1

Taxidermy

• GOOD– For display

• BAD– Labour-intensive to

maintain collection

– Difficult to assessmorphology due tointensive preparation

– Difficult to store

2

“Study Skin”

• GOOD– External features

– Complete animal

– May be possible toextract shortsequences of DNAfrom skin (feet)

– Easy to prepare in thefield (if you’re anexpert)

• BAD– NO internal anatomy

– Diagnostic, butmissing features forfurther study

– Difficult to prepare ifyou’re not an expert!

Skelton

• GOOD– Detailed preservation

– Osteologicalcharacters, importantfor phylogenetics

– Complete anatomy

• BAD– Species-level

diagnosis sometimeslost

– No external features

– May be impossible todetermine gender

– Time-consuming toprepare (cleaningbones)

Alcohol

• GOOD– Detailed preservation– Anatomical important

for phylogenetics– Complete anatomy– The only (good) way

for DNA– Relatively easy to

prepare

• BAD– Labour-intensive to

maintain collection

– More difficult tohandle to assessexternal characters

– Chemical bleaching

3

Examples: Preservation

Formalin vs. Alcohol

• Ethyl alcohol (EtOH)– Inexpensive and widely available– Relatively easy to work with– Unsurpassed DNA preservation

• Formalin– Carcinogenic– Unpleasant– Unsurpassed morphological preservation

Alcohol vs. Alcohol

• IMS - most specimens in NMINH– industrial methylated spirit– “Denatured” alcohol

(EtOH + methyl alcohol)

• EtOH– Pure alcohol– Heavily taxed!!

• EtOH has superior DNA preservation, but sequence datais more closely linked to concentration

4

Preservation - decisions

• Display / Study

• DRY specimens

– osteology

– shell

– sponges & corals

– skins

• WET specimens

– Alcohol

– Formalin

Formalin + Alcohol

• history

• invasive species

• medical research

• systematics

• taxonomy

• toxicology

• vouchers

• anatomy

• education

• endangered species

Dry specimens / Study Skins

• history

• systematics

• taxonomy

• vouchers

• artistic models

• education

• endangered species

5

DRY specimens

– osteology

– skins

– shell

– sponges & corals

– Separate or Together?

– Field Gear:

• bottles, chemicals OR

• knives, cotton, thread,

needles, corn meal /

sawdust AND

• someplace dry

Skeleton OR

Study Skin

WET specimens

– Isopropyl Alcohol 70%

– Ethyl Alcohol 70%

– Ethyl Alcohol 95%

– Formalin

– general use

– molecular

preservation (DNA /

protein analysis)

– morphology

(histology, organ

anatomy, colour)

• Cnidaria; Reptilia

6

Vital Statistics

• How Many? - 20,00020,000

• Oldest (known) - 18101810

• Youngest - 20032003

•• One of EuropeOne of Europe’’s largest collectionss largest collections

Vital Statistics

• How Many? - 20,00020,000– Taxidermy : 3,000

– Study skins : 15,000

– Wet specimens : 200

– Skeletons : 1,800

7

• 1870s - First major

acquisitions

• 1890 - Inventory list

published by A.G. More

• ca. 1910 - Organised

according to G.B. Sharpe

History of the BirdCollections

8

Birds around the worldBirds around the world

Sephanoides fernandensisSephanoides fernandensis

Juan Fernandez Juan Fernandez FirecrownFirecrown

9

Modern applications

• Past and present biodiversity

• New techniques on old specimens - DNAsequencing

•• Our only access to endangered and extinctOur only access to endangered and extinctspeciesspecies

Museums Then and Now...

