Bamberg's natural history museum - the significance of small collections

6 Pages·2003·3.1 MB·English

by  Frank D Steinheimer

The Scientific Bird Collections in Spain 139
Table 2: Number ofspecimens ofeach ofthe Spanish Autonomous Regions present in the MNCN bird collection.
Autonomous no. of Autonomous no. of Autonomous no. of
ICg,lUi1 DUCL-lillCllo 1CHUJi1 OUCV-11lidio OUCCI11IClio
Andalucía 751 Ceuta 5 Melilla 80
Aragón 342 Comunidad Valenciana 409 Navarra 75
Canarias 73 Extremadura 867 País Vasco 102
Cantabria 188 Galicia 459 Principado de Asturias 278
Castilla la Mancha 2891 Islas Baleares 96 Región de Murcia 79
Castilla León 2038 La Rioja 144 unknown 499
Cataluña 206 Madrid 2675
Monroe (1990) and Barreiro & Pérez del Val can finance their travel, accommodation and subsis-
(2000). The holotype of a Ralliforme subspecies, tence costs as well as laboratory fees. More informa-
Gallinula chJoropus lozanoi Gil, 1918 a, and also the tion is available at www.museociencias.com or e-
holotypes ofthe subspecies Uria aalge ibericiis Ber- mail: BIODIBERIA(a)mncn.csic.es.
Nis, 1948, Galerida theklae berengueri Cabrera,
1922 and Galerida theklae agiiiirei Cabrera, 1922 University Collections
(Hernández Carrasquilla 1998).
In general, the Spanish Universities have only small
&
Until 1998 (Barreiro Pérez del Val 1998) there collections, used for teaching, which contain few
was no published catalogue of this collection, only specimens ofeach species and are not very useful for
one manuscript dated 846 and written by the director systematic research. However, an important collec-
1
ofthe Museum at the time. Dr. M.P. Graells. tion of bird skeletons is held at the Universidad
Autónoma of Madrid (for more information contact
Furthermore, only Lozano (1911) and Gil Lletget
Dr. A. Morales, [email protected]).
(1935, 1941, 1943) have published papers on a small
quantity of specimens of this collection. However, There are other smaller collections in a few local
thanks to the Agencia Española de Cooperación Inter- museums. Among them is that in the Museo de Cien-
nacional (AECI), which has provided the necessary cias de Vitoria, Alava in the Basque Country which
funds, two new inventories were published in 2001: may be of interest (contact D. G. Belamendía
one on the museum holdings of specimens collected gbela@ gm.es for further information).
in Equatorial Guinea (Pérez del Val 2001) and
another on Asian specimens (Alonso et al. 2002).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Collection facilities I would like to thank M" Soledad Alonso for helping me in
the design ofthe figures; M. Barreiro for the English revi-
Microsoft Access is the software being used to com-
sion ofthe text and Dr. R. van den Eizen and Prof Schuch-
puterize the data and the management system of the mann for the scientific revision ofthis paper.
collection. More information about this system can
found in Barreiro et al. 1994. LITERATURE
The arrangement of the collection in the stores fol- Alonso Domíngez, M. S., García Sánchez, P. A., Pérez
lows a systematic order in the case oforders and fam- del Val, J. & Barreiro, J. (2002): Colección de Aves,
ilies, genus and species being stored in alphabetical pp.173-287 in: Catálogo de las Colecciones Asiáticas
order. The Howard & Moore (1991) Checklist of del Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. Manuales
Birds of the World is used for the arrangement and Técnicos de Museología Vol. 13. Museo Nacional de
Ciencias Naturales. CSIC. Madrid.
nomenclature ofthe specimens. Barreiro, A. J. (1992): El Museo Nacional de Ciencias Nat-
The Spanish MNCN and the Real Jardín Botánico urales (1771-1935) Ediciones Doce Calles. Aranjuez.
collections has been recognized by the European Barreiro, J. (1997). Las Colecciones de Aves y Mamíferos
del Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. Graellsia
Commission as a Major Research Infrastructure dur- 53: 101-106.
ing the years 2002-2004. This provides a great oppor- Barreiro. J., González Fernández, J. E. & Rey-Fraile, I.
tunity for European scientists who would like to visit (1994): Las colecciones de vertebrados: uso y gestión
our collections because the European Commission pp. 21-80 in : Manual de catalogación y gestión de las
140 J. Barreiro
colecciones científicas de Historia Natural. (Ed. B.. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. XLI: 179-190.
