Recently, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology of China (SVPC) released a Written Proposal,calling on the wider Chinese academic community, including museums, universities and research institutes, to render support to the National Museum(Museu Nacional, later referred to as MN) of Brazil,which was tragically reduced to ruins by a devastating fire in September 2018.

This appeal, which was made at the closing ceremony of the 16th Annual Meeting of SVPC, held in Hefei, capital city of Anhui Province of China, marks the latest move of Chinese paleontologists in supporting MN.

11月27日，云南省政府新闻办举行“壮阔东方潮 奋进新时代”云南省庆祝改革开放40周年系列新闻发布会经济发展主题新闻发布会，介绍了改革开放40年以来，特别是党的十八大以来，云南经济体制改革和经济发展方面的成就，一系列重大改革举措推动云南经济持续快速发展。

The main building of the National Museum of Brazil as it looked in 2011. It used to be the residence of the Portuguese Royal Family and the Brazilian Imperial Family. (Photo by Halley Pacheco de Oliveira; Credit: Wikimedia commons)

A Firm Hand from IVPP

The Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS) had offered its strong support for MN prior to the SVPC conference, promising to exchange fossil specimens with MN immediately and to donate model specimens to the museum once its reconstruction is completed.

Former residence of the Portuguese Royal Family between 1808 and 1821 and later of the Brazilian Imperial Family between 1822 and 1889, the main building of MN,the Paço de São Cristóvão (Saint Christopher's Palace)is in itself of inestimable historical value. Unfortunately,this historical and cultural treasure was reduced to ruins in a fire that broke out on September 2, 2018. Forever lost in the fire were countless cultural relics and specimens,a majority of MN's cherished collection accumulated over the past two centuries, at a time when MN had just celebrated its 200th anniversary. Now, months after the conflagration, experts are still working desperately to rescue as many items as possible from the ruins.

“The tragedy is not only a loss for museums of the whole world, but also sounds the alarm of the need of effective fire protection for museums everywhere,”states the Written Proposal. In the initiative, SVPC urges museums, universities and institutes across China to express their moral support for MN: “At such a difficult time, all social circles should show a strong moral support to all members of the museum's staff, who are still working on the rescue and reconstruction of this important institution.”

再次，财务公司在构建外汇资金池时存在职能认知不足的问题。当前我国外汇管理局、银监会、企业集团等已经认识到资金池建立的重要性，但是证券监管部门没有对关联交易进行严格限制，在结算工作、资金管理服务工作中存在偏差，上市公司和未上市公司的业务发展水平相距甚远。成员企业将资金存放在财务公司，并不能视为关联交易。

Further, the Written Proposal suggests these institutions consider donating specimens and cultural artifacts to the rebuilt MN in the future. “... the Museu Nacional underwent a huge loss in the fire. Although the recovery of specimens is still in progress, it is certain that several valuable items were destroyed, and the loss is irreparable,” says the Proposal, indicating that donation from China will be an important help and support for the museum.

“It Is on All of Us”

The fragmental skeleton of “Luzia Woman,”unearthed from a cave in Brazil in 1974, represents a young Paleo-Indian woman from about 11,500 years ago,who is believed by some archaeologists to be among the first humans who emigrated to the South America. She was nicknamed “Luzia” by the archaeologists to pay homage to “Lucy,” an Australopithecus fossil skeleton discovered in Ethiopia, Africa in the same year as “Luzia”- 1974, from strata of about 3.2 million years old.

IVPP has taken the lead in offering a hand to MN.“We have promised to donate model specimens to the new MN, when it is completed,” said DENG. Due to the export restriction for cultural relics and fossil vertebrate animals imposed by the laws of China, however, IVPP will only be able to donate models and duplicates of fossil specimens, with exceptions for redundant specimens of fossil animals.

本文方法T-GAN是基于生成对抗网络构建的网络，GAN是由 Goodfellow等[2]首次提出，并在后续众多研究者的探索下得到了广泛应用，如风格转换[10]，图像修复[11]，交互式图像生成[12]，图像超分辨率[13]和纹理合成[14]。

The Written Proposal for supporting MN as released at the closing ceremony of the 16th Academic Conference of SVPC November 12 in Hefei, Anhui, China. (Photo by courtesy of IVPP)

“Prof. Alex Kellner, who is now the Curator of MN, has been in long-term cooperation with us,” said DENG. “Also, he has mediated collaborations between many Brazilian paleontologists and IVPP counterparts.”DENG noted that the disaster in some way promoted this cooperation to a new level: the painful, serious loss prompted us to consider exchanges of fossil specimens with MN, as this will help them a lot at this difficult time. Further he explained that an exhibition of natural history shall represent the global evolution of species, and specimens from China will make an indispensable patch to this mosaic. “In addition, we will donate a number of model specimens of some important species with representative characteristics or unique to China. We have also signed an agreement with MN, in which we offer to present a small exhibition of fossil specimens from China at the rebuilt museum, as a special gift to its rebirth,” said DENG.

