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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 9/26/19 10:59 AM, Sarah K. Huber wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Recently I’ve been fielding a lot of questions about why our collection should retain a physical specimen once it has been digitized (e.g., CT-scanned, photographed, x-rayed, etc.). I’m curious how often other museum professionals are asked
this question and what your general responses are for justifying the retention of a physical specimen. Why do you tell people it’s important to retain a specimen?<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p>(1) you can't extract DNA from a digital record</p>
<p>(2) you can't retrieve or dissect tissues or internal organs from a digital record</p>
<p>(3) you can't retrieve internal or external microbiota (bacteria, fungi, viruses) from a digital record</p>
<p>(4) you can't retrieve or dissect gut contents from a digital record</p>
<p>(5) you can't do toxicological or pesticide residue tests on a digital record</p>
<p>(6) you need a physical specimen to properly describe something as a new species</p>
<p>There's more, of course, but these are all significant, especially item #1 and #6.<br>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Doug Yanega Dept. of Entomology Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314 skype: dyanega
phone: (951) 827-4315 (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html">https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html</a>
"There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82</pre>
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