[Nhcoll-l] no data specimens

[Erik Åhlander]

Dear Catherine,


1.       Probably they really have no data accessible, but this should be checked. They have probably not much information with present technic, but may have in the future. Many large mammals will be extinct soon.

I was first employed at the NRM in 1975. In 1974 an unknown number of specimens without labels were discarded. One specimen, a stuffed sea turtle, was rescued from the garbage container by an older collegue. He kept it as decoration at his summer house. When he retired a few years ago I suggested that he should donate it back to the museum. It was quite damaged, and it was easy to see the taxidermy technic! It is definitely from the 18th century, and possibly it should be included in the type series of Testudo mydas Linnaeus, 1758! Another specimens that seems to have been discarded at the same time was a quite ugly sort of trophy mount. Luckily it was photographed in the 1960s. It was the holotype specimen of Bos caffer Sparrman, 1779. They “had no data”.


2.       No opinion. Situation in USA and Sweden is quite different.


Best wishes,


Erik Åhlander
vertebrate zoology and museum history

ZOO
Swedish Museum of Natural History
PO Box 50007
SE-10405 Stockholm
Sweden
+46 0 8 5195 4118
+46 0 70 225 2716
erik.ahlander at nrm.se



Från: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> För Catherine Early (she/her)
Skickat: den 14 oktober 2021 15:18
Till: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Ämne: [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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