Museum

Texas Tech Museum has the second largest bird collection in Texas (with A&M at number 1). The museum also has one of the biggest mammal collections in the nation. These collections are made possible through the actions of preservation. Preservation has the capacity to create a lasting representation of a living creature for study and presentation to the public. The methods of preservation were absolutely stunning; freezing samples that are waiting to be prepped, injecting formalin and preserving in alcohol. Formaldehyde, typically used to stop flesh from rotting, is not used for long-term preservation. One type method of preservation is skeletonization, which is the removing of soft tissue and preserving the skeletal structure. The soft tissue that is removed can be frozen and used for genetic analysis. A particularly interesting method of accomplishing the total defleshment from bone is through the use of flesh-eating beetles. Samples are placed in dixie cups and then placed into what amounts to an aquarium filled with these beetles. Eventually all that remains are gleaming white bones - this is particularly useful for skeletons that are fragile, like hummingbirds. After getting a glimpse at the flesh-eating beetles we proceeded into an area with extremely exotic large animals and prepared skins of birds. A prepared skin is a dried out husk of a bird, removed of all bodily fluids and organs, and which retains a remarkable level of detail - some of these birds looked like they may pick up and fly away at any moment. The earliest bird preservation in the museum is from 1866, an example for the durability of a prepared skin and the value of curators who protect and maintain these preservations. Curators seem to be a kind of unseen hand that are integral for the maintenance and continuation of heritages like the one seen at Texas Tech Museum. At the museum we finally were able to see a Greater and Lesser Prairie Chicken for the first time. These skins were absolutely remarkable and gave us a glimpse of what we'd be seeing in the days following. The very last thing that we were presented with was row after row of towering cabinets, all holding the preservation of mammals. This was a testament to what it requires to be considered one of the largest collections in the nation, opening up just one door revealed what must have been 30-60 bats all seeming to be alive if it were not for previous knowledge. To wrap up the day Jenny gave us a lecture on what was needed for the trip that would follow soon.