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Specimen collection is essential for modern science

PLOS Biology

November 2023
21(11):e3002318

DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.3002318

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Authors:

Elizabeth J. Beckman

University of California, Berkeley

Rauri C K Bowie

University of California, Berkeley

Carla Cicero

University of California, Berkeley

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Natural history museums are vital repositories of specimens, samples and data that inform about the natural world; this Formal Comment revisits a Perspective that advocated for the adoption of compassionate collection practices, querying whether it will ever be possible to completely do away with whole animal specimen collection.

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FORMAL COMMENT

Specimen collection is essential for modern

science

Michael W. NachmanID

*, Elizabeth J. Beckman

, Rauri CK Bowie

, Carla Cicero

, Chris

J. Conroy

, Robert Dudley

, Tyrone B. Hayes

, Michelle S. Koo

, Eileen A. Lacey

Christopher H. Martin

, Jimmy A. McGuire

, James L. Patton

, Carol L. Spencer

, Rebecca

D. Tarvin

, Marvalee H. Wake

, Ian J. Wang

, Anang Achmadi

, Sergio Ticul A

´lvarez-

Castañeda

, Michael J. Andersen

, Jairo Arroyave

, Christopher C. Austin

, F

Keith Barker

, Lisa N. Barrow

, George F. Barrowclough

, John Bates

, Aaron M. Bauer

Kayce C. Bell

, Rayna C. Bell

, Allison W. Bronson

, Rafe M. Brown

, Frank

T. Burbrink

, Kevin J. Burns

, Carlos Daniel Cadena

, David C. Cannatella

, Todd

A. Castoe

, Prosanta Chakrabarty

, Jocelyn P. Colella

, Joseph A. Cook

, Joel

L. Cracraft

, Drew R. Davis

, Alison R. Davis Rabosky

, Guillermo D’Elı

´a

, John

P. Dumbacher

, Jonathan L. Dunnum

, Scott V. Edwards

, Jacob A. Esselstyn

Julia

´n Faivovich

, Jon Fjeldså

, Oscar A. Flores-Villela

, Kassandra Ford

´ro

ˆme Fuchs

, Matthew K. Fujita

, Jeffrey M. Good

, Eli Greenbaum

, Harry

W. Greene

, Shannon Hackett

, Amir Hamidy

, James Hanken

, Tri Haryoko

, Melissa

TR Hawkins

, Lawrence R. Heaney

, David M. Hillis

, Bradford D. Hollingsworth

Angela D. Hornsby

, Peter A. Hosner

, Mohammad Irham

, Sharon Jansa

, Rosa

Alicia Jime

´nez

, Leo Joseph

, Jeremy J. Kirchman

, Travis J. LaDuc

, Adam

D. Leache

, Enrique P. Lessa

, Herna

´n Lo

´pez-Ferna

´ndez

, Nicholas A. Mason

, John

E. McCormack

, Caleb D. McMahan

, Robert G. Moyle

, Ricardo A. Ojeda

, Link

E. Olson

, Chan Kin Onn

, Lynne R. Parenti

, Gabriela Parra-Olea

, Bruce D. Patterson

Gregory B. Pauly

, Silvia E. Pavan

, A Townsend Peterson

, Steven Poe

, Daniel

L. Rabosky

, Christopher J. Raxworthy

, Sushma Reddy

, Alejandro Rico-Guevara

Awal Riyanto

, Luiz A. Rocha

, Santiago R. Ron

, Sean M. Rovito

, Kevin C. Rowe

Jodi Rowley

, Sara Ruane

, David Salazar-Valenzuela

, Allison J. Shultz

Brian Sidlauskas

, Derek S. Sikes

, Nancy B. Simmons

, Melanie L. J. Stiassny

, Jeffrey

W. Streicher

, Bryan L. Stuart

, Adam P. Summers

, Jose Tavera

, Pablo Teta

, Cody

W. Thompson

, Robert M. Timm

, Omar Torres-Carvajal

, Gary Voelker

, Robert

S. Voss

, Kevin Winker

, Christopher Witt

, Elizabeth A. Wommack

, Robert M. Zink

1Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America, 2Museum

Zoologicum Bogoriense, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong, Indonesia, 3Centro de

