RBINS DaRWIN

The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences houses a precious collection of zoological, anthropological, paleontological, mineralogical and geological materials and data. The renowned Iguanodons from Bernissart, ambassadors of the Belgian science institute in Brussels, represent a natural history collection currently estimated to hold over 37 million specimens. The roots of the present day collection reach far back in history. It evolved from the Natural History collection of Karel of Lotharingen, governor of The Netherlands (1712-1780) and was part of didactic materials owned by the Central School of the City of Brussels. After the independence of Belgium, the City of Brussels donated the collection to the Belgian Government and became part of the autonomous Royal Natural History Museum in 1846, known as the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences since 1948. Fieldwork by researchers and collaborators, in Belgium and abroad, donations and purchases have been expanding the assets ever since. The data presented in this dataset are coming from the DaRWIN database, the collection management tool of the RBINS. Today, DaRWIN manages information on about 550.000 specimens stored in the institute's repositories. This number rises on a daily basis thanks to the continued efforts of curators and their adjuncts that are responsible for maintaining the stored specimens and information. The dataset is made available on GBIF and covers the complete collection, as well as subcollections within Vertebrates (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish), Invertebrates (acarines, arachnids, Belgian marine invertebrates, brachiopods, bryozoans, marine chelicerates, cnidarians, crustaceans, echinoderms, molluscs and rotifers) and Entomology (beetles, dipterans, heterocerans, hymenopterans, orthopterans and rhopalocerans).

比利时皇家自然科学研究院（Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences，简称RBINS）馆藏有极为珍贵的动物学、人类学、古生物学、矿物学与地质学相关标本及数据。来自贝尼萨尔（Bernissart）的著名禽龙（Iguanodon）标本，作为这座位于布鲁塞尔的比利时科研机构的“形象大使”，代表了该馆目前预估馆藏超3700万件的自然历史藏品规模。如今的馆藏其历史渊源可追溯至久远的过去：其雏形源自荷兰总督洛林的卡尔（1712-1780）的自然历史藏品，后归入布鲁塞尔市中央学校的教学标本馆藏体系。比利时独立后，布鲁塞尔市将该馆藏捐赠给比利时政府，并于1846年并入自治的皇家自然历史博物馆，该馆自1948年起更名为比利时皇家自然科学研究院。此后，研究人员与合作团队在比利时境内外开展的野外考察、以及各类捐赠与购入行为，持续扩充着该馆的馆藏资源。本数据集所采用的数据均来自RBINS的馆藏管理工具——DaRWIN数据库（DaRWIN）。目前，DaRWIN数据库已收录该馆馆藏库中约55万件标本的相关信息。由于负责馆藏标本与信息维护的管理员及其助理们的持续努力，这一馆藏数据每日都在增长。本数据集已在全球生物多样性信息设施（Global Biodiversity Information Facility，简称GBIF）上线，其覆盖范围涵盖该馆全部馆藏，以及脊椎动物（哺乳纲、鸟纲、爬行纲、两栖纲与鱼纲）、无脊椎动物（蜱螨类、蛛形纲、比利时海洋无脊椎动物、腕足动物门、苔藓动物门、海洋螯肢动物、刺胞动物门、甲壳纲、棘皮动物门、软体动物门与轮虫动物门）和昆虫学类群（鞘翅目、双翅目、异角亚目、膜翅目、直翅目与锤角亚目）的子馆藏。