Occurrence dataset Registered April 13, 2013

    MVZ Bird Collection (Arctos)

    Description

    The MVZ bird collection is one of the largest in the United States. It houses over 185,000 catalogued specimens, including 174 holotype and 2 syntypes. The majority of specimens are study skins, but the collection also contains over 21,000 skeletal specimens and 3,200 fluid-preserved specimens. Other types of preparations include flat specimens (wings, skins) and body skins with skeletons ("schmoos"). Tissues, anatomical parts (e.g., syrinx, stomach contents), and parasites are routinely preserved with specimens. Many specimens also are associated with cataloged audio recordings.

    Geographic scope

    Description

    The MVZ bird collections are global. Geographic strengths are western North America from Alaska and British Columbia through southern Mexico. In addition, there are major series of specimens from Central America (especially Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica), South America (in particular, Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, and Argentina), the Hawaiian Islands, the South Pacific, Australia, and Africa.

    Bounding box
    Latitude
    From -90 to 90
    Longitude
    From -180 to 180

    Temporal scope

    verbatim
    1832 to present

    Taxonomic scope

    Description

    The collection is taxonomically synoptic, with representatives of every Recent order of birds. For most orders there is at least 70% representation at the generic level.

    Coverage
    Aves

    Metrics

    Additional info

    http://vertnet.org/resources/norms.html

    Contacts

    • Carla Cicero

      Originator
      Metadata author
      Administrative point of contact
      Organization
      Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley
      Position
      Staff Curator of Birds
      Address
      3101 Valley Life Science Building
      Roles
      Originator
      Metadata author
      Administrative point of contact
      Email
      Phone
    • Laura Russell

      Programmer
      Organization
      VertNet
      Position
      VertNet Programmer
      Roles
      Programmer
      Email
    • David Bloom

      Programmer
      Position
      VertNet Coordinator
      Roles
      Programmer
      Email
    • John Wieczorek

      Programmer
      Organization
      Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley
      Position
      Information Architect
      Roles
      Programmer
      Email
    • Dusty McDonald

      Point of contact
      Organization
      University of Alaska Museum
      Position
      Arctos Database Programmer
      Roles
      Point of contact
      Email
    • Rauri Bowie

      Point of contact
      Organization
      Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley
      Position
      Faculty Curator of Birds
      Address
      3101 Valley Life Sciences Building
      Roles
      Point of contact
      Email
      Phone

    GBIF registration

    Registration date
    April 13, 2013
    Metadata last modified
    December 28, 2024
    Publication date
    December 28, 2024
    Hosted by
    VertNet
    Installation
    IPT - Hosted by VertNet
    Endpoints
    Darwin Core Archive
    EML
    Preferred identifier
    10.15468/r1woj3
    Alternative identifiers

    Citation

    Cicero C (2024). MVZ Bird Collection (Arctos). Version 43.92. Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/r1woj3 accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-04-29.