Support for the LSU Collection of Mammals

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The Mammal Collection in the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science comprises 30,000 specimens, placing it among the largest such university collections in the U.S. The collection has grown remarkably during the past decade, and more than half of its current holdings are from the New World Tropics. Dr. Mark Hafner, Curator of Mammals and Director of the Museum, proposes a renovation of the Museum's collections, leading to expanded storage space and incorporation of a large collection donated by the University of Southwestern Louisiana. New storage cabinets will be installed on a mezzanine to be built above the present collections area. In consolidating these collections, researchers will be given greater access to important reference specimens. Systematic collections in natural history museums are an incomparable record of the evolution of life on earth. Systematists, ecologists, biogeographers, functional morphologists, and researchers from a variety of other disciplines are increasingly dependent on these research resources. The continued growth and improvement of these collections will have wide impact on research into biological diversity.