农业技术服务作为一个新兴行业，刚刚开始，越来越多公司进入到这个行业来，它不同于以往的以产品销售为目的的技术服务，那种技术服务不够全面、客观，仅限于把产品销售完成。以“农业技术服务+产品推荐+田间管理服务”为主的新型服务模式，这才是未来农业发展的新需求。优秀技术、合格产品、专业化农业是未来农业现代化发展的三大支柱。

Highlighted in this future exhibition at MN will be pterosaurs, on which the two sides have long been working together; and other fossil dinosaurs and early birds, on which IVPP has made marvelous research of global significance. “Of course, the exhibition will cover other fossil vertebrates,” added DENG. “You know dinosaurs and early birds are not the only targets of IVPP,” he noted. “We study also early fishes, reptiles,amphibians, mammals, and humans.”

“Yes, we have already got substantial support from IVPP,” affirmed Kellner, “with which we have already been in academic exchanges and cooperative research for decades.” At the invitation of Prof. WANG Xiaolin at IVPP, his long-term collaborator and now a Corresponding Member of BAS, he had decided to attend the SVPC conference prior to September when the mishap fire occurred. “I originally prepared to speak something about pterosaurs from Brazil, on which we have made many interesting discoveries, but I changed my mind after the disaster. I would take this opportunity to rally wider support from the whole community,” he said, expressing his gratefulness for WANG's invitation and enthusiastic support.

Kellner became curator of MN only last February,six months before the devastating fire. It took him a while to make up his mind to run for the curatorship.He was hesitant as he was aware that this would mean a big turning point in his life - the potential new role might deprive him partially of the enjoyment as a pure scientist. “But I wanted to make a difference,” he said when interviewed by the author. After working for the museum for decades, he believed that he knew what the staff of MN and the public of Brazil most wanted to change in MN, and would set to work for that. He eventually campaigned for the position, and won it. After much lobbying, he succeeded in winning support from the Brazilian government for funding to update the worn-out facilities of MN; however, the money only came AFTER the fire.

“We will help MN substantially; but this is not enough,” emphasized DENG. “MN is a comprehensive museum that presents not only knowledge of natural science like general museums of natural history, but also knowledge of culture and humanities. Therefore, we hope that academic institutions in China, from universities to museums and institutes, will join us to offer their support.”

Prof. Alexander Kellner (right third on the back row), Curator of MN and long-term cooperator with IVPP scientists, poses with the hosts in the exhibition hall of the Paleozoological Museum affiliated with IVPP, during his visit to the institute before the SVPC conference in Hefei. Seen in the photo are some of his long-term cooperators at IVPP: Prof. ZHOU Zhonghe (fifth right on the back), Member of CAS and Corresponding Member of BAS; Prof. DENG Tao (right second on the back), Director of IVPP and President of SVPC; and Prof. WANG Xiaolin (right first, back row), pterosaur expert, Corresponding Member of BAS. (Photo by courtesy of IVPP)

Prof. Alexander Kellner introduces the glorious history and the current situation after the tragic fire at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology of China held November in Hefei, Anhui, China. “We have no time to cry,” he says, “we have got to work!” For now, the staffs are working desperately to restore the collection from the ruins. (Photo by courtesy of IVPP)

China Pavilion at MN

“We are thinking about erecting a special China Pavilion for donations from China,” said Prof. Alexander Kellner, who is Curator of MN as noted, and is also a Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (BAS).He had just paid a visit to IVPP in Beijing, with which his research group has been in close partnership since two decades ago, in an effort to rally support. IVPP offered a firm hand quickly; and further it played an instrumental role in initiating the Proposal that had just been aired to the whole Chinese academic circle at the SVPC conference.

“CAS has a lot of museums under its umbrella, and they might be willing to offer their own help,” said Prof.ZHOU Zhonghe, Member of CAS and Corresponding Member of BAS, who is also the former Director of IVPP and former President of SVPC. Among these museums is the Paleozoological Museum of China. ZHOU has been among the advocates for soliciting support from the wider academic community of China.

高校阅读推广的受众对象主要为在校学生，但传统的阅读推广模式具有一定的局限性。在高校阅读推广中应用互联网+技术，通过移动图书馆、阅读APP等能够使学生在自身适宜的时间进行阅读，既满足了学生的个性化阅读需求，又吸引了更多与图书馆关联度不高的边缘读者，拓展了阅读的受众面。

According to DENG, IVPP has now already started working to prepare for the future exhibition at MN,to make sure it will open in time as planned, in nice presentation.

Prof. Kellner has been travelling around the world to solicit support from professional colleagues, and has so far won support from over one hundred museums,universities and other scientific institutions across the world.

Prof. Alexander Kellner (on the back), Member of BAS and now Curator of MN, has been in long-term cooperative research on pterosaurs with Prof. WANG Xiaolin (second left) at IVPP, now Corresponding Member of BAS. Shown is a snapshot from their fieldwork in the Gobi Desert of Hami, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China. Dr. CHENG Xin (left first), who has just finished his PhD under supervision of Prof.WANG, joined Prof. Kellner's group for post-doctoral research lately. Dr. JIANG Shunxing (second right), who also earned his PhD under supervision of Prof. WANG, has since been working at IVPP in pursuit of pterosaur research. (Photo by courtesy of IVPP)

According to Kellner, the number of items burnt in the fire is not possible to know yet. “But the good news is that archaeological specimens, represented by the cranium of the ‘Luzia Woman,' are mostly in good condition,” he said.

