Welcome to the fascinating world of the University of Montana Zoological Museum! My name is Emily Graslie, and I am a volunteer curatorial assistant here. While I don’t have a pet cat, I do have a fluffy orange companion named Mr. Howell. Let me take you on a tour of this incredible place, where we house around 21,000 specimens, including mammals and birds, all organized for comparative study.
Our collection serves a vital role in scientific research and education. We collaborate with forensic anthropologists and the Montana State Crime Lab to identify bones and faunal remains from various sites across the state. Archaeologists also bring us bones from their digs, allowing us to identify artifacts, such as a 600-year-old arrow sharpening tool made from a white-tailed deer bone. It’s amazing how these specimens help us uncover stories from the past!
One of the unique spaces in our museum is the “sheep room,” which is filled with sheep skulls and other specimens. We also call it the “overflow skull storage room” because our entire museum is essentially a vast collection of skulls. In this room, you’ll find bighorn sheep, a moose, a horse, and even a couple of bison. It’s also where we keep our filing cabinet, making it a multifunctional space.
Next, we have the cold room, where we store pelts to prevent bug infestations. Dermestid and carpet beetles can damage these specimens, so refrigeration helps protect them. This room is a treasure trove of diversity, featuring wolf pelts, river otters, leopard seals, warthogs, primates, and more. We even have a zebra and a peacock, along with some fascinating leopard rugs.
While refrigeration is essential, it does come with risks. If there’s a leak, specimens can become moldy, as we unfortunately experienced once. Despite this, the cold room remains one of the most eclectic parts of our collection.
My favorite room is the “bird room,” filled with mounted, taxidermied birds. It’s a vibrant space showcasing the beauty of avian species. Interestingly, there’s also a raccoon here, which I found behind a cabinet and decided to keep out for display. We even have a bunny, albeit with only one ear, adding to the room’s charm.
The preparation lab is where the real magic happens. Here, we prepare study skins and remove brains from specimens. Our freezer is packed with deceased birds of various shapes and sizes, while the mammal freezer holds creatures like the Patagonian mara, the fourth largest rodent in the world, alongside bats, shrews, mice, and occasionally wolves, coyotes, or foxes. We even have some guinea pigs!
To clean specimens quickly, we use a colony of beetles that consume the flesh, leaving the bones pristine. While some people worry about being eaten by these beetles, rest assured, they only target the specimens. The larvae do most of the work, while the adult beetles focus on reproduction.
Thank you for joining me on this tour of the University of Montana Zoological Museum. It’s a place where science, history, and curiosity come together. If you enjoyed this glimpse into our world, please consider subscribing to our channel for more fascinating insights. This is Emily Graslie, and you’ve just experienced a brain scoop!
Take a virtual tour of the University of Montana Zoological Museum. As you explore, take notes on the different rooms and their functions. After the tour, write a reflection on how each room contributes to the museum’s overall mission of research and education. Share your thoughts with your classmates in a discussion forum.
Choose two specimens from the museum’s collection and conduct a comparative analysis. Research their habitats, behaviors, and roles in their ecosystems. Present your findings in a short presentation, highlighting the significance of comparative collections in understanding biodiversity and evolutionary relationships.
Participate in an interactive workshop where you will learn to identify various animal bones and pelts. Use the museum’s resources to practice your skills, and then test your knowledge by identifying a set of mystery specimens. Discuss the importance of accurate identification in fields like archaeology and forensic anthropology.
Engage in a group activity focused on the challenges of preserving specimens in the cold room. Develop a plan to address potential risks, such as mold or pest infestations, and propose solutions to enhance specimen conservation. Present your plan to the class and discuss the importance of preservation in maintaining scientific collections.
Join a debate on the ethical considerations of taxidermy in museums. Research the historical and cultural significance of taxidermy, as well as modern perspectives on animal rights and conservation. Present your arguments for or against the practice, and engage in a respectful discussion with your peers about the role of taxidermy in education and research.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
—
I love cats. Everybody asks me if I have a cat, and I say no, but I do have a fluffy orange boyfriend named Mr. Howell. My name is Emily Graslie, and I am the volunteer curatorial assistant here at the University of Montana Zoological Museum. In this room alone, we have about 21,000 specimens. Mammals are in the middle, and the birds are around the perimeter. This is what we refer to as our “comparative collection.” In fact, the entire collection can be used for comparative reasons. We work with forensic anthropologists and the Montana State Crime Lab to help them identify random bones and faunal remains from sites all across the state. We have archaeologists who go out on archaeological digs, find random bones, and then bring them here to definitively say, like, 600 years ago, somebody made an arrow sharpening shaft tool out of a white-tailed deer metapodial. And that’s awesome.