Sanchiz). Manuales Técnicos de Museología. Vol. 5. Graells, M.P. (1846): Catálogo de las colecciones de
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. CSIC. Madrid. Anatomía Comparada. Mamíferos, Aves, Reptiles y
Barreiro, J. & Pérez Del Val, J. (1998): Catálogo de las Peces del Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales de
Colecciones de Aves del Museo Nacional de Ciencias Madrid. Unpublished manuscript. Archivo Histórico
Naturales de Madrid. Vol. 1. Aves No Passeriformes del Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales.
(Pieles de Estudio). Manuales Técnicos de Museología Hernández Carrasquilla, F. (1998): Tres holotipos „olvi-
Vol. 7. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. CSIC. dados" de la colección de aves del Museo Nacional de
Madrid. Ciencias Naturales de Madrid. Graelisia 54: 121-123
Barreiro, J. & Pérez Del Val, J. (2000): Icterusxantolaenms Howard, R. & A. Moore (1991): A Complete Checklist of
Gil, 1918, a non valid species. Bull. Brit. Ornithol. the Birds ofthe World. Academic Press. London
Club, 120(1): 62-63. Lozano, L. (1911): Contribución al estudio de las aves de
Cabot, J. (Ed., 1992): Inventario de las colecciones her- Mogadon Mem. Real Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. VIII: 63-108.
petológica y ornitológica de la Estación Biológica de Pérez del Val, J. (2001): Catálogo de las Colecciones
Doñana (CSIC). Estación Biológica de Doñana. CSIC. Zoológicas de Guinea Ecuatorial del Museo Nacional
Sevilla. de Ciencias Naturales. IL Vertebrados. Manuales Técni-
Gil Lletget, A. (1918 a): La Gallinula chlowpiis de Filip- cos de Museología Vol. 11. MuseoNacional de Ciencias
inas. Bol. R. Soc. Hist. Nat. 18: 75-77. Naturales. CSIC. Madrid.
Gil Lletget, A. (1918 b): Dos Passeres nuevos de la colec- SiBLEY, e.G. & Monroe, B. L. (1990): Distribution and
ción de la Expedición al Pacífico. Bol. R. Soc. Esp. Taxonomy ofBirds ofthe World. Yale Univ. Press, New
Hist. Nat. 18: 340-341 Haven & London.
Gil Lletget, A. (1935): Aves del Congo Belga: 1. Fam.
Ploceidae. Bol. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. XXXV: 69-184.
GilELclueadtogre.t,BoAl.. S(o1c9.41E)s:p.SoHibsrte. Nuant.MXomXóXtIiXd:o3n3u7e-v3o38del J. Barreiro, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales.
Gil Lletget, A. (1943): Muscicápidos de Luluabourg José Gutierrez Abascal, 2. 28006-Madrid. Spain,jbar-
(Congo Belga) existentes en el Museo de Madrid. Bol. reiro(a^mncn.csic.es
Bonner zoologische Beiträge Band 51 (2002) Heft 2/3 Seiten 141-146 Bonn, September 2003
Bamberg's Natural History Museum
- the Scientific Significance of Small Collections
Frank D. Steinheimer
The Natural History Museum, Bird Group, Tring, UK
Abstract. Bamberg's Natural History Museum (North-Bavaria, Germany) was founded atthe end ofthe 18th century. The
Bambergmuseum was once listed as comparable with thecollections ofLeiden, Paris and London (Jaeck 1815). Atthe end
ofthe 19th century, it held about 1000 bird specimens of800 species, all exhibited in the exhibition hall from 1794.
Investigations into the history ofthe avian specimens have now delivered very suiprising discoveries among the 1500 bird
mounts. Several regional tlrst records, locally extinct species and rarely documented vagrants are found in the European
section. However, much more interesting are the exotic birds. The most exciting discoveries are specimens from Johann
Baptist von Spix's exploration ofBrazil in 1817-1820 and from Johann Heinrich Christian Stunn's former collection at
Nürnberg. Bamberg also houses several specimens ofthe famous Australian collection ofAmalie Dietrich, one ofthe few
female collectors.
Bamberg Museum is a good case study demonstrating that even small collections may be ofscientific importance for bio-
geography, conservation, taxonomy and the history ofscience.
