James Poindexter, II
James is a Museum Specialist at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center's Biological Survey Unit located at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History Museum Support Center in Suitland, MD.
Biography
His primary duties are the care, management, and curation of the National Museum of Natural History North American Amphibian and Reptile Collections and associated data. James takes the lead for all things related to digital photography in his division. He regularly takes digital photographs of preserved museum specimens at the request of both division staff and researchers around the world. In addition to his regular photography duties, James has taken on the project of photographing all of the primary type specimens in his division that presently have no photographs, or that need better quality photographs.
Education:
BS-Zoology, Howard University, Washington, DC, 1989
Science and Products
Biological Survey Unit
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.
Amphibian & Reptile Collections
The Herpetology Project, the most recent addition to the Unit, originated in 1972. Roy W. McDiarmid is the Project Leader. The North American collection of reptiles and amphibians contains about 390,900 specimens. This portion of the National Collection is completely computerized; electronic copies on diskette or compact disks, or hard copy reports can be produced in response to requests for...
Collections and Collection Management
The Challenge: How can we preserve and maintain evidence from our scientific past and continue to smartly expand that resource to help scientists find the answers to the questions and challenges they will face in the future?
Type 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...
Cardwell, Michael D.; Gotte, Steve W.; McDiarmid, Roy W.; Gilmore, Ned; Poindexter, James A.