Investigaciones Biolo

´gicas del Noroeste, La PazAU :Pleasenotethatcitynameshavebeenaddedforaffiliations3;17;28;32;and37:Pleaseconfirmthatthesearecorrect:, Me

´xico, 4Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of

New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America, 5Instituto de Biologı

´a, Universidad

Nacional Auto

´noma de Me

´xico, Mexico City, Mexico, 6Museum of Natural Science and Department of

Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America, 7Bell

Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States of America,

8American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States of America, 9Field Museum of

Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America, 10 Department of Biology, Villanova University,

Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States of America, 11 Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los

Angeles, California, United States of America, 12 California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California,

United States of America, 13 Biological Sciences, California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, Arcata,

California, United States of America, 14 Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum, University of

Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, United States of America, 15 Department of Biology, San Diego State

University, San Diego, California, United States of America, 16 Departamento de Ciencias Biolo

´gicas,

Universidad de los Andes, Bogota

´, Colombia, 17 Biodiversity Center & Dept. of Integrative Biology, The

University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, United States of America, 18 Department of Biology, University

of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, United States of America, 19 Natural History Museum and Dept. of

Biology, Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, New Mexico, United States of America, 20 Museum of

Zoology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America, 21 Instituto de Cs.

Ambientales y Evolutivas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile, 22 Museum of Comparative Zoology,

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America, 23 Museo Argentino de Ciencias

Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia", Buenos Aires, Argentina, 24 Natural History Museum of Denmark,

PLOS Biology | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002318 November 22, 2023 1 / 6

a1111111111

OPEN ACCESS

Citation: Nachman MW, Beckman EJ, Bowie RCK,

Cicero C, Conroy CJ, Dudley R, et al. (2023)

Specimen collection is essential for modern

science. PLoS Biol 21(11): e3002318. https://doi.

org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002318

Received: June 14, 2023

Accepted: August 30, 2023

Published: November 22, 2023

distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or

otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose.

The work is made available under the Creative

Commons CC0 public domain dedication.

Funding: The authors received no specific funding

for this work.

Competing interests: The authors have declared

that no competing interests exist.

University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, 25 Museo de Zoologı

´a, F.C. Universidad Nacional

Auto

´noma de Me

´xico, Mexico City, Mexico, 26 ISYEB, Muse

´um national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, France,

27 Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America,

28 Biodiversity Collections and Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas,

United States of America, 29 Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC,

United States of America, 30 San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego, California, United States of

America, 31 Escuela de Biologı

´a, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Ciudad de Guatemala,

Guatemala, 32 Australian National Wildlife Collection, CSIRO, Canberra, Australia, 33 New York State

Museum, Albany, New York, United States of America, 34 Burke Museum, University of Washington, Seattle,

Washington, United States of America, 35 Departamento de Ecologı´a y Evolucio

´n, Universidad de la

Repu

´blica, Montevideo, Uruguay, 36 Moore Laboratory of Zoology, Occidental College, Los Angeles,

California, United States of America, 37 CONICET, Centro de Ciencia y Te

´cnica Mendoza, Mendoza,

Argentina, 38 University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, Alaska, United States of America, 39 National

University of Singapore, Singapore, 40 Museo de Zoologı

´a, Pontificia Universidad Cato

´lica del Ecuador,

Quito, Ecuador, 41 Unidad de Geno

´mica Avanzada, Cinvestav, Mexico, 42 Museums Victoria Research

Institute, Melbourne, Australia, 43 Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, Sydney,

Australia, 44 Facultad de Ciencias de Medio Ambiente, Universidad Indoame

´rica, Quito, Ecuador, 45 Dept.

of Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of

America, 46 Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom, 47 North Carolina Museum of Natural

Sciences, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America, 48 Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of

Washington, Friday Harbor, Washington, United States of America, 49 Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia,

50 Dept. Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of

America, 51 University of Wyoming Museum of Vertebrates, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming,

United States of America, 52 University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States of

