Week 6

This was a very productive week! We are learning how to troubleshoot data entry and rehousing as we work our way through cabinets that have unique obstacles. At this point in the internship, most of us have worked with specimens that are cited in journals. Such specimens are stored in drawer that contain a copy of the publication. When we come across a specimen that is noted in the publication, we highlight the specimen number and note the new AMNH catalog number that we have given it. When databasing these specimens, we record the pagination, or the exact location in the journal where the specimen was mentioned. It’s neat to see some examples of how this collection has been used for research.
New catalog numbers are noted in this publication.
Abby came across this nautilus that was collected by Alexander Bickmore, who eventually became the first president of AMNH. 



This week we had a great tour of the ornithology department. Our tour guide started off by giving us a background on the various ways that specimens are prepared. The two main methods involve preparing birds as 1) skins and 2) skeletons. Preparing a specimen as a skin involves removing most of the skeleton and guts, resulting in a specimen that shows plumage. Skeleton specimens are simply disassembled skeletons that are numbered, allowing scientists to closely study size and structure of bones. Specimens can also be fixed in jars of formaldehyde, which may be a more common method in the future as 3D scanning becomes a useful tool to analyze specimens.
A variety of \bird skins. 


A collector ran out of paper so started using playing cards as labels.
We were also lucky enough to see some extinct species are housed in the ornithology department. Many of these extinct species come from island nations, where birds are particularly vulnerable due to their small range. Native island species that have evolved without predators  are often unable to defend themselves against invasive species.
We all can’t believe that we only have two weeks left! The summer is flying by.

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