Gaetano Cara

Gaetano Cara (1803 – 1877) was an Italian archaeologist and naturalist primarily interested in ornithology. He practiced forgery and selling forged idols to many European museums.^[1]

Gaetano Cara was Director of the natural history museum Regio Museo di Storia Naturale di Cagliari from 1840 to 1858 and then of Museo Archeologico di Cagliari from 1862. In 1842 he provided an avifauna of Sardinia. This was much criticised by Giuseppe Géné and an amended list was provided by Tommaso Salvadori who made field observations in Sardinia in 1863 as well as consulting the collection of birds of the Natural History Museum of Cagliari. He reported the results in Salvadori, 1864, Catalogo degli Uccelli di Sardegna, con note e osservazioni. Cara responded in 1866 to defend his own studies.