America

*mnachman@berkeley.edu

AU :Pleaseconfirmthatallheadinglevelsarerepresentedcorrectly:In a recent Perspective, Byrne [1] emphasized that natural history museums “are essential

hubs for research and education” but that their mission should be reimagined to focus on non-

lethal collecting. We endorse many of the practices advocated by Byrne, including the storage

of tissues, recordings, photos, and other data; embracing new technologies such as massively

parallel DNA sequencing, μCT scanning, and stable isotope analysis; and large-scale digitiza-

tion of collections and associated metadata. Indeed, many of these practices are widely used by

museums today. We also welcome the call to provide stable financial support to maintain and

expand the infrastructure of existing collections. However, we do not support the call to use

new technologies “to replace the need for whole animal bodies.” Byrne’s position overstates

the potential of new technologies to replace specimen-based research and fails to acknowledge

the importance of whole-organism–based research in building the foundations of modern

biology and in continuing to promote new discoveries.

Our intention is not to address all the claims or ethical assumptions made by Byrne. We

fully realize that collecting specimens is not necessary or desirable in certain circumstances,

and we value the scientific contributions of researchers who choose not to collect whole ani-

mals. The importance and ethics of scientific collecting have been reviewed in many recent

papers (e.g., [2–4]). Rather, our goal is to underscore the tremendous value of ongoing, whole-

organism specimen collection by highlighting some of the key scientific and societal gains that

arise from this research (Box 1).

Box 1. The value of whole-organism specimen collection

Whole-organism specimens enable many kinds of research that would be difficult or

impossible to conduct in a comprehensive way with nonlethal samples such as record-

ings or photos. A few examples of research enabled by whole-organism specimens and

their associated tissues and data illustrate the value of museum collections [2–13].

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Documenting biodiversity

Most of the Earth’s biodiversity remains to be characterized, with an estimated 86% of species

yet to be described [14]. Voucher specimens in the form of whole organisms are an essential

part of species descriptions, providing a physical reference against which other individuals can

be compared. Photographs, recordings, and DNA sequences do not individually or collectively

provide the same quality of information, nor do they maximize the potential for linking geno-

type with phenotype. For example, as genomic data have become part of the standard taxo-

nomic toolkit, discovery of cryptic or nearly cryptic species diversity is now routine. However,

verification of these species requires intensive anatomical analyses that are impossible without

whole-organism voucher specimens. Moreover, most animal species are small arthropods

such as insects and mites, the majority of which cannot be found using nonlethal means and

cannot be identified without microscopic examination [5]. Similarly, research on the endopar-

asites of most species is not possible without collection of whole organisms. Finally, under-

standing evolutionary processes often involves the study of large series of voucher specimens

that document geographic, temporal, age, or sexual variation in specific traits. These studies all

rely on the collection of whole organisms.

Conservation of species

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assesses species once they are

described. Thus, there is typically no mechanism to initiate conservation efforts prior to spe-

cies descriptions. In addition, many conservation threats to individual species have been iden-

tified because of research conducted using combinations of modern and historical specimens.

For example, the effects of DDT on the thinning of bird eggshells prompted the ban on the use

of DDT as a pesticide, leading to the subsequent recovery of threatened species. This work,

which was based on linking eggshell weight and thickness to chemical concentrations [6],

could not have been carried out from photographs or eggshell fragments. Similarly, the timing

and spread of the chytrid fungus pandemic that has driven worldwide declines of amphibian

populations continues to be documented using both historical and recently collected museum

specimens [7].

• Discovery and description of new species

• The origins and spread of infectious diseases

• Studies of environmental degradation such as the accumulation of microplastics and

mercury in fish or DDT in eggshells

• Most research on endoparasites and small invertebrates (which constitute the majority

of all animals)

• Research on morphology and physiology of whole organisms

• Studies of gene expression and epigenetic modifications in wild animals, including

gene regulatory changes associated with adaptation to different environments

• Research that links genomic variation to phenotypic differences

• Studies of the biotic consequences of global change in the Anthropocene

• A global scientific resource for future studies and future technologies

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Conservation of geographic regions