• Museums are organised collections of objects

• Objects alone do not make a museum

• Collections alone do not make a museum

• Buildings alone do not make a museum

10

Cabinet of Curiosties 1599

Ferrante Imperato’s museum, Naples

Cabinet of Curiosities 1655

Olaus Worm’s museum, Leiden

Systematic Collecting

• World Travel

• 19th Century Growth

• Increasing focus

• Taxonomic layout

• Access for scientists

• Public Access

11

Services to Specialists

• Identification

• Taxonomy

• Records

• Publications

• Analysis

• Forensic support

Flour beetles

Ladybird controlling aphid infestation

Services to Public

• Scientific Authority

• Identify objects

• Supply facts

• Explain theories

• Correct errors

Exhibitions - Traditional

Diorama

Model

12

Exhibitions - Modern Methods

• Audience Research

• Communication Plan

• Select Objects

• Interpretation– Engage Visitor

– Make connections

– Interactive Learning

Exhibitions - Reconstructions

Exhibitions - Challenges

Plants

Landscape

13

Exhibitions - Sensitive IssuesHuman evolution

History

Touring Exhibitions

Earliest Reptile

Health

Education

Activity Centre

Handling Collection

14

Outreach - Field Trips

Publicity

The Hazards of Public Life

• Everything on displayis also part of thecollection

• Exhibition carriesmore risks forcollections

• All hazards apply tocollections stores too!(Beggars Bush)

15

Pollutants - dirt

Rocky

mountain

goat

Before

After

Work by Jac Bouten & Son, Venlo, Netherlands 2003

Light - Fading

• Mammals fade to“giraffe colours” ofcream and tan

• Birds less obvious,less familiar

Thylacine, acquired

1917

Light - Embrittlement

• UV damage to structure of hide

• Combined with poor heatcontrol

• Form maintains shape, skinstretches and splits

• Solutions: replacement or repair

Giraffe in 2001, acquired

1897

16

Replacement: Giraffe

Jac Bouten & Son, Venlo, Netherlands, January 2003

Heat

• Large bore pipework

• Floor heating of largespaces

• Heat loss through roof

• Little buffering

• Shrinkage of hides

Repair: Zebra

Equus burchelli burchelli extinct in wild1910, in captivity 1918

ex Antwerp Zoo, then Dublin Zoo 1885,died 1895

Work by Jac Bouten &

Son, Venlo, Netherlands

2003

NMINH : 1895.201

17

Pests

• Need airflow which isnot provided throughopen doors andwindows

• Need to seal floorspaces and otherrefuges

Documenting

• Repeatability = Science

• Proof

• Who you, the collector

• When day, month, year (also tide, time…)

• Where GPS; lat & long; country

• What species identification

• How PRESERVATION (& gear)

• Field Notes

• Publications

Documenting

National Museum of Ireland - Natural History Division

2003.32.1

Cryptochiton stelleri Middendorff

Botanical Bay, N. of park, West Coast ofVancouver Island, Canada

coll. J.D. Sigwart 2 September 2003

(know your goal)

18

Duchas National Parks

and Wildlife• Interaction on biodiversity, internally (e.g. NPWS,EVS,

National Botanic Gardens and NMI) and externally

• Ensuring all Departments are aware of, and feed into,

relevant developments under Convention

• North/South co-operation on biodiversity

• Review Policy on Nature Conservation including the European

Communities (Natural Habitats) Regulations, 1997

• Produce National Biodiversity Plan and co-ordinate its

implementation

Duchas The Wildlife Act

Wildlife Act 1976; Wildlife (Ammendment) Act 2000

http:// www.duchas.ie

“fauna” means all wild birds and all wild animals (both aquaticand terrestrial) and includes wild mammals, reptiles,

amphibians and aquatic and non-aquatic invertebrate

animals, and all such wild animals’ eggs, larvae, pupae or

other immature stage and young

“conservation” includes measures to maintain of enhance orrestore the quality, value or diversity of speices, habitats,

communities, geological features or geomorphological features

CITES

Convention on International Trade in Endangered

Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

(Washington, D.C. 1973; Ammended 1997)

• 164 Parties

http:// www.cites.org

Appendix I - most endangered

Appendix II - not necessarily endangered … yet

19

CITES in Ireland

Appendix I - 18

(8 whales, 5 birds, 3 sea turtles, Otter, & Atlantic Sturgeon)

Appendix II - 72

Deleted - 4

(Mediterranean & Lesser Horseshoe bats, Glossy Ibis,

Pond Terrapin)

• No species protected by CITES has become extinct since

the Convention came into force

Vouchering

• (permits in order)

• Repository information for

citation = repeatability

• Do not underestimatevalue to future research