biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

, a biofact is

dead Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sho ...

material of a once-living organism. In 1943, the protozoologist Bruno M. Klein of Vienna (1891–1968) coined the term in his article ''Biofakt und Artefakt'' in the microscopy journal ''Mikrokosmos'', though at that time it was not adopted by the scientific community. Klein's concept of biofact stressed the dead materials produced by living organisms as sheaths, such as shells. The word ''biofact'' is now widely used in the zoo/aquarium world, but was first used by Lisbeth Bornhofft in 1993 in the Education Department at the

New England Aquarium The New England Aquarium is a nonprofit organization located in Boston, Massachusetts. The species exhibited include Harbor seal, harbor and northern fur seals, California sea lions, African penguin, African and southern rockhopper penguins, gia ...

, Boston, to refer to preserved items such as animal bones, skins, molts and eggs. The Accreditation Standards and Related Policies of the

Association of Zoos and Aquariums The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), originally the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums (AAZPA), is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1924 and dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aqu ...

states that biofacts can be useful education tools, and are preferable to live animals because of potential ethical considerations.

References

Biology terminology {{biology-stub

See also

References