Documenting regional patterns of biodiversity from museum specimens has led to the creation

of new national parks or protected areas in many regions of the world. For example, the most

important biodiversity hotspot of East Africa, in the Udzungwa and Rubeho highlands of Tan-

zania, was discovered and documented through comprehensive collecting efforts, resulting in

large investments in better management and the establishment of a national park [8]. Biodiver-

sity documented through collections is also helping conservations efforts in Guatemala, Indo-

nesia, the Philippines, and other countries. In such instances, the establishment of protected

areas preserves far more individual organisms than were collected by researchers at these loca-

tions. Biodiversity is highest in the tropics where it is understudied and underrepresented in

scientific collections, both locally and globally. Biodiversity is often highest in countries with

limited resources for technologies such as massively parallel DNA sequencing or μCT scan-

ning. Specimen collection is essential to document biodiversity in these critical regions, many

of which face habitat destruction.

Linking genotype to phenotype

Museum collections are repositories of phenotypic diversity. A central challenge of modern

biology is to understand how genetic variation generates phenotypic differences. Whole-

organism collections that preserve phenotypic diversity among many sampled individuals pro-

vide the opportunity to study how that diversity is generated and maintained. For example, the

NSF-funded oVert (Open Exploration of Vertebrate Diversity in 3D) project uses CT scanning

of approximately 20,000 museum specimens to provide high-resolution 3D representations of

internal anatomy across diverse vertebrate taxa. However, this database captures only a limited

portion of the variation in one lineage, and such databases will be improved in the future only

by adding more whole-organism specimens. By contrast, when only DNA samples are col-

lected in the field (e.g., by nonlethal collecting), it becomes impossible to associate genotypes

with most types of phenotypic data, severely limiting the utility of DNA sequences for many

types of future study.

Identifying, monitoring, and predicting zoonotic pathogen

emergence

Because the majority of emerging diseases in humans comes from animals, whole specimens

that include frozen tissues are essential to identifying new pathogens, understanding pathogen

circulation, spillover potential, and host immunology [9]. For example, deer mice were identi-

fied as the primary reservoir for a new hantavirus in the Southwestern United States in 1993,

and the origin and spread of this virus was traced using tissues archived in 2 museums [10].

Museum specimens also allow future pathogen discovery [11]. Indeed, the recent SARS-CoV-

2 pandemic has revealed a major gap in biosecurity infrastructure; the lack of biological sam-

ples across geographic regions and taxonomic groups prevents scientists from quickly and reli-

ably identifying novel pathogens and their hosts. Ongoing specimen collection would help

create a biorepository to prepare for future pandemics by enabling early detection and provid-

ing a framework for understanding spillover events [11].

Providing a resource for future technologies

Natural history museums are engaged in research today in ways that were unimaginable when

many of our institutions were founded. Specimens collected in the distant past have enabled

research that utilizes novel technologies including DNA sequencing, stable isotope analysis,

PLOS BIOLOGY

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chemical and pollutant analysis, and μCT scanning. Just as past museum scientists could not

imagine all the uses of specimens in the future, we cannot imagine the technologies that might

be available a hundred years from now. It is only by continuing to provide complete voucher

specimens with rich associated metadata that we will be able to empower discoveries using yet-

to-be developed technologies by future generations of scientists.

Establishing a baseline for the future

Environmental change in the Anthropocene, including climate change, land-use change, bio-

logical invasions, environmental contaminants, and habitat loss and degradation, is affecting

many aspects of life on Earth. Comparisons of historical and modern museum specimens

allow us to document and study the effects of global change on individual species and ecologi-

cal communities [12]. Specimen collections in rapidly changing habitats like urban environ-

ments provide a means for understanding both ecological and evolutionary responses to land-

use change and environmental degradation [13]. Similarly, museum specimens can reveal the

time course over which contaminants and pollutants have become widespread [13]. As we

move into a time of even greater climate transition and land-use change, there has never been

a more pressing need for contemporary collections that allow comparisons to the past and also

serve as a baseline for the future [4].

The contributions of whole-organism collecting listed above are not exhaustive but high-

light some of the key reasons why specimen collecting continues to add value to science and to

issues of societal importance including conservation, zoonotic pathogens, environmental pol-

lutants, and numerous others. Although a few of these lines of inquiry could be pursued in a

limited way without new collections or without whole organisms, most could not. We support

the development of new technologies that increase the information obtained from museum

specimens, but these should augment and not replace other methods. Specimen collection is

still essential for modern science.

