Dr. Brett Benz is the Collection Manager for Birds and an Assistant Research Scientist at the University of Michigan’s Museum of Zoology. He shares how he’s working to digitize our egg collection and also highlights a bird specimen – donated by P.T. Barnum!
Tell us what’s going on in the bird collection now.
We're currently working to digitize our egg collection—over 4,000 egg sets. Eggs obviously don’t ship well for specimen loans, so the goal is to take high resolution images of every egg set and digitize the associated specimen data. Oological collections are unique in that egg collectors of the early 1900s often took meticulous ecological field notes; things like the nest height, vegetation, and when the first egg was laid. These types of detailed accounts are not only useful for understanding the natural history and breeding biology of the birds, but also how species are being impacted by broad scale climate and environmental change.
What do you do with the images?
We capture two images per egg (top and bottom) to document the color and pattern of each specimen as well as take precise length and width measurements. From those data, we apply mathematical models to estimate egg volume. This lets us study the evolution of egg shape and size across bird species, and potentially track changes over time. We aim to serve these digital data online to the general public so that researchers and enthusiasts can access these delicate specimens virtually, thereby reducing the need for handling or loans of these unique collections.
Are you working on digitizing other parts of the bird collection, too?
The egg collection is our current focus, but we’ve also digitized about 14,000 songbird skeletal specimens. These 2D images allow us to apply computer vision models to take measurements of bones commonly used in morphological analyses. It's a lower-cost and faster approach to gather morphological data compared to full 3D scanning methods. These digital data allow us to explore the evolution of functional traits across the avian tree of life at various taxonomic scales. We’re still in the data-gathering stage, but the goal is to use this digital imaging and computer vision approach across multiple bird skeleton collections in the U.S. to explore big-picture questions in avian morphological evolution and diversification.
Why is digitizing these specimens important for conservation and research?
We are always striving to enhance access and use of these invaluable natural history specimens. Digitization (2D and 3D) is one tool in our tool kit to expand access to our collections. However, these collections aren’t just valuable for answering the current pressing questions of our time—they’re real power lies in their ability to answer future ones, as well. For instance, when Ernst Mayr was sent to the Arfak Mountains of New Guinea to collect bird specimens in the 1920s, I’m sure he never imagined that his specimens would be used for genomic sequencing of ancient DNA someday. So, the specimens we’re preserving today will likely be used for questions we haven’t even thought of yet.
Is there a favorite or unusual specimen you like to highlight?
We have a full mount and skeleton of a Southern Cassowary—which as an adult, can be quite aggressive and dangerous. They have extremely powerful legs and 3-inch-long claws that can take you out with a single kick. The origin of how we received this specimen is a little unclear but it was donated by P.T. Barnum to the U.S. National Museum in 1874 and then later acquired by the UMMZ. I assume Barnum acquired the cassowary as a juvenile when it was still cute and manageable, and later presented it the USNM once it reached maturity. It’s rather unique to have a full skeleton and study skin from a cassowary in a museum collection.
You’ve done a lot of fieldwork in New Guinea. What was the focus?
I started working in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the early 2000s. Initially, I focused on building modern avian collections from several key biogeographic regions across the rugged Western and Eastern Highlands that lacked ornithological inventories and museum specimens for many species. Over time, I built up a large series of specimens collected throughout PNG, which have since been used in dozens of studies examining the evolution and diversification of this remarkable avifauna. Currently, my research is focusing on examining broad-scale patterns of biogeography and evolution in the Myzomela honeyeaters, to understand how this genus of 40 plus species has managed to radiate across New Guinea and much of the South Pacific.
What excites you most about where the field is heading?
The advances in sequencing technologies. When I did my PhD, it was tremendous work just to extract and sequence a few genes from century-old specimens. Now, we can sequence entire genomes on a device not much bigger than a flash drive—and do it in the field. That allows us to study how populations change in real time and even adapt our field sampling strategies on the fly.
Lastly, who or what inspires you in science today?
Again, the evolving tech. It’s exciting to think that the specimens we are collecting and preparing today will be used in ways we can’t yet imagine—just like the collectors a century ago. Recent advances in sequencing methods and bioinformatics have greatly improved our understanding of avian systematics, enabling greater focus on examining the evolutionary processes and environmental factors that have generated such remarkable morphological and behavioral diversity in birds. This is what really keeps me inspired and going into the field as much as possible.
