[Nhcoll-l] How many specimens

[Derek Sikes]

It also depends on how one defines specimens.

Some define a specimen as a catalog record, i.e. 1 *or more* specimens
since some catalog records are for 'lots' e.g. 2 ants on 1 pin, or 15
spiders in 1 vial.

Thus, you will get very different numbers if you tally catalog records
based on specimens, compared to tallying the actual specimens themselves.

-Derek

On Thu, Mar 17, 2022 at 6:16 AM Bentley, Andrew Charles <abentley at ku.edu>
wrote:

> Lennart
>
>
>
> This is extremely difficult to estimate but estimates range into the
> billions (3-5 billion in various publications).  We can really only track
> digitized records and the best way to do this is through GBIF where
> specimen based records are around 216 million (observation records are
> close to 2 billion in comparison!!).
>
>
>
> [image:
> https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/GwHlBWgSSahK3K6RO4pue6K0rRlXR6uGxtmWn-V-DYerXzruT5eBr7ZpuiNVMSa4IB936_94wp6msqL-4Nh2L7-kvETPIoSaoatQle4tAH2rZJtE08VttHso6cQ8AgOLso0Wdoc]
>
>
>
> Hope that helps
>
>
>
> Andy
>
>     A  :             A  :             A  :
>  }<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<)))_°>
>     V                V                V
> Andy Bentley
> Ichthyology Collection Manager
> University of Kansas
> Biodiversity Institute
>
> Dyche Hall
> 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
> Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561
> USA
>
> Tel: (785) 864-3863
> Fax: (785) 864-5335
> Email: abentley at ku.edu
>
> ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3093-1258
>
> http://ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu
>
>     A  :             A  :             A  :
>  }<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<)))_°>
>     V                V                V
>
>
>
> *From:* Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> * On Behalf Of *Lennart
> Lennuk
> *Sent:* Thursday, March 17, 2022 3:51 AM
> *To:* nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> *Subject:* [Nhcoll-l] How many specimens
>
>
>
> Hi!
>
>
>
> Does anybody have lately calculated how many specimens are there in the
> natural history collections?
>
>
>
> Best regards!
>
> Lennart Lennuk
>
> Head of collections
>
> Estonian Museum of Natural History
>
> +372 6603404, 56569916
>
>
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-- 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
*Derek S. Sikes*, Curator of Insects, Professor of Entomology
University of Alaska Museum (UAM), University of Alaska Fairbanks
1962 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, AK   99775-6960
dssikes at alaska.edu phone: 907-474-6278 he/him/his
University of Alaska Museum <https://www.uaf.edu/museum/collections/ento/>
-  search 357,704 digitized arthropod records
<http://arctos.database.museum/uam_ento>
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Interested in Alaskan Entomology? Join the Alaska Entomological
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