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Bat Collection Improvement
The bat collection at the AMNH (>60,000 specimens)
constitutes one of the largest and most important components of
the mammal collection. Worldwide in geographic coverage, it contains
specimens of many rare or extinct species and populations and it
has been the basis for many historically important faunal and biogeographic
studies, systematic revisions, and phylogenetic analyses. Thanks
to the efforts of the late Dr. Karl Koopman, taxonomic identifications
and geographic data associated with this collection have been well
maintained. It is the foremost collection of its kind, and attracts
a steady stream researchers eager to have much of the world's bat
diversity at their fingertips.
Until recently, the entire dry collection (skins,
skulls, skeletons: approximately 35,000 specimens) was housed in
substandard conditions. Skins lay in acid-rich trays, skeletons
were housed in tiny glass vials, and all were stored in old cabinets
that did not seal properly. Such conditions may have been acceptable100
years ago, but they have now been found to be woefully inadequate
for long-term maintenance of the collection. Improvements were clearly
overdue. With support from the National
Science Foundation (DEB 9986849), we began a project
in 1999 to rehouse and update the curation of the dry bat collection.
New collection spaces were rennovated and new custom-built steel
cabinetry was installed to hold the collection. All of the old skull
vials and skeleton boxes were replaced with new archival-quality
vials and boxes, and all paper trays (which hold skins) were replaced
with new archival trays. Tray changeover also involved cleaning
of specimens (mostly the skins) with a HEPA vacuum. Data associated with every specimen was checked
against the entries in our electronic database, and the electronic
data were updated as necessary. Because data in the database were
originally entered directly from catalog ledger entries and had
not previously been checked against the specimens, we found hundreds
of errors and omissions that we were able to correct as part of
this process. Although not presently online, the verified data associated
with the bat collection is available to researchers upon request
(mamminquiries@amnh.org).
The entire database will be available online by May 2005 when we
complete migration to a new database platform (KE
EMu). The bat collection of the American Museum of Natural
History is now better than ever, and is ready for another 100 years
of active research. For more information about coming to work with
this collection or to request a loan, please follow
this link. |