“To understand the origin and evolution of biological species is the common mission on all paleontologists around the world,” commented Prof. DENG Tao,President of SVPC and Director of IVPP, when asked of the initial motivation for making the Written Proposal.

“Thankfully, the majority of the collection of fossil plants and invertebrate animals, as well as some fossil vertebrates like turtles, are not so badly damaged,”Kellner said, adding that the rescue and restoration will be finished in the next four to five months, and the reconstruction of the main building is expected to be completed in 2022 or 2023.

Moreover, IVPP is providing some technological aid in repairing the fossil specimens damaged in the fire. “IVPP owns the biggest technical team for fossil repairing in the world,” said DENG. With their advanced techniques, this team will help MN with the restoration of damaged items. Further, IVPP will also provide advice on the design of the future architecture structures, in particular those pertaining to paleontological exhibitions. “We will offer some intellectual properties for free, including those of technologies needed in visual presentation and ecological reconstruction based on fossil record, and more,” said DENG.

“It came eventually, but it was too late,” said Kellner,in a sense of rationality distilled from long, difficult struggles to accept the reality.

“But we have no time to cry,” he said. “We have got to work. For sure, we will work hard to restore the pieces in the museum; and we will work hard to deserve the donations from China and other parts of the world,”Kellner again expressed his gratitude to IVPP and SVPC.

Analysis on the characteristics of the water burst in the construction period of the

“The exhibition in the China Pavilion will go beyond fossils of early vertebrate animals,” Kellner noted. “It will include all areas of history, culture and science.”

“This bitter lesson tolls the bell; it is a wake-up call for other museums,” said Prof. WANG, Kellner's cooperator at IVPP, who is an expert at pterosaurs.“You could never be too careful when it comes to fire prevention,” he said.

“We need your help. Please write to express your moral support for the reconstruction,” said Kellner at a plenary speech at the 16th Annual Meeting of SVPC, after he had concluded his comments on the history of his dear museum and its current situation. “It would be even better, if you would consider donating some items for the future new museum,” he added, “But it is OK if not.”

MN has set up a special email address to receive voices of support from all over the world. Write to them - They need your support NOW!

Pterosaurs of a Feather Across Continents

Now Prof. Kellner has left for a new journey to the Antarctica for fieldwork. Gone with him is Dr.CHENG Xin, who has just earned his PhD degree under supervision of Prof. WANG Xiaolin at IVPP and joined Prof. Kellner's group for post-doctoral research.

英拉简要介绍了泰国灾后恢复重建情况，表示泰国将学习借鉴中国在防洪抗旱减灾方面的经验和做法，制定符合泰国具体国情的灾后重建和灾害治理长期规划，开展防汛抗旱工程体系和非工程体系建设。希望双方有关部门进一步进行沟通协调，加强在防灾减灾和水资源开发利用领域的交流与合作，落实相关合作谅解备忘录。同时，她希望中国水利部选派专家组，在今年汛前赴泰国实地考察调研，帮助泰国评估前一阶段防洪应急处置成效，指导做好今年安全度汛工作，并对泰方的长期规划和设想提供咨询和建议。

All this is so natural a development of their longterm cooperation. “It's been a long time,” recalled Dr.Taissa Rodrigues, Brazilian pterosaur expert from Federal University of Espírito Santo, when asked of the detail of their cooperation with Prof. WANG Xiaolin at IVPP.She did her PhD under supervision of Prof. Kellner around 10 years ago and also took part in the research of Hamipterus, a pterosaur found in Hami, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China. “I remember I came over to Beijing to attend a pterosaur conference in 2010, at that time I was a PhD student. We have been working together on this for over ten years I think.”

“The pterosaur assemblages found in western Liaoning (Jehol Biota) are quite similar to those from Brazil, that interested Alex and he came over for cooperative research. We have since been close cooperators and friends,” explained Prof. WANG when asked of how they started to work together.

其次，实施应分阶段进行，先从一个比较小的目标实施，成功后再逐步扩大范围。可以先选定一个专业的某个班级启动适应学生个性化学习需要的混合式教学模式实验，然后逐步向其他班级或专业扩展，也可以先从所有老师的一次课或几次课入手，然后再扩展到整门课或所有课程。不管是先从班级启动，还是先从一次课或几次课入手，都要提前制定周全的分阶段时间进度表，逐步探索前进，当发现计划与目标偏离太大时，可进行适当调整。

A result from the long-term cooperation between Prof. WANG Xiaolin from IVPP and Prof. Alexander Kellner, the discovery of 3D-preserved fossil embryos and eggs of Hamipterus tianshanensis, a pterosaur whose live reconstruction is shown here, hit headlines when it was published in Science in December 2017. (Image by ZHAO Chuang)

This extended cooperation went beyond Jehol Biota and has fruited a lot. Well-known in their research is abovementioned Hamipterus, whose 3D-preserved embryos and eggs impressed the world. In the near future, this winged creature will witness the rebirth of MN.