So, where I’m standing right now is what we refer to as the “sheep room” because the majority of the things in here are sheep and their skulls. We also refer to it as the “overflow skull storage room,” which is kind of redundant because the whole museum is basically overflow skull storage. In this room, it’s pretty much floor to ceiling with what I estimate to be a couple hundred bighorn sheep. We also have an entire moose, a horse, and probably about two bison. And it’s also where we keep our filing cabinet, so it’s the office.
This is the cold room, and this is where we store the majority of our pelts that aren’t in cabinets, which helps cut down on bug infestations. You’ll get things like dermestid beetles and carpet beetles that will eat these sorts of things, so by keeping it refrigerated, it reduces a lot of those problems. We have a ton of stuff in here, too. This is probably one of the most eclectic rooms of our collection; we have everything from gigantic wolf pelts hanging from the ceiling to river otters, leopard seals, warthogs, primates, gibbons, spider monkeys, anteaters, prehensile-tailed porcupines, a zebra, and a peacock. We also have leopard rugs and a lot of really cool stuff that you will probably get to see sometime soon.
It’s not really ideal to have these kinds of things stored in a cold room because it has to be refrigerated, and if you can imagine things in your refrigerator going bad if you have a leak, animal pelts can also go bad if you have a leak. So, you can get moldy specimens. That happened once.
This is probably my favorite room in the entire collection, if not the whole universe. This is what we call our “bird room.” I think it’s kind of obvious, but in case you haven’t noticed, it’s a room full of mounted, taxidermied birds. And there’s a raccoon back here. Why is there a raccoon in the bird room? Because I found that guy behind a cabinet a couple of months ago, so I took him out to take some pictures and then didn’t feel like putting him back in the dark depths of the storage area. We also have a bunny on the floor, but he only has one ear.
And this is our preparation lab. This is where all of the magic happens. Any kind of dry preparation, like study skins, happens on that table. Brain removal happens in the sink. This right here is a freezer that is literally full of deceased birds of all kinds of shapes and sizes. This is a refrigerator, which sometimes people forget; it’s just a refrigerator, so stuff can get a bit smelly in here. Back there is the mammal freezer. Right now, there’s a Patagonian mara, which is the fourth largest rodent in the world, along with a bunch of bats, shrews, mice, and the occasional wolf, coyote, or fox. There are guinea pigs in there, too. I don’t know. We just got those.
This is where we put things when we want to clean them quickly. It is a colony full of beetles that will eat the flesh off of specimens. People ask me if I’m afraid I’m going to be eaten alive by a bunch of beetles, and that’s not going to happen. Before a skeleton can safely go into our collection, it has to first be processed by the beetles to get all of the muscle tissue off of it. Because despite how good we might be at cleaning a skull, we can’t do the work of a tiny beetle that will eat all of the little details off of the bone. So, these beetles eat muscle tissue, and it’s normally the larvae that do the eating. The adults really don’t eat anything; they basically just reproduce and thrive in here.
Once again, my name is Emily. Please subscribe to the channel, and this is a brain scoop.
—
This version maintains the essence of the original transcript while removing any inappropriate or overly casual language.
Museum – A place or institution dedicated to the acquisition, conservation, study, exhibition, and educational interpretation of objects having scientific, historical, or artistic value. – The university’s natural history museum houses an extensive collection of fossils that are crucial for paleontological research.
Specimens – Individual organisms or parts of organisms used as examples for scientific study or display. – The biology lab received new plant specimens from the Amazon rainforest for genetic analysis.
Research – The systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions. – Her research on coral reef ecosystems has provided valuable insights into the effects of climate change on marine biodiversity.
Biodiversity – The variety and variability of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or the entire Earth, often used as a measure of the health of biological systems. – The Amazon rainforest is renowned for its incredible biodiversity, hosting millions of species of plants and animals.
Anthropology – The study of humans, human behavior, and societies in the past and present, often focusing on cultural, social, and biological aspects. – The anthropology department is conducting a study on the impact of urbanization on indigenous communities.
Archaeology – The scientific study of human history and prehistory through the excavation and analysis of artifacts, structures, and other physical remains. – Recent archaeological excavations have uncovered ancient tools that provide insight into early human technology.
Conservation – The protection, preservation, management, or restoration of natural environments and the ecological communities that inhabit them. – Conservation efforts are essential to protect endangered species and maintain ecological balance.
Taxidermy – The art or process of preparing, stuffing, and mounting the skins of animals with lifelike effect for display, study, or collection. – The taxidermy exhibit at the museum features meticulously preserved specimens of extinct birds.
Ecology – The branch of biology that deals with the relationships of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings. – Understanding the principles of ecology is crucial for developing sustainable environmental policies.
Zoology – The scientific study of the behavior, structure, physiology, classification, and distribution of animals. – Her zoology thesis focused on the migratory patterns of Arctic foxes in response to climate change.
