Preserving the dead: Meet the museum curator who collects roadkill for research

Key Concepts

• Salvaged Specimens: Animal carcasses collected after death from natural or human causes (e.g., roadkill) for scientific study and preservation.
• Museum Collection: A curated collection of preserved animal specimens used for research, education, and historical documentation.
• Roadkill Mitigation: Strategies to reduce animal deaths on roads, informed by data from salvaged specimens.
• Specimen Preparation: The process of preserving animal carcasses for long-term storage and study, involving removing organs, stuffing, and drying.
• DNA Analysis: Extracting and analyzing genetic material from specimens to understand diet, species relationships, and environmental factors.

Collection and Acquisition of Specimens

• The Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum maintains a collection of mammal specimens dating back to the late 1880s.
• Historically, specimens were obtained through hunting or capture. Today, the museum primarily relies on salvaged specimens, particularly roadkill.
• The museum competes with the National Environment Agency (NEA) to collect carcasses before they are cleared from the streets. The museum's priority is to obtain the carcass for scientific study, while the NEA's KPI is to keep the streets clean.
• The museum collaborates with NParks (National Parks Board) and Acres (Animal Concerns Research and Education Society) who often collect roadkill and send them to the zoo or the museum.
• A lesser mousedeer carcass was retrieved from the Mandai Wildlife Group’s Wildlife Healthcare and Research Centre. The animal was paralyzed and likely suffered blunt trauma, possibly from a mountain bike or other injury.

Value and Uses of Specimens

• Dead animals provide valuable information about their habitat, diet, and accumulated pollutants.
• Even old specimens (over 100 years) can yield DNA, bacteria, viruses, and parasites, offering insights into past environments and disease surveillance.
• Specimens can inform studies on climate change and ecological shifts.
• Data on roadkill locations can help identify hotspots for implementing mitigation measures like fencing, speed bumps, and warning systems.
• Each specimen is a unique physical record that can be re-measured and re-analyzed with future technologies, making them irreplaceable by photos or written accounts.

Specimen Preparation Process

• The museum has a freezer room to store specimens before processing.
• The preparation process involves removing parts that can rot (eyes, innards, limbs, muscles) while preserving important parts like the skull, stomach contents, and tissue for DNA.
• Stomach contents (e.g., "bubble tea pearls" from the mousedeer) are preserved in ethanol for DNA analysis to determine the animal's diet.
• The skin is stuffed with non-biodegradable material, sewn up, and dried to preserve its color and form.
• The stuffed specimen is dried in an oven at 60 degrees Celsius for a week.

Examples and Case Studies

• Sunda Slow Lorises: Mentioned as an example of an animal with a potentially deadly bite and a grooming claw.
• Sperm Whale: A "seakill" example of a large salvage operation involving a whale hit by a ship. The process took a team of five people 70 days to complete. The smell was a significant challenge.
• Lesser Mousedeer: A recent roadkill specimen being processed in the video. Its poop was collected for DNA analysis.
• Changi Mousedeer: Reference to a mousedeer specimen collected in Changi in 1912, highlighting the historical depth of the museum's collection.
• Colugos, Civets, and Pangolins: Listed as the most common salvaged animals.

Historical Context and Anecdotes

• Raffles, the founder of Singapore, was also a naturalist who collected animals.
• Historically, specimen preparers sometimes ate the animals they prepared.
• Raffles described dugong meat as "Most excellent beef."

Roadkill Mitigation

• Approximately 50% of the animals received by the museum are roadkills.
• Data from roadkill specimens can be used to identify hotspots and implement mitigation measures.
• Agencies can use this information to install fencing, speed bumps, and warning systems for drivers.

Curator's Perspective

• The curator, Marcus, sees specimen salvage and preparation as a time investment in a resource that will be valuable to future scientists.
• He acknowledges that the process is time-consuming but finds it worthwhile.
• He rates his finished mousedeer specimen as a "seven out of ten."

Synthesis/Conclusion

The video highlights the importance of natural history museums and their collections in understanding the environment, studying wildlife, and informing conservation efforts. Salvaged specimens, particularly roadkill, provide valuable data on animal populations, their habitats, and the impact of human activities. The meticulous process of specimen preparation ensures that these resources are preserved for future research and education, contributing to a deeper understanding of the natural world. The work is time-consuming and sometimes unpleasant, but the long-term benefits for scientific knowledge and conservation make it a worthwhile endeavor.