Biological Survey Unit Completed
Scientists and staff of the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center stationed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) do research on the systematics and conservation of vertebrate species and curate and manage the North American collections of Amphibian, Reptile, Bird, and Mammal specimens and associated records.
Museum-based systematics research provides an evolutionary framework for understanding the diversity, relationships, and natural history of species of vertebrates and is crucial to managing ecological systems in biologically meaningful ways. Assessing the status, population trends, and abundance of taxa requires an appreciation and understanding of their biology and the functional roles they play in biotic systems. Sound taxonomy and reliable statistics are vital for management and conservation planning by resource agencies and organizations.
The Biological Survey Unit (BSU) of the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center stationed at the NMNH in Washington, D.C., traces its roots back to a formal partnership with the Smithsonian Institution established in 1889. The BSU biologists at the NMNH conduct original research on the systematic relationships, nomenclature, and biodiversity of four groups of vertebrates: amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, that are part of the National Collection housed in the NMNH. They contribute to our understanding of biodiversity by discovering and describing new taxa, determining evolutionary relationships among taxa, and providing taxonomic identifications and general museum support to several agencies within the Department of the Interior (e.g., FWS), as well as to other federal agencies. Taxonomic and methodological expertise in the BSU continues to make important contributions to the preparation and revision of authoritative checklists of vertebrates and authoritative guides for measuring and monitoring biodiversity around the world. In addition, BSU scientists provide important expertise on behalf of the USGS to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), a standard for scientific nomenclature adopted by the Federal government.
Through a Memorandum of Understanding, the BSU and the NMNH cooperate in areas of mutual interest and concern in research, collection care, and information management. The BSU shares laboratory facilities and research tools with the NMNH and both parties jointly develop policies established to benefit the care and use of the collections and associated data. The BSU has curatorial responsibility for approximately 1,000,000 scientific specimens of North American amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals that are used by a broad spectrum of investigators concerned with topics of international, national, and regional scopes. North America as used herein includes all the North American Continent extending from the Panamanian/Colombian border to the North Pole, Hawaii, the Bahamas, and the West Indies. In addition to the collection-based research, primary staff responsibilities include caring for and managing the collections and associated records, curating selected segments of the collections, collecting and processing new materials for addition to the collections, making identifications, assisting visitors in the use of collection resources, transacting loans of study specimens, processing requests for information about specimens and their associated data, and answering questions from the public about amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
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Below are publications associated with this project.
Geographic distribution: Boiga irregularis (Brown treesnake)
An investigation into the Swan Island Honduras collecting event of Tiaporus fuliginosus Cope (Reptilia: Teiidae) and its systematic status
Morphological divergence in a continental adaptive radiation: South American ovenbirds of the genus Cinclodes
Rafinesque’s names for western American mammals, including the earliest scientific name for the coyote (Canis latrans Say, 1822), based on the apocryphal journal of Charles Le Raye
Systematics of Vampyressa melissa Thomas, 1926 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae), with descriptions of two new species of Vampyressa
List of recent land mammals from Mexico, 2014
The valid generic name for red-backed voles (Muroidea: Cricetidae: Arvicolinae): Restatement of the case for Myodes Pallas, 1811
On the correct name of Icterus bullockii (Passeriformes: Icteridae)
Type specimens of Crotalus scutulatus (Chordata: Reptilia: Squamata: Viperidae) re-examined, with new evidence after more than a century of confusion
Hybridization among Arctic white-headed gulls (Larus spp.) obscures the genetic legacy of the Pleistocene
Leptophis santamartensis (Serpentes, Colubridae), a junior synonym of Leptophis ahaetulla occidentalis
A new species of Lophostoma d'Orbigny, 1836 (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from Panama
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- Overview
Scientists and staff of the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center stationed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) do research on the systematics and conservation of vertebrate species and curate and manage the North American collections of Amphibian, Reptile, Bird, and Mammal specimens and associated records.
Museum-based systematics research provides an evolutionary framework for understanding the diversity, relationships, and natural history of species of vertebrates and is crucial to managing ecological systems in biologically meaningful ways. Assessing the status, population trends, and abundance of taxa requires an appreciation and understanding of their biology and the functional roles they play in biotic systems. Sound taxonomy and reliable statistics are vital for management and conservation planning by resource agencies and organizations.
