Zoological specimen

An array of zoological specimens at the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo

A zoological specimen is an animal or part of an animal preserved for scientific use. Various uses are : to verify the identity of a (species), to allow study, increase public knowledge of zoology. Zoological specimens are extremely diverse. Examples are bird and mammal study skins, mounted specimens, skeletal material, casts, pinned insects, dried material, animals preserved in spirit and microscope slides. natural history museums are repositories of zoological specimens

Study skins

Main article: Bird collections

Study skins of Garrulus glandarius in Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin

Birds and mammal specimens are conserved as dry study skins.

The skin is removed from the specimen, treated with absorbents and filled with cotton or polyester batting (in the past plant fibres or sawdust). Projecting thin wooden supports inside the bird specimens allow handling.Preparators use owire to support the legs and tail of mammals.Labels are attached to a leg of the specimen with thread. Study skins may be dried with heat or chemicals.

Hog-nosed Skunk Skeleton

Dry specimens of Mollusca in Museum Wiesbaden

Collection of spiders preserved in alcohol (spirit collection)

Skeletal Preparations (Osteology)

Osteological collections consist of cleaned, complete and partial skeletons, crania of Vertebrates, mainly birds and mammals. They are used in studies of comparative anatomy and to identify bones from archaeological sites. Human bones are used in medical and forensic studies.

Molluscs

In museum collections it is common for the dry material to greatly exceed the amount of material that is preserved in alcohol.The shells minus their soft parts are kept in card trays within drawers or in glass tubes, often as lots (a lot is a collection of a single species taken from a single locality on a single occasion). Shell collections sometimes suffer from Byne's disease which also affects birds eggs.The study of dry mollusc shells is called conchology as distinct from malacology (wet specimens).

A pinned wasp. The dried insect is under attack from pests and this drawer will have to be frozen to contain the problem.

Insects

Main articles: Insect collecting

Most insect specimens are pinned.The specimen is transfixed by a specially manufactured stainless steel pins called an entomological pin while it is hydrated.As the insect dries the integument grips the pin holding the specimen.The pins enable handling and also bear the data and determination labels. Once dried the specimens are kept in Unit trays.These are open-top boxes with a have a plastazote (foam) bottom. They fit inside glass-topped drawers. European museums use larger card boxes which are glass-topped and stored in metal cabinets. Soft-bodied insects are kept in alcohol (wet collections) or as microscope slide preparations.

Wet specimens

"Wet" specimen collections are stored in 70% ethanol (EtOH) with various additives after fixing with 10% formalin. Modern specimens are stored in screw-top glass jars with polypropylene lids if they are small or stored in stainless steel tanks if they are large. Specimens are also stored in 10% formalin.

Label accompanying a bird skin.Note that the locality, date, identity of the specimen and collection catalogue numbers are given on the securely attached label

Data

Minimum data associated with zoological specimens is the place and date of collection, attached to the specimen by a label. Additional information is the name of the collector and the habitat. Tissue from specimens may be saved for genetic studies (molecular data, DNA). Depending on the animal group other data may be included, for instance in bird collections the bird’s, breeding condition, weight, colours of its eyes, bills and legs and nature of the stomach contents.

Composite specimens

A single specimen may be a composite of preparations sharing a unique number. An example would be a verebrate with an alcohol-preserved skin and viscera, a cleared and stained head, the post-cranial dried skeleton, histological, glass slides of various organs, and frozen tissue samples. This specimen could also be a voucher for a publication, or photographs and audiotape.

Voucher specimens

A voucher is a representative specimen of the animal used in a study, such as a specimen collected as part of an ecological survey or a specimen which was the source of DNA for a molecular study.Voucher specimens confirm the identity of the species referred to in the study. They are a backup against misidentification, changing species concepts which mislead results. Type specimens are a special type of voucher specimen used in taxonomy.

Mounted specimen of the Emerald Toucanet collected by Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied and now in Naturhistorisches Museum Wien

Historic specimens

Museum zoological specimens may have historic significance for instance the specimens collected by Johann Baptist von Spix and Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius during their Brazil Expedition (1817–1820) are in Munich Zoology Museum.

Models

Museums make extensive use of models.When these are accurate they are considered to be specimens in their own right. Examples are the glass coelenterates of Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka

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  Mount of African Elephant in Paris Museum
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  Chitra indica(Narrow-headed soft-shelled Turtle) skeleton
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  Pinned insects (Dynastinae)
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  Microscope slides
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  Cast of a bird fossil
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  Zoologist measuring a turtle shell
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  Acanthopterygii (fish) at Naturmuseum Senckenberg
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  Model of Arenicola marina in a zoological exhibition at National Museum (Prague)

See also

• Type specimen
• Bird collections
• Insect collecting

References

• Hall, E. R. 1962. Collecting and preparing study specimens of vertebrates. University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Miscellaneous Publications no. 30. 46 pp.
• Hangay, G., and M. Dingley. 1985. Biological museum methods. Volume I. Vertebrates. Academic Press, Sydney, Australia
• Howie, F. M. P. 1985. Conserving Natural History Collections: Some Present Problems and Strategies for the Future. Proceedings of the 1985 Workshop on Care and Maintenance of Natural History Collections:1-6.
• Kageyama, M., R. Monk, R. Bradley, G. Edson, and R. Baker. 2006. The changing significance and definition of the biological voucher. In S. Williams and C. Hawks (eds.) Museum Studies: Perspectives and Innovations. Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections, Washington, D.C., 259-266.
• McAlpine, Donald F. 1985. Curators and Natural History Collections: Have We Become Islands in Science?. Proceedings of the 1985 Workshop on Care and Maintenance of Natural History Collections:7-14.
• Suarez, Andrew V. and Neil D. Tsutsui. 2004. The Value of Museum Collections for Research and Society. BioScience 54(1):66-74.

External links

• Naturkundemuseum Stuttgart
• Zoological Collection Database SZN Impressive. Images of wet specimens,labels,catalogues etc.
• Biological Survey of Canada The role of voucher specimens in validating faunistic and ecological research
• Museum handbook
• UBC Bird skin preparation
• Texas Tech University Halter, A.S. Standards for management of the recent mammal and bird collections Texas Tech University
• Natural history collections of the University of Edinburgh

See also

• List of natural history dealers