Formed from the nineteenth century onward, the large ichthyological collection mainly brings together fossils of the Campanian paleontological sites: Giffoni Valle Piana, province of Salerno, of the Middle Triassic, Pietraroja, province of Benevento and Castellammare di Stabia, province of Napoli of the Cretaceous, places investigated above all by Oronzo G. Costa who studied them in great detail. In 2011, a large collection of Cretaceous and middle Jurassic fishes from the province of Caserta, still poorly known in literature, was added to the Museum’s heritage. In addition to the local collections some minor ones, such as that of Cerin in France, significant not as much for the quality of the specimens but as evidence of outcrops now disappeared. Finally, the Tertiary ichthyofauna of Tremembè and Taubatè (Brazil) showing and displaying characters of a typical association of fresh water.

Photo: Colobodus latus, Giffoni Valle Piana, Salerno, Middle Triassic.

The Pleistocene vertebrate collection of Pignataro Interamna, near Cassino, includes mammal remains (Stephanorhinus sp., Hippopotamus amphibius, Bos primigenius, Bison Priscus, Cervus elaphus) and large proboscidates that lived at the edge of the large water basin of the Liri Valley, along with several stone artifacts.Among the most significant findsthere is the skull of Elephas antiquus italicus, found in 1949 and placed, a year later, in the Museum after a long negotiation between Prof. Giuseppe De Lorenzo and Vincenzo Tiseo, landowner. The discovery of the skull, in optimal conditions, constituted a decisive step for the study of this genus allowing, at the same time, to reconstruct the prevailing paleoclimatic and paleogeographical conditions.

Photo: Elephas antiquus italicus, Pignataro Interamna, Valle del Liri, Frosinone, Interglacial Riss-Würm.

The large invertebrate macroarea includes collections of great interest. Referred to various systematic groups theyare identified with the name of the collector or of the localities. They include the following Collections: A. Scacchi (Molluscs of Gravina, Apulia Region); F. Bassani (Molluscs of San Polo Matese); C. F. Parona (Rudists of central-southern Italy); O. G. Costa (Foraminifers and Ostracods); Echinids from Baselice, province of Benevento; Molluscs of Piemonte Region.

Recently acquired there is a unique collection of over 40.000 thin sections and 20.000 lithological samples.The collection, of exceptional qualitative importance, is the result of studies conducted by Prof. P. De Castro on the morphology and structure of animal organisms (mainly foraminifers) and vegetables (Dasycladales and Volvocales green algae and Cyanophytes), Mesozoic in age. As a whole, it is an essential database to which reference should be made for studies in this field of research.

Photo: Promicroceras planicosta, Lyme Regis, Dorset, Inghilterra, Lower Jurassic.