Supporting information

S1 File. Spanish translation of comment.

(DOCX)

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Dedicated ichthyological surveys in two karstic caves in Costa Rica resulted in the discovery of hypogean populations from three epigean species of catfishes of the genus Rhamdia. The taxonomic identity of these populations was initially determined based on morphological traits and subsequently corroborated with comparative DNA sequence data in a phylogenetic framework. Individuals from all hypogean populations documented herein exhibit only partial troglomorphism, characterized by only moderate (vs. complete) integumentary depigmentation without extreme eye reduction/loss. A similar pattern of incomplete troglomorphism at the individual level has been observed in other cave-dwelling species/populations of Middle American Rhamdia, and tentatively attributed to gene flow with and/or incipient speciation from epigean lineages. Since most hypogean forms of Rhamdia derive from/are part of a larger clade of primarily R. laticauda, our discovery of cave-dwelling populations assignable to R. nicaraguensis and R. guatemalensis is noteworthy, particularly in the case of the former, which represents the first taxonomically verified record of a cave-dwelling population of this epigean species. Among our findings is the remarkable discovery of hypogean populations from two different species of Rhamdia (R. laticauda and R. nicaraguensis) inhabiting the same cave (Gabinarraca). This finding is particularly significant because it represents the first time that cave-dwelling populations from different species of Rhamdia are reported to be living in syntopy. Continued discovery of cave-dwelling populations during targeted ichthyological surveys reinforces the notion that our understanding of the diversity of hypogean Rhamdia is incomplete and that sustained exploration and taxonomically sound documentation work are paramount to advancing knowledge about the diversity and evolution of these group of Neotropical catfishes.

Ethical issues in lethal insect monitoring

Article

Oct 2024

Guidelines for the effective and ethical sampling of herbaria

Article

Sep 2024
Nat. Ecol. Evol.

The use of herbaria for science and conservation is enabling greatly enhanced scopes and scales of discovery, exploration and protection of biodiversity. The availability of digital, open-access herbarium data is, perhaps counter-intuitively, expanding the use of physical collections by researchers who use digital collections to find specimens and then sample physical collections for multiomics investigations, including genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics and microbiomics. These investigations are leading to new scientific insights and supporting the development of conservation actions, but they come with a substantial cost: the partial or complete destruction of often irreplaceable specimens, which constitute a global heritage that should be permanently safeguarded for future reference. Here we provide a set of recommended best practices for the sustainable, equitable and ethical sampling of herbarium specimens. Our recommendations are intended for two complementary and partially overlapping audiences-users and stewards-who together build, use and protect herbarium collections.

Identification of non-model mammal species using the MinION DNA sequencer from Oxford Nanopore

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2024

Background The Neotropics harbors the largest species richness of the planet; however, even in well-studied groups, there are potentially hundreds of species that lack a formal description, and likewise, many already described taxa are difficult to identify using morphology. Specifically in small mammals, complex morphological diagnoses have been facilitated by the use of molecular data, particularly from mitochondrial sequences, to obtain accurate species identifications. Obtaining mitochondrial markers implies the use of PCR and specific primers, which are largely absent for non-model organisms. Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) is a new alternative for sequencing the entire mitochondrial genome without the need for specific primers. Only a limited number of studies have employed exclusively ONT long-reads to assemble mitochondrial genomes, and few studies have yet evaluated the usefulness of such reads in multiple non-model organisms. Methods We implemented fieldwork to collect small mammals, including rodents, bats, and marsupials, in five localities in the northern extreme of the Cordillera Central of Colombia. DNA samples were sequenced using the MinION device and Flongle flow cells. Shotgun-sequenced data was used to reconstruct the mitochondrial genome of all the samples. In parallel, using a customized computational pipeline, species-level identifications were obtained based on sequencing raw reads (Whole Genome Sequencing). ONT-based identifications were corroborated using traditional morphological characters and phylogenetic analyses. Results A total of 24 individuals from 18 species were collected, morphologically identified, and deposited in the biological collection of Universidad EAFIT. Our different computational pipelines were able to reconstruct mitochondrial genomes from exclusively ONT reads. We obtained three new mitochondrial genomes and eight new molecular mitochondrial sequences for six species. Our species identification pipeline was able to obtain accurate species identifications for up to 75% of the individuals in as little as 5 s. Finally, our phylogenetic analyses corroborated the identifications from our automated species identification pipeline and revealed important contributions to the knowledge of the diversity of Neotropical small mammals. Discussion This study was able to evaluate different pipelines to reconstruct mitochondrial genomes from non-model organisms, using exclusively ONT reads, benchmarking these protocols on a multi-species dataset. The proposed methodology can be applied by non-expert taxonomists and has the potential to be implemented in real-time, without the need to euthanize the organisms and under field conditions. Therefore, it stands as a relevant tool to help increase the available data for non-model organisms, and the rate at which researchers can characterize life specially in highly biodiverse places as the Neotropics.

