[Nhcoll-l] no data specimens

Thu Oct 14 14:27:44 EDT 2021

Well, it seems I find myself increasingly out-of-step with my peers.

To Catherine’s question…:

Is there any scientific value to tanned hides with no data?

…though not a mammologist, if you replaced “tanned hides” with preserved fishes, my answer is unequivocally, “No.”

Catherine is correct to point out that space issues are very real.

I’ll go further and say they need to be regarded more urgently, more rationally, more seriously by collection managers of natural history collections. If we aren’t exercising discipline regarding what research collections keep and what they don’t, how do we continue to make a case for ever larger facilities?

Yet, of six responses to Catherine’s inquiry – only one acknowledges space as a factor in making such a decision.

Conversely, multiple persons are quick to cite outlier cases where specimens without data had that data recovered (are we sure?) or wherein some other unscientific use for the specimens was found. (Fully support education. Our Teaching Collection overfloweth though).

Look. My emotional brain is disgusted and saddened by all the fishes I am throwing away for lack of data….all these animals…killed…for what?

But my rational brain? My critical thinking brain?

To those working to rehabilitate or find value in specimens with no data – at what price this opportunity cost? What more valuable materials are being neglected? Is this really what the institution – over the long arc of time gets the most benefit from? We are temporary stewards….

This crowd knows better than anyone: collections face serious threats and almost all boil down to money. And money is space and money is time. With rare exception, specimens without data in a research collection are a drain on both…

In the spirit of Halloween…

Too much whistling past the graveyard….!

Best wishes,

Rob

Robert H. Robins
Collection Manager
Division of Ichthyology
[FLMNH Fishes logo email small]
Florida Museum
1659 Museum Rd.
Gainesville, FL 32611-7800
Office: (352) 273-1957
rhrobins at flmnh.ufl.edu<mailto:rhrobins at flmnh.ufl.edu>

Search the Collection:
http://specifyportal.flmnh.ufl.edu/fishes/

Search samples suitable for dna analysis:
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/grr/holdings/

[cid:image002.jpg at 01D7C103.B1B23D70]

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Cody Thompson
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2021 1:47 PM
To: Thomas Labedz <tlabedz1 at unl.edu>
Cc: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] no data specimens

[External Email]
Hi, Catherine!  It looks like you have received a lot of good advice here.  Like most, I would think twice about deaccessioning.  Rather than donating, you could provide them as a permanent loan to another institution for education and outreach use.

I do have one word of caution about mammal taxidermy and fur.  Depending on their vintage, arsenic and other nasty chemicals were used pretty frequently on these sorts of specimens.  So, be cautious on what you donate or loan to other institutions for hands-on educational purposes.

Good luck,
Cody

Cody W. Thompson, PhD
Mammal Collections Manager
& Assistant Research Scientist
University of Michigan
Museum of Zoology
3600 Varsity Drive
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108
Office: (734) 615-2810
Fax: (734) 763-4080
Email: cwthomp at umich.edu<mailto:cwthomp at umich.edu>
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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UMMZ/Herbarium has limited personnel available working onsite. No loan returns should be shipped without prior notification, and collection visits, loan requests, gifts, exchanges, etc. should be coordinated with the appropriate curatorial staff. Please expect delayed responses. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

On Thu, Oct 14, 2021 at 1:33 PM Thomas Labedz <tlabedz1 at unl.edu<mailto:tlabedz1 at unl.edu>> wrote:
A few months ago I posted a request for information about deaccessioning “no data” taxidermy of common game birds. As a result of the informative and positive comments from this group there has been a change in plans and we are now going to hold these mounts as best we can. In the past I have “unmounted” smaller birds and repositioned them into study skins. Doing the same I’ll start to nibble away at these, likely beginning with the rarest. Thank you all for the advice.
Thomas

Thomas E. Labedz (Mr.), Collections Manager
Division of Zoology and Division of Botany
University of Nebraska State Museum
Morrill Hall
645 North 14th Street
Lincoln, NE 68588-0338

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> On Behalf Of McLaren, Suzanne
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2021 12:05 PM
To: Catherine Early (she/her) <cearly at smm.org<mailto:cearly at smm.org>>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] no data specimens

Non-NU Email
________________________________
I’ll just mention one mammal species that will make anyone think twice about not maintaining what we have initially accepted “in trust for the future”:   Myotis lucifugus – the little brown bat was the most common species of bat in eastern North America until white-nose syndrome struck in 2005.   Roosts that once hosted tens of thousands of ‘little browns’ have been decimated in some places to numbers in the teens.   It was unthinkable 20 years ago.  In this changing world, the question is what species is next?  It sounds so dramatic until you think about Myotis lucifugus.

Sue

Suzanne B. McLaren (she, her, hers)
Collection Manager, Section of Mammals
Edward O'Neil Research Center
(Carnegie Museum of Natural History Annex)
5800 Baum Blvd
Pittsburgh PA 15206   USA
Telephone 412-665-2615
Fax 412-665-2751

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> On Behalf Of Bentley, Andrew Charles
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2021 12:43 PM
To: Catherine Early (she/her) <cearly at smm.org<mailto:cearly at smm.org>>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] no data specimens

Catherine

  1.  There are all sorts of techniques like genetic, ectoparasite and environmental work that can be done on these skins that may yield data that is useful even if provenance is unknown.  I agree that you have to balance this against space and resource limitations but maybe imaging and keeping portions of the skins for genetic analysis would be doable if not keeping the whole animal
  2.  This is a slippery slope I agree and donating these to educational facilities is the way to go.  There are a myriad of these in your own and area and beyond that would be grateful for the materials.  Our mission is not only to serve the research community but the educational community too.  There are all sorts of negative connotations regarding deaccessioning to members of the general public etc. that I would deem fraught with issues and would not attempt.

Andy
    A  :             A  :             A  :
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Andy Bentley
Ichthyology Collection Manager
University of Kansas
Biodiversity Institute
Dyche Hall
1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561
USA

Tel: (785) 864-3863<tel:%28785%29%20864-3863>
Fax: (785) 864-5335<tel:%28785%29%20864-5335>
Email: abentley at ku.edu<mailto:abentley at ku.edu>
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From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> On Behalf Of Catherine Early (she/her)
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2021 8:18 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] no data specimens

Hello all,

I have a two-part question today:

1) Is there any scientific value to tanned hides with no data? We have many large mammal hides that were purchased from fur suppliers in the 1970's that take up a lot of room but lack data. We might keep one of each species for identification, but otherwise, they do not belong in a scientific collection (where we are constantly running out of space), correct?

2) Have any of your institutions developed protocols for deaccessioning no data specimens into the hands of private citizens? We will prioritize giving no data (former) specimens to education centers, but there is a limited need for no data shell collections that previous curators accepted from donors, so we will likely need to look elsewhere. We know that we would be limited in what we could give to private citizens by permit restrictions for owning wildlife parts, but we're also very concerned with devaluing public opinions of specimens by creating the impression that specimens can just be given away. I would love to hear any language or agreements you've developed to make it clear why items are deaccessioned and how they differ from scientific specimens.

Thanks,
Catherine

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Catherine M. Early, PhD

she/her

Barbara Brown Chair of Ornithology

e: cearly at smm.org<mailto:cearly at smm.org>

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