The Biological Survey Unit (BSU) of the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center stationed at the NMNH in Washington, D.C., traces its roots back to a formal partnership with the Smithsonian Institution established in 1889. The BSU biologists at the NMNH conduct original research on the systematic relationships, nomenclature, and biodiversity of four groups of vertebrates: amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, that are part of the National Collection housed in the NMNH. They contribute to our understanding of biodiversity by discovering and describing new taxa, determining evolutionary relationships among taxa, and providing taxonomic identifications and general museum support to several agencies within the Department of the Interior (e.g., FWS), as well as to other federal agencies. Taxonomic and methodological expertise in the BSU continues to make important contributions to the preparation and revision of authoritative checklists of vertebrates and authoritative guides for measuring and monitoring biodiversity around the world. In addition, BSU scientists provide important expertise on behalf of the USGS to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), a standard for scientific nomenclature adopted by the Federal government.
Through a Memorandum of Understanding, the BSU and the NMNH cooperate in areas of mutual interest and concern in research, collection care, and information management. The BSU shares laboratory facilities and research tools with the NMNH and both parties jointly develop policies established to benefit the care and use of the collections and associated data. The BSU has curatorial responsibility for approximately 1,000,000 scientific specimens of North American amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals that are used by a broad spectrum of investigators concerned with topics of international, national, and regional scopes. North America as used herein includes all the North American Continent extending from the Panamanian/Colombian border to the North Pole, Hawaii, the Bahamas, and the West Indies. In addition to the collection-based research, primary staff responsibilities include caring for and managing the collections and associated records, curating selected segments of the collections, collecting and processing new materials for addition to the collections, making identifications, assisting visitors in the use of collection resources, transacting loans of study specimens, processing requests for information about specimens and their associated data, and answering questions from the public about amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
- Multimedia
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
- Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 37Geographic distribution: Boiga irregularis (Brown treesnake)
Rota: Rota Seaport (14.136502°N, 145.135351°E; WGS84). 3 September 2014. Shelwyn Taisacan, Robert Ulloa. Verified by G. Zug. USNM 581745. Snake (42 g, 810 mm SVL, 1020 mm total length) captured in a mouse-baited trap hung on the fence perimeter of the Rota Seaport. Because the Northern Marianas Islands are historically snake-free, these traps are used around ports and airports for early detectionAuthorsAdam Knox, Elden Holldorf, Robert N. Reed, Sylvan Igisomar, Steve W. GotteAn investigation into the Swan Island Honduras collecting event of Tiaporus fuliginosus Cope (Reptilia: Teiidae) and its systematic status
Confusion exists in the literature concerning the collecting event of the teiid lizard Tiaporus fuliginosus. We investigated the literature and documents stored at the Smithsonian Institution Archives involving the collector of those specimens in an effort to resolve that confusion. We conclude that the type series was collected on the Swan Islands of Honduras by Charles H. Townsend during 1887. WAuthorsJames R. McCranie, Steve W. GotteMorphological divergence in a continental adaptive radiation: South American ovenbirds of the genus Cinclodes
Cinclodes is an ecologically diverse genus of South American passerine birds and represents a case of continental adaptive radiation along multiple axes. We investigated morphological diversification in Cinclodes using a comprehensive set of morphometric measurements of study skins. Principal component analysis identified 2 primary axes of morphological variation: one describing body size and a seAuthorsJonathan A. Rader, Michael E. Dillon, R. Terry Chesser, Pablo Sabat, Carlos Martinez del RioRafinesque’s names for western American mammals, including the earliest scientific name for the coyote (Canis latrans Say, 1822), based on the apocryphal journal of Charles Le Raye
