Content Warning: This project contains images that some may find distressing. Images may contain prepared animal specimens representing all or parts of the animal. However there will be no blood or body fluids in these images. Natural history collections are important repositories of specimens and information about their morphological, reproductive, physiological, and behavioral properties. These data allow scientists to establish biodiversity baselines and better predict global change response. Collecting animals for scientific study is a well-established practice that follows strict guidelines on the capture, handling, use, and preservation of individuals. To learn more about these please see: https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/97/1/287/2459794
Research
One of the primary goals of the Ranges Digitization Network is to mobilize trait information that describe the mammals of western North America. Trait information such as morphological and reproductive properties are key factors in determining how mammals respond to environmental change. The information contained within specimens labels and field book pages is critical to our understanding of the many species of mammals, their unique life histories and how they interact with their environment. When we combine the data we liberate through this project with other information that we know about mammals we can sharpen our understanding of how these animals have evolved over time in response to human development and climate change.
Specifically, the Ranges project will allow researchers to build better baselines for biodiversity and improve predictions of how mammals respond to changing environments to address major digitization challenges, expand the utility of specimens and use them to create new scientific knowledge. To this end, there are 4 research goals:
- Digitize individual-level traits from 1.2 million specimens
- Digitize and mobilize four regionally significant museum collections for the first time
- Develop dense, intraspecific-level 3D images for >3500 specimens
- Build and support a community of extended specimen data users
The role of the Notes from Nature - Ranges: Mammal Traits from western North America project will be to transcribe trait information for a variety of mammal species. Traits are the morphological, reproductive, physiological and behavioral properties of organisms. These characteristics are important for biodiversity research, monitoring, and educational initiatives because they form the interface between individuals and their environment. Digitization of these traits will allow the RANGES researchers to:
- Link trait variation to environments, ecological contexts, and time
- Analyze distributions of trait values and develop richer models of trait evolution
- Cross-validate the species-level trait data currently held in community trait databases;
- Rapidly update understanding of trait variation within lineages as taxon concepts are continually revised
The full list of traits can found on the RANGES website. However, our Notes from Nature efforts will mostly be focused on traits related to age, sex and standard measurements and weight that are often recorded at the time of collection. These include total length, tail length, hind foot length, ear length and total weight.