The scientific collections of the Professor Mello Leitão Biology Museum / National Institute of the Atlantic Forest (MBML/INMA), in Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo, bring together zoological and botanical holdings essential for the knowledge of Atlantic Forest biodiversity. The collection consists of seven zoological collections and one herbarium, containing historically significant records of Brazilian fauna and flora, including type specimens, rare specimens, and representatives of taxa threatened with extinction.

The Professor Mello Leitão Biology Museum was founded in 1949 as a private institution by the naturalist Augusto Ruschi, focused on conducting scientific research with an emphasis on the Atlantic Forest of Espírito Santo. Named in honor of the influential environmentalist, physician, and zoologist Cândido Firmino de Mello Leitão (1886–1948), a specialist in arachnids, ecology, and zoogeography, MBML was transferred in 1983 to the Fundação Nacional Pró-Memória, linked to the Ministry of Education and Culture. Later, it became part of the Brazilian Institute of Museums (IBRAM), under the Ministry of Culture, until 2014, when it was incorporated into the National Institute of the Atlantic Forest (INMA), linked to the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation.

Historically, the Bird Collection was the first to be established (1940), followed by the Mammal (1943), Fish (1944), Amphibian (1954), and Reptile (1957) collections. Today, the zoological collections include more than 134,000 specimens preserved in wet and dry methods, which make up the Vertebrate Collections, in addition to two Invertebrate Collections (Crustacea and Insecta), with approximately 5,000 specimens. The collections are housed in climate-controlled rooms and include type specimens, as well as rare or endangered species. Most specimens come from Espírito Santo, constituting the main source of knowledge about the state’s faunal biodiversity. The collection also includes specimens from other Brazilian states and other countries, presenting significant potential for expansion.

The MBML/INMA herbarium was also created in 1940 as a private collection of Augusto Ruschi, incorporating plant specimens donated by the Secretariat of Agriculture, Land, and Colonization of Espírito Santo. It currently holds approximately 59,000 records, of which 2.7% are nomenclatural types. The collection consists of fungi, lichens, algae, bryophytes, ferns, lycophytes, gymnosperms, and angiosperms. The material is preserved in liquid medium (flowers and algae samples), as exsiccatae (dried branches with leaves, flowers, and fruits), in the xylotheque (wood samples), and in the carpotheca (dried fruit specimens). Most of the herbarium contains representative specimens of the central Atlantic Forest flora, including unique records of species previously undocumented in the region and species threatened with extinction. The herbarium currently has more than 60,000 images representing 99% of the collection.

At present, with the exception of the invertebrate collections, the entire collection is accessible online and available for physical consultation by the scientific community, by appointment or through specimen loans, supporting research in Brazil and abroad. Under certain conditions, the collections have also provided, especially specimens without collection data, to be used as teaching material by schools, universities, and governmental agencies, contributing to environmental education and the dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Online since: 08/08/2007
Last update: 30/12/2025

Conditions for using the data

The information contained in the database of the Herbarium of the National Institute of the Atlantic Forest (INMA) must be used strictly for educational, scientific, and environmental management purposes, and attributed to INMA-MCTI, along with a citation of the collection and its respective acronym (MBML). INMA aims to maintain and provide accurate databases of its collections; however, it offers no guarantee regarding the reliability, completeness, or currency of the information contained in these databases. It is the user’s responsibility to verify the data before using it for any of the purposes mentioned above.

How to cite

Herbário – MBML, do Instituto Nacional da Mata Atlântica

Subcollections

• MBML-Anfibios - Coleção de Anfíbios MBML
• MBML-Aves - Coleção de Aves MBML
• MBML-Herbario - Herbário Mello Leitão
• MBML-Mamiferos - Coleção de Mamíferos
• MBML-Peixes - Coleção de Peixes
• MBML-Repteis - Coleção de Répteis

Contacts

Director or head of department:
Pedro Lage Viana
cocie@inma.gov.br
Curator:
Dra. Thais Condez
thais.condez@inma.gov.br
Curator:
Helio de Queiroz Boudet Fernandes
helio.fernandes@inma.gov.br