Written By: Katherine McCallister '15
Published October 2014
The extensive Natural History Collection at Randolph College is constantly growing. The collections began with Fernando Wood Martin after whom the Martin Science building was named, and John Irvin Hamaker in the late 19th century.
In order for the collections to continue to expand, the
Natural History Collections Project was established where student volunteers,
work study students, faculty, interns, and researchers work together to
catalog, preserve, and utilize the vast collection. It contains some species
that are endangered or long extinct and a wide variety of specimens ranging
from insects, mammals, a vast Herbology collection, and rocks and minerals. It
is currently overseen by Emily Smith.
One of the specimens in the collection is a White
Tailed Eagle, Haliaeetus
albicilla, over 100 years old preserved here at Randolph. The male
hummingbird and owls have been preserved in the past few years by faculty and
students over the course of several months. There are also many different
species of beetles that were once in horrible condition but have been restored
by several students.
The Carolina Parakeet Joins the Bird Collection
This past summer, a donation was made, doubling the bird collection from approximately 300 to over 600
specimens. The newest additions once belonged to an artist for National Geographic Magazine.
The College also acquired a rare species of bird, now extinct, called the Carolina Parakeet or Conuropsis carolinensis. This species of bird was native to the Eastern, Midwest, and Plains of the United States. It lived abundantly in old-growth forests along rivers and swamps. However, it became a rare species in the 19th century and was declared extinct by 1939. Randolph is one of the few places with this specific bird in such great condition, even though it was preserved using an older method involving arsenic.
Once all the new additions are cataloged and finalized, the specimen’s information and pictures will be placed on the Natural History Collection site.
Randolph Student Works to Preserve Fawn found on Front Campus
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| Preserved White Tailed Eagle, Haliaeetus albicilla Photo courtesy of Katherine McCallister '17 |
The Carolina Parakeet Joins the Bird Collection
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| Caroline Parakeet, Conuropsis carolinensis Photo courtesy of Michael Sazhin of trainedparrot.com |
The College also acquired a rare species of bird, now extinct, called the Carolina Parakeet or Conuropsis carolinensis. This species of bird was native to the Eastern, Midwest, and Plains of the United States. It lived abundantly in old-growth forests along rivers and swamps. However, it became a rare species in the 19th century and was declared extinct by 1939. Randolph is one of the few places with this specific bird in such great condition, even though it was preserved using an older method involving arsenic.
Once all the new additions are cataloged and finalized, the specimen’s information and pictures will be placed on the Natural History Collection site.
Randolph Student Works to Preserve Fawn found on Front Campus
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| Ballard-Abbot begins preservation of the fawn found on campus, entirely in tact Photo courtesy of Katherine McCallister '17 |
The Natural History Collection provides many different opportunities for students to gain experience. Sarah Ballard-Abbott ’16 started off volunteering in specimen preparation in the Natural History Collection, beginning with a wide variety of birds. Ballard-Abbott is currently working on preserving a female fawn that was recently found in front of campus by Smith.
Cause of death was determined by
visually analyzing marks on the body, which appeared to be the result being
struck, thrown, and skidding across pavement. An opening of the body cavity
showed large amounts of internal bleeding. All of this paired with the fawn’s
broken neck suggests being hit by a car caused her death.
Between the fawn’s umbilical cord had
not fully fallen off yet signifying she was very young, and the fawn’s small
size made this an interesting case for Ballard-Abbott. She had finished
cleaning a set of deer bones last spring and was planning to articulate the
skeleton this semester but it was not a complete set. The fawn, however, is
entirely intact. This posed a unique opportunity for Ballard-Abbott to work
from the beginning to end of a preservation by deconstructing and articulating
this fawn. Ballard-Abbott began the lengthy process on Friday September 12th by removing the skin from the fatty and muscular tissue. Once the skin is entirely removed, the plan is for it to be processed and preserved in a manner that it may be used at some point for educational purposes. This will take several months to complete.
When it comes to de-fleshing the
fawn, a majority of the flesh will be removed by hand and the bones will be
placed into a container filled with flesh eating beetles. Over the course of
several weeks the beetles will clean the bones of all remaining flesh without causing
other damage.
Once all the flesh is removed, the
bones will be cleaned and the final process will begin. This includes piecing
together any broken bones from the impact of the car and beginning the
articulation process, in which the skeleton of the fawn is reconstructed to its
original form using wires.At the end of this project, Randolph College will have its first complete, fully articulated deer skeleton put together by a student.
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