[Nhcoll-l] Deterioration processes in skins and hides

[Bock, Steffen]

Hi everyone,

The last year, I worked on my master's thesis at the Museum für Naturkunde (MfN) in Berlin. My thesis focused on the deterioration processes in mammal collections. The skins and hides are easily tearable and often torn or damaged. Studies concerning deterioration processes in mammal collections are rare and only few publications are available. Comparable studies can be found in projects of leather research. In my thesis unpublished knowledge of taxidermists, tanners, and researchers of interdisciplinary special fields from Germany, France, Sweden and Switzerland is gathered, matched and compared with available publications. Acid-induced decay caused by inadequate conservation techniques seems to be the main reason for deterioration. Sulfuric acid demolishes structures in the skin and reduces the tear strength. Poor storage conditions accelerate the deterioration processes.
I visited several collections in Germany and Switzerland and I know that there are comparable problems in other collections in Europe. Now, the MfN wants to spread out the research and we want to share our knowledge with other mammal collections.

We want to know:
Status quo of the collections. How many collections were threatened by that problem? Are there mammal orders or families known that are particularly affected? Percentage/Proportion of the threatened specimens in your collections?

Publications and projects. Are there more projects, institutions, research groups known that study the decay in collections? Do have further articles or publications about that topic?

Please, send an e-mail to steffen.bock at mfn-berlin.de<mailto:steffen.bock at mfn-berlin.de> if you have further information that can help.

In June 2016, I will present the results of my master's thesis at the SPNHC conference in Berlin. Hopefully we will see us there and have a nice discussion.

Cheers,

Steffen Bock
M.Sc. in Biodiversity, Evolution and Ecology

Museum für Naturkunde
Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science
Invalidenstr. 43
D-10115 Berlin
Germany
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