Specimen collection is essential for modern science
Michael W. Nachman, Elizabeth J. Beckman, Rauri C. K. Bowie, Carla Cicero, Chris J. Conroy, Robert Dudley, Tyrone B. Hayes, Michelle S. Koo, Eileen A. Lacey, Christopher H. Martin, Jimmy A. McGuire, James L. Patton, Carol Spencer, Rebecca D. Tarvin, Marvalee H. Wake, Ian Wang, Anang S. Achmadi, Sergio Ticul Álvarez-Castañeda, Michael J. Andersen, Jairo Arroyave, Christopher C. Austin, F. Keith Barker, Lisa N. Barrow, George F. Barrowclough, John M. Bates, Aaron M. Bauer, Kayce C. Bell, Rayna C. Bell, Allison W. Bronson, Rafe M. Brown, Frank T. Burbrink, Kevin J. Burns, Carlos Daniel Cadena, David C. Cannatella, Todd A. Castoe, Prosanta Chakrabarty, Jocelyn P. Colella, Joseph A. Cook, Joël Cracraft, Drew R. Davis, Alison R. Davis Rabosky, Guillermo D’Elía, John P. Dumbacher, Jonathan L. Dunnum, Scott V. Edwards, Jacob A. Esselstyn, Julián Faivovich, Jon Fjeldså, Oscar Flores‐Villela, Kassandra Ford, Jérôme Fuchs, Matthew K. Fujita, Jeffrey M. Good, Eli Greenbaum, Harry W. Greene, Shannon J. Hackett, Amir Hamidy, James Hanken, Tri Haryoko, Melissa T. R. Hawkins, Lawrence R. Heaney, David M. Hillis, Bradford D. Hollingsworth, Angela D. Hornsby, Peter A. Hosner, Mohammad Irham, Sharon A. Jansa, Rosa Alicia Jiménez, Leo Joseph, Jeremy J. Kirchman, Travis J. LaDuc, Adam D. Leaché, Enrique P. Lessa, Hernán López‐Fernández, Nicholas A. Mason, John E. McCormack, Caleb D. McMahan, Robert G. Moyle, Ricardo A. Ojeda, Link E. Olson, Chan Kin Onn, Lynne R. Parenti, Gabriela Parra‐Olea, Bruce D. Patterson, Gregory B. Pauly, Silvia Pavan, A. Townsend Peterson, Steven Poe, Daniel L. Rabosky, Christopher J. Raxworthy, Sushma Reddy, Alejandro Rico‐Guevara, Awal Riyanto, Luiz A. Rocha, Santiago R. Ron, Sean M. Rovito, Kevin C. Rowe, Jodi J. L. Rowley, Sara Ruane, David Salazar‐Valenzuela
Abstract
Natural history museums are vital repositories of specimens, samples and data that inform about the natural world; this Formal Comment revisits a Perspective that advocated for the adoption of compassionate collection practices, querying whether it will ever be possible to completely do away with whole animal specimen collection.