Tissue Collections

Tissue collections are becoming an increasingly valuable resource for scientists interested in many aspects of avian biology, including geographic and genetic variation, phylogenetic relationships, molecular and behavioral ecology, epidemiology, and conservation biology. Consequently, efficient access to information on these collections is critical.

The Collections Committee of the American Ornithologists' Union recently surveyed both U.S. and foreign museums to gather basic information on their holdings of genetic resources. This survey is not intended as a detailed listing of samples in individual collections; such data are available through collection databases. Rather, the survey provides general information on the collections themselves, such as contacts, size of the avian collection, and whether or not they hold genetic resources. Museums with tissue collections were surveyed for information about those collections, including staffing and annual growth, sources of new material, kinds of materials housed, storage methods, taxonomic and geographic strengths, collection management (e.g., % catalogued and computerized), and policies on access.

Survey Results

• Avian Tissue Collection Survey - Form
• Participating Bird Collections
• Avian Tissue Collection Survey - Results Sorted by Institution
• Avian Tissue Collection Policies

Publications and Guidelines

• Air transport of diagnostic specimens and dangerous goods, including LN2 tanks (IATA regs as pdf file)
• Excerpt on taking, preserving, and archiving tissue samples. From Winker, K. 2000. Obtaining, preserving, and preparing birds. Journal of Field Ornithology 71:250-297. (pdf of entire paper)
• Guidelines on field methods for preserving tissues. Written by Robb Brumfield and Donna Dittmann for a course in Museum Curatorial Methods, taught at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge.
• MVZ guidelines on field collection and transport of tissues
• Obtaining, storing, and archiving specimens and tissue samples for use in molecular studies. Written by Lorenzo Prendini, Robert Hanner, and Rob DeSalle, American Museum of Natural History.
• Recipes for DNA buffers
• Useful collection-related papers

Genetic Data Links

The AOU Committee on Bird Collections strongly encourages researchers who submit molecular data to GenBank to provide references to voucher and/or tissue specimen numbers in museums. Furthermore, we encourage linking of specimens to GenBank numbers in museum databases. For information on creating GenBank linkouts from museum databases, contact the National Center for Biotechnology Information ().

Other Links

• AVECOL (electronic bulletin board for bird collections and curators)
• Avian Bird Collections (links to museum research collections of birds)
• BIRDNET
• Ornithological Council
• ORNithological Information System (distributed database of bird collections)
• Tree of Life Project