Making a Museum: Preservation of Vertebrate Specimens for use in biological laboratories

 

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2018, Volume 39

Laura A. Monahan

Abstract

Many instructors find it difficult to access specimens needed for teaching biology laboratories. This laboratory is adapted from an undergraduate/graduate course offered at the University of Wisconsin Madison, called Introduction to Museum Studies in the Natural Sciences. The laboratory, which is taught through the University of Wisconsin-Madison Zoological Museum (UWZM), provides instructors and students the opportunity to learn and practice proper preservation techniques of vertebrate specimens. This laboratory has been divided into two parts: Part A. Fluid Preserved Specimens and Part B. Preparation of Small Mammal Study Skins. In practice, each lesson takes between two and three hours from the beginning of the demonstration to the end of the hands-on student portion of the laboratory. However, this particular laboratory has been adapted so that both parts can be completed in a three hour session. After preparation, the specimens are available as teaching resources.

Keywords:  museum, fluid preservation, study skin, UWZM (University of Wisconsin Zoological Museum)

University of Wisconsin, Madison (2017)