SUNY Plattsburgh Taxidermy Collection 2010 Inventory

Abstract

During Hudson renovations 10 cabinets were found which contained a valuable collection of specimens ranging from invertebrate shells to endangered bird eggs, and local mammals. The focus of our research has been to preserve, organize, and prepare an inventory of mammal specimens to be catalogued in the Biocollections program in Specify6 (University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS) in the future. Specify6 is a data processing program used in museum and herbarium research. The majority of mammal museum preparation specimens were collected by prior SUNY Plattsburgh faculty, specifically Dr. Phil Walker, Dr. Harold Klein, as well as Biology students (dating back to 1960s). Additionally, several animal preparations were completed by students in wildlife-related courses as a taxidermy exercise, similar to the museum preparation lab in Wildlife Ecology and Management (ENV 430)