Faux specimens

We make a small image of a photo from an iNaturalist observation and capture the data, including the link to it on iNaturalist. We cut them out in little rectangles and place them on a pin like a specimen, hence the name ‘faux specimen.’ Then they are placed along with actual specimens in my research collection. This way we can keep track of these finds that I either can’t identify to species or add info of the distribution or variation of named and unnamed species. If the faux specimen doesn’t match any others in the collection it is placed in its own unit tray located near what we think are its closest relatives.

Posted on 08 May, 2020 14:13 by marcepstein marcepstein

Comments

Ha! I love this idea. Reminds me of the old cut-out drawings I've seen pinned in collections as placeholders for species the collection didn't have specimens of.

Posted by kevinliam almost 4 years ago

Good idea.

Posted by elendil_c almost 4 years ago

@kevinliam You got it, exactly! We had many of these at NMNH (USNM). While some were cut out from Seitz, others we actually originals or BW photos of types that were painted over. One of the artists is a group photo of the USNM Lepidopterists shown in my book "Moths, Myths, and Mosquitoes"

Posted by marcepstein almost 4 years ago

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