Key words. Bird collection, restoring data, Naturkunde-Museum Bamberg
1. INTRODUCTION Banz birds added enonnously to the dozen or so sur-
viving birds from the old Bamberg collection. From
In 1791 the archbishop of Bamberg and Würzburg.
then onwards the collection of Bamberg showed a
Franz Ludwig von Erthal (1730-1795), decided to
steady increase (cf Stephan 1807a-e).
open a faculty ofnatural science at the University of
Bamberg, subsequently also adding a „Naturalien- During many visits to the Bamberg natural history
kabinett", as the Natural History Museum was named collection from childhood onwards, I realized the
at that time, for the purpose of studying natural importance and potential ofthe avian collection there.
objects (Mäuser 1995). Even before the official deci- In 1999 I therefore started a project ofrestoring data
sion to found a museum at Bamberg had taken place, to Bamberg's bird specimens. This publication sum-
many specimens, including birds, had arrived at Bam- marizes the methods of my project and some early
berg (e.g. ca. 100 bird specimens arrived in 1790 from results.
Geheime Kabinettssekretär Hofrat Schmidt of Ans-
bach). A new exhibition hall had to be built to house 2. METHODS
the increasing collections. It was fitted within the old
Every bird specimen in the exhibition hall and from the cellar
building of the former Jesuit college at Bamberg's store rooms has been photographed by the volunteers Gertrud
Fleischstrasse. The exhibition cases arrived in 1794, and Dieter Dollner with a digital camera [Nikon Coolpix
all nicely decorated with busts of famous scientists 990E, lens 3-x zoom Niklior, focal length Sinm-24mm]. The
from DiosKURiDES to Linne, which were carved by photos ofthe bird speciinens have been taken while placed in
Georg Joseph Muschele (for more details cf Mäuser a box [80 X 80 X 80 cm] with an interior painted in neutral
1995, see illustration However, afterthis quick and white. Threefluorescenttubes havebeen used asa lightsource
successful start of a n1a)t.ural history museum at Bam- gciovlionugr caodseun-1l2i,k~e 5co,n0d0i0tiKoenlvi[nO]s.rLaamrgLer1s8p/1e2c,imeeancsh(a1b8ouWtat6t0,
berg, a deep blow followed Erthal's death in 1795 birds) have had to be photographed in fiont ofwhite canvas
because the new sovereign, archbishop Christoph using photo studio lights and flashes. All photos bear a colour
Franz von Buseck, showed no commitment towards codereference from Kodakas well as a scale. Additional pho-
the museum and it was even used as a hall for manu- tosweretakenofall labels writtenbefore 1900. E.xposuretime
facturing crop sacks during the revolution wars. How- were 1/15s with aperUires from 6.1 to 8.7 and focal lengths
tevheera,mianss1i8n0g3 oafnceolwlepcetriioonsd cofompmroednuccetidvewhsecinenthcee.caonld- sfarvoemd1a4s.4JtPoE2G2.f8ilemsm(.noSrumbasleqfuoemnitalty), tahnedpphroitnotsedhaovnedbisecesn.
These imagesarethebasisforlateridentificationpurposes and
lection of natural history objects from the monastery comparison with specimens of other natural history collec-
Banz arrived at Bamberg due to secularization. The tions, thus giving the correct (sub-) species detemiination. In
last curator ofthe Banz collection, Dionysius Linder, turn, knowledge ofthe subspecies limits the geographical area
subsequently became the curator at Bamberg. The from which a certain specimen could have been collected.
142 Frank D. Steinheimer
archive matenal: label identification of
preparation style
letters and bills (sub-) spKies
last source
\
time wmdowof restnctions of
collector
acquisition-/ possible
preparation date
publications/diaries/field notes
aiin: exactlocali^ anddate, name ofcollector and Fig. 1: Structure of the
correct (sub-) species process of restoring data to
an avian collection.
Individual data accompanying each bird specimen is also 3. RESULTS
documented. The main data sources are labels or notes on
bird stands, catalogue and acquisition entries, accompany- It is notyetpossible to give acomplete accountofall bird
ing letters (in museums' and town archives), bills and pub- specimens. A full documentation as part ofa PhD is in
lications, unpublished diaries and notebooks. Last but not preparation,butwill take several yearstocomplete. How-
least, the preparation style can indicate something about
ever, some suiprising finds can already be mentioned.
possible acquisition dates.
