Middle Putumayo and Algodon River, Loreto – Perú.
Dr. Corine Vriesendorp, Director of the Andes-Amazon program of the The Field Museum of Natural History, presents preliminary results of the Rapid Biological and Social Inventory #28: Middle Putumayo and Algodon River, Loreto – Perú.
Dr. Santiago Castroviejo takes the opportunity to walk through the exhibits of the Natural History Museum of San Marcos University.
Dr. Santiago Castroviejo takes the opportunity to walk through the exhibits of the Natural History Museum of San Marcos University.
The exhibits at the museum in Lima made me think of my friend and colleague Dr. Matt Lamanna, who is now looking for dinosaurs in Antarctica. Greetings from Lima Matt!
The exhibits at the museum in Lima made me think of my friend and colleague Dr. Matt Lamanna, who is now looking for dinosaurs in Antarctica. Greetings from Lima Matt!
A diorama of the pacific coast around Lima at the Natural History Museum of San Marcos University.
A diorama of the pacific coast around Lima at the Natural History Museum of San Marcos University.
Mammalogists, herpetologists, and ornithologists at the main entrance of the Natural History Museum of San Marcos University.
Mammalogists, herpetologists, and ornithologists at the main entrance of the Natural History Museum of San Marcos University.

March 3, 2016

Our last week in Lima was a busy one. We are working from an apartment in the beautiful bohemian neighborhood of Barranco. We have built a lab in the living room where we examine our specimens and refine preliminary identifications performed in the field. Our certainty about what we thought were potential new species grows after checking pertinent literature and pictures of museums specimens. We also work on the paperwork necessary to export part of the samples to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (half or more will stay in Peru).

In addition, we have been attending two important scientific events that are taking place in Lima this week: the 36th Annual Symposium On Sea Turtle Biology And Conservation, and the Day of Wildlife, celebrated today at the Natural History Museum of San Marcos University.

José Padial and his team of researchers have traveled to the remote Vilcabamba mountains of Peru in the pursuit of biodiversity research. He blogs and sends photos as often as possible capturing his expedition along the way and his return home to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, PA.