Reimagining the future of natural history museums with compassionate collection

Article

Full-text available

May 2023
PLOS BIOL

Allison Byrne

Compassionate collection involves minimizing harm while collecting museum data in the field. By adopting this practice, natural history museums could better maintain existing collections, accommodate more nonlethal specimens and data, and foster an inclusive community.

Review of the genus Amblymelanoplia Dombrow, 2002 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Hopliini) with the description of ninety-three new species from South Africa and observations on its biogeography and phylogeny

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2022

Twenty years after establishing the genus Amblymelanoplia Dombrow, 2002 a large amount of new material collected has warranted a critical review of the established species and a revision of the genus. From this process, we describe 93 new species from the Northern Cape, Western Cape, Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces of the Republic of South Africa. A lectotype is designated for Gouna burchelli Arrow, 1917 which is transferred to Amblymelanoplia. The new species are: A. aequabilis Dombrow, new species, A. albolineata Dombrow, new species, A. albosquamosa Dombrow, new species, A. alluaudi Dombrow, new species, A. aquifolia Dombrow, new species, A. arrowi Dombrow, new species, A. atritica Dombrow, new species, A. baehri Dombrow, new species, A. balkei Dombrow, new species, A. bicostata Dombrow, new species, A. bidentata Dombrow, new species, A. bimucronata Dombrow, new species, A. brancuccii Dombrow, new species, A. braunsi Dombrow, new species, A. brinckmanni Dombrow, new species, A. burmeisteri Dombrow, new species, A. caliginosa Dombrow, new species, A. carinata Dombrow, new species, A. castanea Dombrow, new species, A. cederbergensis Dombrow, new species, A. citrusdalensis Dombrow, new species, A. constricta Dombrow, new species, A. costata Dombrow, new species, A. crenata Dombrow, new species, A. deyrollei Dombrow, new species, A. dregei Dombrow, new species, A. drumonti Dombrow, new species, A. elkeae Dombrow, new species, A. enodisuturalis Dombrow, new species, A. fabricii Dombrow, new species, A. felschei Dombrow, new species, A. frischi Dombrow, new species, A. fryi Dombrow, new species, A. fusca Dombrow, new species, A. gifbergensis Dombrow, new species, A. glenlyonensis Dombrow, new species, A. goodhopensis Dombrow, new species, A. gydoensis Dombrow, new species, A. jekeli Dombrow, new species, A. klassi Dombrow, new species, A. kraatzi Dombrow, new species, A. kulzeri Dombrow, new species, A. laingsburgensis Dombrow, new species, A. lichtensteini Dombrow, new species, A. lajoyei Dombrow, new species, A. macrodentata Dombrow, new species, A. mamreensis Dombrow, new species, A. mcleodi Dombrow, new species, A. microdentata Dombrow, new species, A. montana Dombrow, new species, A. mortoni Dombrow, new species, A. multidentata Dombrow, new species, A. murrayi Dombrow, new species, A. nigra Dombrow, new species, A. obscura Dombrow, new species, A. paraunidentata Dombrow, new species, A. pascoei Dombrow, new species, A. pentheri Dombrow, new species, A. pseudocostata Dombrow, new species, A. pseudostrigata Dombrow, new species, A. pseudounidentata Dombrow, new species, A. pulchra Dombrow, new species, A. pulleiacea Dombrow, new species, A. punctata Dombrow, new species, A. pygidialis Dombrow, new species, A. reichei Dombrow, new species, A. robertsi Dombrow, new species, A. sainvali Dombrow, new species, A. scheini Dombrow, new species, A. scutellaris Dombrow, new species, A. selbi Dombrow, new species, A. septentrionalestris Dombrow, new species, A. setosa Dombrow, new species, A. soetwaterensis Dombrow, new species, A. sprecherae Dombrow, new species, A. squamosa Dombrow, new species, A. stalsi Dombrow, new species, A. stellenboschensis Dombrow, new species, A. strigata Dombrow, new species, A. sulcata Dombrow, new species, A. swartbergensis Dombrow, new species, A. swellendamensis Dombrow, new species, A. thomsoni Dombrow, new species, A. tradouwensis Dombrow, new species, A. tuberculata Dombrow, new species, A. turneri Dombrow, new species, A. unidentata Dombrow, new species, A. vansoni Dombrow, new species, A. webbi Dombrow, new species, A. wittmeri Dombrow, new species, A. worcesterensis Dombrow, new species, A. zuercherae Dombrow, new species and A. zumpti Dombrow, new species. Three cryptic species complexes within the species A. burchelli (Arrow, 1917) [+6], A. cornuta Dombrow, 2002 [+10] and A. capensis Dombrow, 2002 [+14] were detected. A revised key of the genus and observations about its biogeography and phylogeny are given. Important details of the morphological characters of the body and the parameres of the species are illustrated and their distributions are mapped. We also provide habitat information.