Combining all available data, i.e. the time window, the geo- Altogether, Bamberg's museum holds 1,550 mounted
graphical region and the possible sources is normally enough birds of about 800 species, 75 study skins of local
to make only one ortwo collectors a possibility. Then diaries species, 19 complete and 12 partial skeletons, 552
and fieldreports may confinn theprobabilityofhaving found
the correct collector, thus giving additional infomiation on eggs and 112 nests. The mounted birds are still the
the exact collection locality and date (see fig. 1 ). key specimens of the old exhibition hall (fig. 2),
Bamberg's Natural History Museum 143
which has maintained its old settings and late 18"^ Maas in 1875 indicates a year of invasions of this
century features until today (Meyer 2001). For each species to Germany (Wüst 1986). The specimen of
species usually one, but when the sexes differ some- the Lesser Grey Shrike, Lanius minor, which is said to
times two or rarely up to 5 specimens are shown, indi- have been shot at Bamberg during the breeding sea-
cating a Linnean understanding of nature. The speci- son, documents well the changes of distribution over
mens and the system used represented creation rather time. The species is now extinct throughout Germany
than evolution, especially as all curators who were (cf Wüst 1986).
responsible for the museum during the 19'^ century
3.2. Exotic material
were trained clergymen.
The most important specimens arrived from Munich
The curators ofthe collection differed in the type and
amount of ornithological material they obtained. in the years 1857-1864, when Bamberg acquired
Dionysius Linder, who was curator from 1803 to duplicate material via Carl Theodor Ernst von
Siebold (1804-1885) ofthe Zoological State Collec-
1838, increased the collection from less than a dozen
specimens to several hundreds and Andreas Haupt tion. Most ofthe Munich specimens are from Brazil,
(curator 1838-1885) continued in this tradition. At the many actually from the galleiy forests along the coast
end of his career, the Bamberg Museum possessed near Rio de Janeiro. I therefore extracted a list of all
about 1,000 bird specimens. But it was Georg Fischer Brazilian specimens in the Munich collection register
(curator 1885-1912), who started the careful docu- (vol. I: acquisitions until 1910), thus summarizing
mentation ofall specimens by entering them in a cat- possible collectors. All Brazilian specimens at
alogue. Since then this catalogue has been used as an Munich from pre-1864, for which some sort of col-
acquisition book, telling exactly the amount offurther lecting locality rather then just „Brazil" are given,
material to arrive. Later curators, i.e. Michael Kunz derive from three sources only.
(1913-1916), Theodor Schneid (1917-1945), Oskar The first is the famous Brazilian explorations of
Kuhn (1946-1951), Anton Kolb (1951-1984) and Johann Baptist von Spix (1781-1826) & Carl
Alfred Hertle (commissariat, 1984-1988), had little Friedrich Philipp von Martius (1794-1868) as well as
input into the important specimens of the avian col- ofthe Austrian Johann Natterer (1787-1843) during
lection. The present curator Matthias Mäuser (from the years 1817-1820 (Natterer until 1835) on the
1988 onwards), however, has a major interest in the occasion ofthe marriage of Erzherzogin Leopoldina
history ofthe avian collection and supports collection of Austria (1797-1826) with the crown prince Dom
based research. Pedro, later Emperor Pedro I of Brazil, in 1817
(Sick 1984). Natterer especially did extensive col-
lecting. His huge collection subsequently went to
3.1. Local material Vienna museum; however, in 1840 Natterer visited
As in many other local collections (cf Hanák 2000a, Munich museum to exchange his duplicate specimens
b; Hanák & Hudecek 2000; Hudecek & Hanák for Viennese desideratae (Tiefenbacher 1983,
2000; Hudecek & Hanák 1999), the natural history Schifter 1993).
collection at Bamberg holds a few regionally impor- The second source is the private collection ofMaxim-
tant specimens, e.g. first county records, records of ilian von Leuchtenberg (-1817-1852) at Eichstädt,
rare vagrants and records of a changing distribution
Bavaria, whose brother Karl August Eugene
pattern. Some of these specimens are even quoted in
Napoleon von Leuchtenberg (1810-1835) collected
publications. One is a sub-adult Golden Eagle, Aquila in Brazil, returning many specimens to Eichstädt in
chysaetos, shot on the plains close to Neuhaus (North
1829 (Sturm 1841-47). Later it was Maximilian's sis-
Bavaria) by the forest warden Mattick in November
ter, Amalie von Leuchtenberg (1812-1873), the sec-
1860 (JACKEL 1863). Most of the known records of
Golden Eagle from north of the Danube during the ond wife ofPedro I of Brazil after Leopoldina died
in 1826, who presumably sent specimens home dur-
18'h and 19* century were shot out ofcuriosity or as
ing 1826-1831 (the latter is the year ofPedro's abdi-
a result of contemporary ideas about game manage-
cation). In 1855 von Leuchtenberg's collection was
ment. However, their remains in collections now pro-
given to Munich museum, when his family moved to
vide valid records for this rare species for the North
Russia following his death.
