What's Available at the UW Zoological Museum?

MUSEUM COLLECTIONS SUMMARY (all numbers are approximate)

Ornithology (study skins, mounts, eggs, nests) - 24,000 (including osteology)

The UWZM bird collection includes study skins, mounts, nests, and eggs.  Some of our oldest specimens (ca. 1845) are in this collection.  The collection features specimens collected by Wisconsin ornithologists Thure and Ludwig Kumlien, over 2000 egg sets from the late 19th century, and specimens from Wisconsin, North America, South America, and Asia.

Genetic Bird Material: The UWZM houses an important genetic resource of frozen blood samples and tissue slides from representatives of nearly all avian families

Mammalogy (study skins & skulls, mounts, alcohol prepped specimens) - 26,000 (including osteology)

Mammals from Wisconsin are strongly represented; other states are broadly represented; significant collections are present from South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia.  Many specimens are from the period of the first state and national biological surveys.  These early collections were made by mammalogists H. H. T. Jackson, Joseph Dixon, Ernest P. Walker, William H. Elder, A. Brazier Howell, A. W. Schorger, and W. E. Snyder among others.

Mossman Histology Collection:  The collection includes hundreds of fluid preserved samples of fetal membranes and female reproductive tracts of mammals (majority from Africa and North America); additionally there are over 100,000 mounted tissue slides of reproductive organs from these mammals. Researchers visit from around the world to study these specimens, many of which cannot be found in any other institution. 

Wilbur Brooks Quay Collection: The W.B. Quay collection includes 1200 lots of fluid-preserved small mammals primarily from the western United States.  The collection is unusual in that the specimens were field injected for future histological study; at the same time blood smears of most specimens were made and are preserved as slides and can be associated with the preserved individuals.

Osteology (skeletal remains of mammals, birds, herps, fish, including archaeology material) - 17,500

This is one of the United States most diverse and outstanding collections of complete skeletons.  The collection contains more than 17,000 specimens from all vertebrate classes. This collection is used extensively by researchers in zoology and zooarcheology (Department of Anthropology).

Galápagos: The UWZM is the only institution outside of Ecuador permitted to salvage specimens from the Galápagos Islands; over 1,300 specimens represent most vertebrates from the islands and are present as skeletons or preserved specimens.

Ichthyology (individuals and lots, alcohol prep) - 12,000 lots (~50,000 individuals)

The fish collection includes thousands of lots of fish from at least 1200 collecting localities throughout southern Wisconsin. The first collections were deposited in 1904 by the Wisconsin Geological Natural History Survey. Between 1960 and 1978 over 1000 collections were made, helping to establish the fish database for southern Wisconsin, aiding in the research for a revised version of “Fishes of Wisconsin.” Marine fishes from the Western-Atlantic Eastward Cruises are tied to elaborate oceanographic data and collections of marine invertebrates (some unstudied).  A large collection of marine fishes was received by deposit by the United States National Museum in order to support Wisconsin studies of fish diversity. The Department of Natural Resources deposits vouchers and collections from their current studies on lakes and streams throughout Wisconsin. Other smaller collections represent expeditions in Latin America.

Wisconsin Fish Distribution Mapper

Fishes of Wisconsin

Herpetology (alcohol prep) - 8,000 (including osteology)

The herpetology collection includes specimens from around the world. The collection of Wisconsin reptiles and amphibians form the database for “Natural History of Amphibians and Reptiles in Wisconsin.”  The author, Richard C. Vogt collected widely from the state and since that time has provided specimens from the southwestern United States, Mexico, and South America. In addition, collections from Southeast Asia have resulted from multiple expeditions of faculty and graduate students.

Malacology (bivalves, alcohol prep, snails) - 250,000

Wisconsin Mollusks from Mississippi Drainage:  25,000 cataloged lots of mollusks were collected in the 1970’s and 1980’s, available for current comparative documentation of ecological changes in the rivers and wetlands.

Wisconsin Crayfish:

This large collection of crayfish, made through the 19th century from the most important Wisconsin watersheds, documents the change in water quality over that period.  Some species have been demonstrated to have disappeared from various watersheds in the industrial east and agricultural areas of Wisconsin.

Limnological - 18,000 lots

The Limnology collection contains thousands of plankton samples and prepared slides, which are used to demonstrate the long-term ecological changes specifically in 7 northern and 4 southern Wisconsin lakes and their surrounding landscapes.

Paleontology - 2,000

The Wenner-Gren Foundation and Broom collections of early hominid and primate studies (John Robinson Collection) provide instructional basis for Paleoanthropology. Some original historical materials from Robert Broom are available for examination.  Important original Wisconsin specimens of the Giant Beaver (Casteroides ohioensis) and Mastodon (Mammut americanum) have been collected by museum personnel and are available for study. (Most UW vertebrate and invertebrate fossils are to be found in the Geology Museum.)

Historical Collection - 800

Scientific instruments, including microscopes, custom made laboratory and field apparatus, laboratory models, wall charts, and other items used for biological instruction and research are preserved. These were acquired from the 1880’s to the early 20th century; a brief history of biological science can be viewed through this collection.

Library Holdings - 51,000

Studies at the museum are supported by a reference library of about 3000 books, 200 dissertations and theses, and several thousand monographs, reprints, and journal issues.