Declining growth of natural history collections fails future generations

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2022
PLOS BIOL

New additions of vertebrate specimens to natural history collections are declining in the midst of widespread and accelerating environmental change. Reversing these trends in collecting efforts is essential for addressing future unforeseen ecological issues. © 2022 Rohwer et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Leveraging natural history biorepositories as a global, decentralized, pathogen surveillance network

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2021
PLOS PATHOG

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic reveals a major gap in global biosecurity infrastructure: a lack of publicly available biological samples representative across space, time, and taxonomic diversity. The shortfall, in this case for vertebrates, prevents accurate and rapid identification and monitoring of emerging pathogens and their reservoir host(s) and precludes extended investigation of ecological, evolutionary, and environmental associations that lead to human infection or spillover. Natural history museum biorepositories form the backbone of a critically needed, decentralized, global network for zoonotic pathogen surveillance, yet this infrastructure remains marginally developed, underutilized, underfunded, and disconnected from public health initiatives. Proactive detection and mitigation for emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) requires expanded biodiversity infrastructure and training (particularly in biodiverse and lower income countries) and new communication pipelines that connect biorepositories and biomedical communities. To this end, we highlight a novel adaptation of Project ECHO’s virtual community of practice model: Museums and Emerging Pathogens in the Americas (MEPA). MEPA is a virtual network aimed at fostering communication, coordination, and collaborative problem-solving among pathogen researchers, public health officials, and biorepositories in the Americas. MEPA now acts as a model of effective international, interdisciplinary collaboration that can and should be replicated in other biodiversity hotspots. We encourage deposition of wildlife specimens and associated data with public biorepositories, regardless of original collection purpose, and urge biorepositories to embrace new specimen sources, types, and uses to maximize strategic growth and utility for EID research. Taxonomically, geographically, and temporally deep biorepository archives serve as the foundation of a proactive and increasingly predictive approach to zoonotic spillover, risk assessment, and threat mitigation.

Museum specimens of terrestrial vertebrates are sensitive indicators of environmental change in the Anthropocene

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2018

Natural history museums and the specimen collections they curate are vital scientific infrastructure, a fact as true today as it was when biologists began collecting and preserving specimens over 200 years ago. The importance of museum specimens in studies of taxonomy, systematics, ecology and evolutionary biology is evidenced by a rich and abundant literature, yet creative and novel uses of specimens are constantly broadening the impact of natural history collections on biodiversity science and global sustainability. Excellent examples of the critical importance of specimens come from their use in documenting the consequences of environmental change, which is particularly relevant considering the alarming rate at which we now modify our planet in the Anthropocene. In this review, we highlight the important role of bird, mammal and amphibian specimens in documenting the Anthropocene and provide examples that underscore the need for continued collection of museum specimens. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Biological collections for understanding biodiversity in the Anthropocene’.