Bavarian region, where it has not been observed in
recent years. It is not yet certain from which popula- The last source ofBrazilian specimens is the collection
tion the Golden Eagle individual might have origi- of Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff (1774-1852),
nated, but it seems likely to be a northern European though only one remaining specimen at Munich is
bird (Wüst 1981). A specimen of the Rose-coloured known. The biggest share ofBrazilian birds at Munich
Starling Sturmis roseus shot by the forest warden until 1900, however, is still that of Spix. I assume
144 Frank D. Steinheimer
therefore, that some of the specimens at Bamberg Sturm (1841-1847) lists all toucan specimens which
museum may have paratype status for names by Spix. he had in his own collection at Nürnberg. Bamberg
Museum has two of them still on display: an Aiila-
Bamberg also obtained a share of bird specimens corhynchits siilcatiis, which Sturm obtained from
from the collection ofthe toucan expert Johann Hein- Vienna Museum (collected at Santa Fé de Bogota)
rich Christian Sturm (1805-1862) ofNürnberg, who and a Selenidera ciilik, which was apparently obtai-
translated John Gould's Monograph of the Ram- ned from Johann Natterer (see fig. 3).
phastidae (1834) into Gennan, adding new descrip-
tions of his own (Sturm 1841-47). This book, which Moreover, Sturm planned to publish German transla-
is unknown to many ornithologists, greatly improved tions of the first volume of the Birds of Australia
Gould's original publication: the drawings are more (Gould 1837) and the monograph of the Trogonidae
accurate in colour and many of Johann Natterer's (Gould 1838). HoweBveMrN,Has the surviving original
field notes as well as notes by Sturm himself were manuscripts at the library at Tring show,
Sturm would not have added any of his own com-
added. Sturm was only able to extend Gould's work
ments, as he probably lacked many Australian speci-
by having his own reference material; he possessed a
mens in his collection. Despite some gaps in Sturm's
large bird collection, consisting of about 2700 speci-
collection, Carl Hermann Conrad BuRMEiSTER (1807-
mens of 1700 species, including 62 specimens of
1892), a collector of Argentinean specimens, spoke
aRfatmeprhiatsstdiidsapoesa(lSitnur1m8651,86b5u)t.mIatnwyasspebceilmieevnesdhalovset very well about it (Sturm 1865).
actually survived in the collections of Munich, Bam- It is also worth consideration that many of the early
berg and, probably, at the University of Erlangen. bird books printed at Nürnberg might have used speci-
hird specimen "KunschjtabeltticanSéleniáerapiperi^wa"
preparation style: arclu'.^material: label: "Cayenne, idenlificahon:
pre-1850 nettraced No.518" &¡ey!!deracidik
timewindow:
acqmsdion bcok: No.
collectedand
518 =SRTPM 1858
mountedbefore 183D
restrictions cf possible
last source: JohaimHeuirichClmstian
localities;Guianas&:N-Brazil
F, STORIvI(1805-1862) ofNürnberg
noith oftheAmazonfrom the
Rio NegrotoObidos
publications: STUPJ..Í, J. H. C. F. (1841-1847): collectorJohann
Monograpl'iie der Rhamphastidae, mit Zusätzen und
NATTERER (1787-1843),
neuen Arten \i^rmehrt nach GOULD's Monograph of
collecting1817-1835
the Rl-i.amphaítidae.-STURM, Níirnbeig
diariesfield notes: Johann NATTERíR's slip catalogue, Naturhistorisches Mi^seum Wien,
Orriithological Department(i« htt. E. BAUERIIFEDID 13 December 2001): "mas.. Barrado Rio
Negro, 7. Jur^r [1]833, einzeln im Wald [/] istpiperivorus [...] [/] Iris carminroth- [...] [/ later
added:] DiesesExemplar en Hr. STUPJvIgeschiclct".
aiiti: &I.enid&racuHk(PfeSerñesser/GüiananToücanety, masculine; loc Barra
do Eio Ne,gro; date: 7 June 1833; remark: scattered inforest, ins carmine red Fig. 3: An example of a com-
leg.: Johann NATTERfi? no, 977; ex.coll. Johann Heinrich Clristian F. STURIvI, plete restored histoiy ofone of
Bamberg's specimens: Seleni-
Nürnberg; coll. Naturkunde-Museurn No. 518. [not threatened species, cf
dera ciilik collected by Johann
Birdlife International 2000].
Natterer.