Life Collections: mammals database
The mammal collections comprise over 5,000 specimens, representing more than 750 different species. Around 500 of these specimens are British, representing over 60 species native to the United Kingdom.
Many specimens were presented or transferred from the Ashmolean Museum Collection (1860), Christ Church Collection (1860-1906), F. W. Hope Collection (1899), Pascoe Collection (1909), and from numerous Oxford University Expeditions. In addition the holdings include the historically important and specialised collections listed below:
- W. W. Balston Collection (presented 1908-1909)
- W. J. Burchell Collection (presented 1865)
- C. and E. Hose Collection (presented 1896)
- J. Kingdon Collection (presented 1993-1997)
- P. Methuen Collection (presented 1911-1914)
- W. Robertson Collection (presented 1932)
- W. H. Treacher Collection (presented 1878)
Taxonomic data:
The 'Scientific Name' field contains the currently valid scientific name according to the second edition of Wilson and Reeder (1993). The validity of subspecies names has been determined by referring to the relevant literature for individual subspecies. Common names have been taken from Wilson and Cole (2000), and threat status has been assessed according to the 2000 IUCN Red List (Hilton-Taylor, 2000).
Specimen data:
'Nature of Specimen' information is held in two fields: a descriptive 'Nature of Specimen' field, and a 'Nature of Specimen Code' field based on the Network for Information Retrieval in Mammalogy Codes (Williams et al, 1979). The amendments to the original code suggested by McLaren et al (1996) have been adopted, and unique codes have been added where necessary (OUM additions). The coding system is summarised below.
Locality data:
Data in the 'Locality' field matches the historical records in the museum accessions catalogue. Country names have been updated according to the list of states and territories of the world from the Millennium edition of the Times Atlas. The pull-down menu for the 'Country' field includes all the countries from which the Museum holds specimens.
References:
Hilton-Taylor, C. (Compiler) (2000) 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge.
Mclaren, S.B. (Chair), August, P.V., Carraway, L.N., Cato, P.S., Gannon, W.L., Lawrence, M., Slade, N.A., Sudman, P.D., Thorington jr.,R.W., Williams, S.L. and Woodward, S.M. (1996) Documentation Standards for Automatic Data Processing in Mammalogy: Version 2.0. American Society of Mammalogists Committee on Information Retrieval.
The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World 2000 Millennium Edition. Times Books.
Williams, S. L., Smolen, M.J. and Brigida, A.A. (1979) Documentation standards for automatic data processing in mammalogy. The Museum of Texas Tech Univ. Lubbock, Texas.
Wilson, D.E. and Cole, F.R. (2000) Common Names of Mammals of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington and London.
Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (1993) Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Second Edition. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington and London. In Association with the American Society of Mammologists.
Nature of specimen codes:
Original NIRM codes:
AL - Whole specimen in spirit
AN - Part specimen in spirit
BM- Stuffed, mounted skin
BS - Postcranial skeleton
CO - Cranium only
HM - Head mount
OT - Other
PS - Partial skeleton
SB - Skin, skull and body skeleton
SC - Skin, skull and alcoholic carcass
SK - Skull only
SN - Complete skeleton
SO - Skin only
SS - Skin and skull
Additions from McLaren et al (1996):
AO - Antler(s) only
BO - Baculum only
HO - Horns only
MO - Mandible only
TH - Tooth (Teeth) only
TK - Tusk
OUM additions:
CA - Cast
FO - Frontlet only
HR - Hair
TO - Tusk only
Search the database
How to use the databases
A guide to searching the databases
Enquiries regarding the collections should be sent to: life@oum.ox.ac.uk
