4/24 Burke Museum

We visited the Burke Museum today, and it was the first time I had set foot inside. I regret this, as it seems to be a great place with a large amount of information on every living thing in the area. We got a first hand look into the giant catalog of mammal specimen they have. Although we were learning about birds, we saw people skinning a bobcat, preparing it for cataloging. The birds aren't saved for a specific purpose, other than the fact that having a large collection of many species from a large span of time will be a hugely important resource in seeing trends. It allows for the correlation of data from different time periods, letting scientists better pinpoint what is causing a certain trend. As global warming becomes increasingly worse, these collections will become even priceless. The museum receives between 2000 and 4000 birds every year, with half of them coming from outside the United States. Four types of specimen allow for study of every aspect of the creature in question. The first is a Study skin, which is simple a skin stuffed, and allows for observations about the plumage. Second is a spread wing sample, allowing for detailed study of the wings which aren't possible in a study skin, as the wings are folded up. The third type of specimen is a skeleton, allowing those studying to figure out the structure and size of the animal. The last is a tissue sample, which is used to study DNA.

Posted on May 1, 2012 07:03 AM by beardendb