In 1817, the naturalist Constantine S. Rafinesque named nine new species of mammals from the American West, indicating the recently published journal of Charles Le Raye as the primary source for his descriptions. Le Raye was purported to be a French Canadian fur trader who, as a captive of the Sioux, had traveled across broad portions of the Missouri and Yellowstone river drainages a few years befAuthorsNeal WoodmanSystematics of Vampyressa melissa Thomas, 1926 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae), with descriptions of two new species of Vampyressa
Vampyressa melissa is a poorly known phyllostomid bat listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Since its description in 1926, fewer than 40 V. melissa have been reported in the literature, and less than half of these may have been correctly identified. During revisionary studies of Vampyressa, we uncovered two previously unrecognized species related to V.AuthorsValéria da C. Tavares, Alfred L. Gardner, Héctor E. Ramírez-Chaves, Paúl M. VelazcoList of recent land mammals from Mexico, 2014
We provide an updated list of the Recent land mammals of Mexico and include information on the taxonomy of certain species, and where appropriate, the endemic and threatened status of all species listed. Several taxonomic and nomenclatural changes have been made since publication of the last list of the Mexican terrestrial mammalian fauna. Within the period from 2005 to present, there have been atAuthorsJose Ramirez-Pulido, Noe Gonzalez-Ruiz, Alfred L. Gardner, Joaquin Arroyo-CabralesThe valid generic name for red-backed voles (Muroidea: Cricetidae: Arvicolinae): Restatement of the case for Myodes Pallas, 1811
In view of contradictions in the recent literature, the valid genus-group name to be applied to northern red-backed voles— Myodes Pallas, 1811, or Clethrionomys Tilesius, 1850—is reviewed. To develop the thesis that Myodes (type species, Mus rutilus Pallas, 1779) is the correct name, our discussion explores the 19th-century taxonomic works that bear on the relevant taxa, the transition in zoologicAuthorsMichael D. Carleton, Alfred L. Gardner, Igor Ya. Pavlinov, Guy G. MusserOn the correct name of Icterus bullockii (Passeriformes: Icteridae)
William Bullock was an Englishman who owned the Egyptian Hall (also known as the London Museum or Bullock’s Museum) at Piccadilly in London, a museum opened in 1812 to display his collection of antiquities, artifacts, and natural history specimens. Following the sale of Bullock’s collection in 1819, the Egyptian Hall served as an exhibition space. Bullock and his son, William Bullock, Jr., both enAuthorsR. Terry ChesserType specimens of Crotalus scutulatus (Chordata: Reptilia: Squamata: Viperidae) re-examined, with new evidence after more than a century of confusion
The original description of Crotalus scutulatus (Chordata: Reptilia: Squamata: Viperidae) was published in 1861 by Robert Kennicott, who did not identify a type specimen or a type locality. We review the history of specimens purported to be the type(s) and various designations of type locality. We provide evidence that ANSP 7069 (formerly one of two specimens of USNM 5027) is the holotype and thatAuthorsMichael D. Cardwell, Steve W. Gotte, Roy W. McDiarmid, Ned Gilmore, James A. PoindexterHybridization among Arctic white-headed gulls (Larus spp.) obscures the genetic legacy of the Pleistocene
We studied the influence of glacial oscillations on the genetic structure of seven species of white-headed gull that breed at high latitudes (Larus argentatus, L. canus, L. glaucescens, L. glaucoides, L. hyperboreus, L. schistisagus, and L. thayeri). We evaluated localities hypothesized as ice-free areas or glacial refugia in other Arctic vertebrates using molecular data from 11 microsatellite locAuthorsSarah A. Sonsthagen, R. Terry Chesser, Douglas A. Bell, Carla J. DoveLeptophis santamartensis (Serpentes, Colubridae), a junior synonym of Leptophis ahaetulla occidentalis
Leptophis santamartensis, known only from Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, is one of the more poorly known species of the genus Leptophis. The characters used for its diagnosis largely overlap with those of other Leptophis, mainly with Leptophis ahaetulla occidentalis, the only other Leptophis known to occur in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. A detailed comparison of L. a. occidentalis wiAuthorsNelson R. Albuquerque, Paulo de Passos, Steve W. GotteA new species of Lophostoma d'Orbigny, 1836 (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from Panama
We report the discovery of a new species of Lophostoma from Panama, which we name L. kalkoae. This new species resembles L. carrikeri and L. yasuni in possessing a white venter, but is distinguishable from both by external and cranial characteristics. The new species is similar in size to L. carrikeri and L. schulzi. Lophostoma sp. nov. can be most easily recognized by its combination of white venAuthorsPaúl M. Velazco, Alfred L. Gardner - News
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Filter Total Items: 13