Biospecimen Repositories and Integrated Databases as Critical Infrastructure for Pathogen Discovery and Pathobiology Research

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2017
PLOS NEGLECT TROP D

The Importance, Effects, and Ethics of Bird Collecting

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2010

B I O D I Targeted vertebrate surveys enhance the faunal importance and improve explanatory models within the Eastern Arc Mountains of Kenya and Tanzania

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2014

Aim Detailed knowledge of species distributions, endemism patterns and threats is critical to site prioritization and conservation planning. However, data from biodiversity inventories are still limited, especially for tropical forests, and even well recognized hotspots remain understudied. We provide an example of how updated knowledge on species occurrence from strategically directed biodiversity surveys can change knowledge on perceived biodiversity importance, and facilitate understanding diversity patterns and the delivery of conservation recommendations. Location Eastern Arc Mountains ( EAM ), Kenya and Tanzania. Methods We surveyed amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals during 2005–2009, targeting mountain blocks that had been poorly surveyed or unsurveyed by the early Noughties. We combined new and old data to produce a database of species presence by mountain block spanning four decades of research. Species richness is regressed against survey effort, funding, ecological and human disturbance factors to analyse the best predictors of vertebrate richness across mountain blocks. Similarity among species assemblages among blocks is analysed using dissimilarity analysis. Results New surveys raised the number of endemic and regional endemic vertebrates by 24% (from 170 to 211 species), including 27 new species of which 23 are amphibians and reptiles. Vertebrate richness is best explained by forest area, but rainfall is also important, especially for amphibians and reptiles. Forest elevational range is important for mammals and for block‐endemic birds. Funding explains 19% of the variation in total species richness, while survey effort generally explains < 10% of variance. Cluster analysis shows that species assemblages are partitioned by geographical proximity among mountain blocks. Main conclusions The biological value of the EAM has been underestimated, and strategic surveys are important even in well‐recognized hotspots. The exceptional and global importance of these mountains for endemic vertebrates is highlighted, supporting the development of a network of Nature Reserves and the proposed inclusion within UNESCO 's natural World Heritage Sites.

How Many Species Are There on Earth and in the Ocean?

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2011
PLOS BIOL

The diversity of life is one of the most striking aspects of our planet; hence knowing how many species inhabit Earth is among the most fundamental questions in science. Yet the answer to this question remains enigmatic, as efforts to sample the world's biodiversity to date have been limited and thus have precluded direct quantification of global species richness, and because indirect estimates rely on assumptions that have proven highly controversial. Here we show that the higher taxonomic classification of species (i.e., the assignment of species to phylum, class, order, family, and genus) follows a consistent and predictable pattern from which the total number of species in a taxonomic group can be estimated. This approach was validated against well-known taxa, and when applied to all domains of life, it predicts ~8.7 million (± 1.3 million SE) eukaryotic species globally, of which ~2.2 million (± 0.18 million SE) are marine. In spite of 250 years of taxonomic classification and over 1.2 million species already catalogued in a central database, our results suggest that some 86% of existing species on Earth and 91% of species in the ocean still await description. Renewed interest in further exploration and taxonomy is required if this significant gap in our knowledge of life on Earth is to be closed.

Biological Collections

Book

Jan 2021

Biological collections are a critical part of the nation's science and innovation infrastructure and a fundamental resource for understanding the natural world. Biological collections underpin basic science discoveries as well as deepen our understanding of many challenges such as global change, biodiversity loss, sustainable food production, ecosystem conservation, and improving human health and security. They are important resources for education, both in formal training for the science and technology workforce, and in informal learning through schools, citizen science programs, and adult learning. However, the sustainability of biological collections is under threat. Without enhanced strategic leadership and investments in their infrastructure and growth many biological collections could be lost.