Destructive Sampling
- Myrmecophaga tridactyla (Giant Anteater), Bolivia. L. H. Emmons. © Smithsonian Institution.
Protocol for Requests
Over recent years, we have received more and more requests that entail permanent alteration of conventional museum study specimens under our curatorial care. Some examples include excising skin samples for various biomolecular investigations, systematic and otherwise, removing tufts of hair for reference collections used in scat analyses, and sectioning bones and teeth for phenological studies of various kinds. In approving such requests, we must continually adjudge the future availablility of these collections for other kinds of systematic investigation in light of diminishing natural populations of many mammalian species and diminishing opportunities to ever obtain such invaluable material again.
To assist us in evaluating such requests for destructive analysis in an equitable manner, we have established an informal review protocol for the USNM mammal collections. To that end, we ask your cooperation in providing:
- A brief description of your project
- Justification for the use of USNM specimens
- Some indication that the technique applied or sample taken is indeed appropriate to the question being asked.
Publications or other documentation that demonstrates the efficacy of the technique and the investigator's proficiency with it would be appreciated. The Mammal Division is in no way obligated to make loans for funded projects without prior knowledge or approval of the intent to sample USNM specimens.
General policy requires the researcher to visit and remove samples under our supervision.
As a reciprocal responsibility of loan approval, we ask that usable samples (e.g., cloned genomic DNA, PCR-amplified mtDNA) be returned to us for storage at the Laboratory of Molecular Systematics, where it may be made available to other researchers. Similarly, we generally require that histological slides, teeth coated for SEM, other anatomical preparations, and analytical results for environmental contaminants be returned to USNM so that we can apprise future users of their existence.
The issue of destructive analysis of museum specimens is a complex one, and we cannot assure the community of collection users that we will always make the "right" decision. We hope that, with your cooperation, we will make a better one.
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