SNOMNH Mammalogy Main Page

Collections Division

Mammalogy

The Collection of Mammals of the OMNH was begun in 1899 and has developed into a significant local, regional, national, and international resource. The collection is the core for the division’s scholarly research and the museum’s exhibits, and formal and informal science education programs.

The SNOMNH mammal collection consists of about 40,000 cataloged specimens, representing 24 of the 29 mammalian orders and 93 of 153 mammalian families. Included in the collection are: voucher specimens of new genera and species described from Argentina; extensive series of Dipodomys (Heteromyidae); rodents, marsupials, and bats from Brazil and the southern cone of South America (Argentina); voucher collections from genetic studies of Mus, Peromyscus, Dipodomys, and Spermophilus; and collections from U.S. Biological Survey expeditions to regions of Oklahoma and Colorado during the 1930s.

Geographic coverage of the collection is worldwide, but representation is especially strong for North America. The collection houses: the largest number of specimens from Oklahoma; the 4th largest collection from Tennessee; the 8th largest collection from Alaska; the largest collection of specimens from Argentina outside of that country; and extensive collections from Mexico (8th largest).

In 2007, the collection completed a curatorial reorganization project, involving inventory, specimen data verification, and georeferencing through a grant from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. The collection is available on the searchable database that is updated quarterly and through MaNIS (Mammal Networked Information System), GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility), and NBII (National Biological Information Infrastructure).

The Mammalogy collection at the SNOMNH has been supported by collection revitalization grants from the National Science Foundation and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

Congratulations! Janet Braun, Michael Mares, and Marcia Revelez have been awarded a $445,303 grant from the National Science Foundation for the "Curation, digitization, and integration of the orphaned University of Memphis Mammal Collection"

Tympanoctomys