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Research
Training Program
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Highlights
from 2006
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Smithsonian
Institution
National Museum of Natural History
Research
Training Program
Events
Photo Gallery
Mammals
Collection Tour
Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
The
mammals tour this year featured a look
at the OH MY collection, made up of representative
samples of the range of specimen types
found in the general collections including
study skins, skulls, and fluid specimens.
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
The
tour of mammals was lead by Suzanne Peurach,
technician with the
Biological Resources Division of the U.S.
Geological Survey (Patuxent Wildlife Research
Center) based at the National Museum of
Natural History.
Suzy
recently earned her Masters degree from
George Mason University where she specialized
in the characters of mammal hair, especially
bats.
Why
mammal hair? The hairs have unique and
often distinguishing characterists allowing
the expert to determine the mammal family,
sometimes even the genus and species based
on the hair. And when is this important?
You'd be surprised! One example. Although
birds are mainly known for their encounters
with aircraft, sometimes even causing
planes to crash, bats also strike flying
aircraft and Suzy is often called upon
to identify fur samples sent to the Museum
from aircraft inspections.
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
There
are some 1,500 different species of bats.
A small sample included: (left to right)
a fish eating bat, Noctilio; fruit-eating
leaf-nosed bat Artibeus and a vampire
bat Desmodus.
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
The
Latticed-wing bat, Centrio senex.
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
Yes,
this is a bat! A close up view of the
face of Centrio senex showing the
furless wrinkled face features characteristic
of this species.
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
Museum
specimens are treated with many nasty
chemicals (e.g. arsenic, mercuric chloride)
to aid in their long-term preservation.
In addition, touching and handling specimens
can damage them so interaction is limited.
However, to truly appreciate some the
great natural adaptive traits, you just
have to touch. The "OH MY" collection
provides just such an opportunity with
tanned hides that are free of chemicals
and lack data so they have been approved
for handling. Who can resist the pelt
of a clouded leopard, beaver, and especially
a fur seal. But not even all the OH MY
specimens can be touched, some are just
for looking.
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
This
is a "do not touch!' Do you recognize
this pelt pattern? Probably not. All that
remains to science of individuals from
this group are museum specimens. It's
the Tasmanian tiger-wolf, Thylacinus
cynocephalus, neither a wolf or a
tiger, but it a marsupial.
The
Tasmanian tiger-wolf became extinct on
the mainland of Australia long ago because
it could not compete for food with an
introduced species, the dingo. Tiger-wolves
continued to thrive on the dingo-free
island of Tasmania until settlers began
clearing the tiger-wolf's habitat for
sheep farming. Habitat destruction reduced
the natural prey available to tiger-wolves.
With its natural prey base reduced, the
tiger-wolf began to kill domestic sheep
for food and the farmers mounted a campaign
to destroy these carnivores who were preying
on their livestock. In the mid-1800's,
landowners paid a bounty for killing tiger-wolves,
and the government introduced an even
larger bounty in 1888. The programs were
quite successful and the tiger-wolf was
poisoned, shot, snared, hunted with dogs,
trapped, and otherwise exterminated through
the early 1900s.
An unknown disease decimated the remaining
population in 1910. By 1933 it was believed
that the species had become extinct in
the wild. In 1936, the last known Tasmanian
tiger-wolf died in captivity. Although
the species is believed extinct, reports
of tiger-wolves in the wild continue but
none have been confirmed or vouchered.
So far, Thylacinus cynocephalus
remains a wraith.
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
Like
many other Museum collections, cleared
and stained mammal specimens provide valuable
information including growth and development
of bone and cartilage.
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
Skull
of a chimp.
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
Suzy
hold the skull of a mountain gorilla.
This one in particular is "Karisimbi"
one of the gorillas Diane Fossey studied
making this a particularly valuable specimens
because of all the life history data available
about this individual.
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
Museum
study skin of a flying squirrel. The flattened
tail incorporates many of the same traits
as bird feathers.
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
No,
these specimens didn't get caught in the
"compactors" in Entomology.
While the standard Museum study skin for
small mammals is stuffed, like the flying
squirrel above, flat skins are also prepared,
such as those shown in these study skin
of four-eyed opossums (Philander opossum).
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
Study
skins are usually accompanied with the
animal's skull such as for this four-eyed
opossum (Philander opossum), as
well as post-cranial skeletal material.
In mammals, and many other collections
except entomology, to match parts to the
individual, the individual is given a
unique number and each part, each individual
bone, is labeled with that number such
as shown above, note the number 456903
on the study skin tag and skull.
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
After
viewing the OH MY collection tour guide
Suzanne Peurach brought students into
the general collections to view some special
requests.
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
Mandrill
skull showing the specialized bony flanges
of the dominant male. The Mandrill (Mandrillus
sphinx) is a primate, one of the Old-world
monkeys, closely related to the baboons.
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
The
skull of a Tarsier showing the
large eye sockets.
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
Juan
Andres Martinez holding an echinda, Tachyglossus.
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
Neal
Woodman introduces students to the shrews.
Neal
is one of the staff scientists of the
Biological Resources Division of the U.S.
Geological Survey (Patuxent Wildlife Research
Center) based at the National Museum of
Natural History under terms of an interagency
Memorandum of Understanding. A major role
of the USGS scientists is to serve as
collection curators alongside SI staff.
Neal specializes in the taxonomy and systematics
of shrews.
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Mammals
Collection Tour
30
June 2006
The
Northern short-tailed shrew, Blarina
brevicauda, may seem small (about
12-14 cm) but by shrew standards this
is pretty big, and don't be fooled. It
may have poor vision but has an excellent
sense of smell and venomous bite (!),
delivered from it's groved incisors.
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