Mammalogy
The mammalogy collection consists of about 22,600 catalogued specimens (approximately 21,500 skeletal specimens, 13,500 associated skins, and 1700 wet-preserved specimens). Among these are 180 holotypes. According to a survey published in 1987 by the American Society of Mammalogists the collection ranks 23rd in number of specimens and 6th in number of holotypes among mammal collections in North America.
The taxonomic and geographic scope of the collection is exceptional, especially considering its relatively small size. Taxonomic strengths include carnivores, bovids, and primates. The geographic distribution of specimen localities generally reflect the major collecting expeditions. The collections from Tibet, Central America and Indonesia are particularly unique and scientifically valuable. Specimens from across the U.S. are well represented, particularly the New Jersey / Pennsylvania / Delaware area. Many North American taxa, especially large carnivores, are from localities where those animals no longer occur.
Researchers interested in the collection should consult the loan policy and loan agreement page. Contact people for the department are Ned Gilmore, Collections Manager () and Ted Daeschler, Associate Curator (). Written queries should be addressed to either of these two at:
Department of Vertebrate Zoology
Academy of Natural Sciences
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia, PA 19103-1101
History of the Collection
The Academy's mammalogy collection is one of the oldest collections in the New World. During the 19th Century the collection grew with donations and purchases from a network of prominent natural historians. Charles Lucien Bonaparte, Samuel George Morton, A.L. Heerman, Wm. McClure, T.B. Wilson, Joseph Leidy, E.D. Cope, Admiral R.E. Peary, George Harrison, Samuel N. Rhoads, and John K. Townsend were among the early collectors and patrons of the collection. The Harrison, Hiller and Furness expeditions to Borneo and Sumatra in 1896-1901 collected a large number of rare specimens now housed at the Academy.
In the first half of the 20th Century, mammalogy at the Academy reached worldwide with collecting expeditions. Among the major expeditions were Brooke Dolan's to Tibet and Western China in 1931-32 and 1933-34, George Vanderbilt's expeditions to Africa in 1934 and Sumatra in 1939, M.A. Carriker Jr.'s expeditions to Peru and Bolivia in 1929-30, 1935 and 1938, Robert K. Enders' to Panama in 1935, 1937 and 1941, Wharton Huber's to the southwest U.S. and Mexico in 1927, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1933, Nicaragua in 1922, and Louisiana in 1934, and O.P. Pearson's to Panama in 1938.
Since 1943, in-house mammal research has been virtually absent from the Academy. Occasional curatorial work and research by Karl Koopman, Richard Estes, Charles Smart, and Frederick A. Ulmer, Jr. are the exceptions. During this time outside, however, researchers have continued to use the collection. Current work is aimed at keeping the collection accessible for research and improving curation and storage conditions so that data is updated, clarified and preserved, and so that the specimens do not degrade in quality.