I cetacei fossili nei musei italiani - Fossil cetaceans in Italian museums

The collections of fossil cetaceans, one of the most important heritages of the Italian scientific museums, are the result of discoveries and acquisitions that have accumulated over the years, since 1700 to the present day. Almost all of the fossils are from Mio-Pliocene (about 23 to 2.5 million years ago) marine sediments out cropping in Italy. The Italian Peninsula, in fact, has one of the world's highest concentrations of fossil cetaceans. The frequency of finds is exceptionally high in some regions, especially Piedmont, Tuscany and Emilia Romagna, or in restricted areas with particularly favourable conditions of preservation, such as near Belluno, Lecce and Ragusa. The Museums where these fossils are kept are often located close to the areas of discovery and frequently the collections are the result of a single person activity, such as Giovanni Capellini in Bologna, Giorgio Dal Piaz in Padua or, in more recent times, Angelo Varola in Lecce and Raffaele Quarantelli in Salsomaggiore Terme. In the museums of the universities of Padua and Bologna the original collections by Dal Piaz and Capellini respectively are still exposed. In other museums the fossil cetaceans are exposed in recent exhibitions, sometimes including three-dimensional reconstructions (e.g., in the natural history museum of Pisa University)