Extending mammal specimens with their essential phenotypic traits.

Area of Science:

• Biodiversity Science
• Mammalogy
• Museum Informatics

Background:

• Natural history collections are vital for biodiversity research, with digitization enhancing data accessibility.
• Digitized specimen records form an extended specimen network, facilitating data sharing and use.
• Key specimen-level data, including morphological and life-history traits, are still largely absent from digital records.

Purpose of the Study:

• To digitize specimen-level traits for terrestrial mammals in western North America.
• To append these traits to existing digital records and publish them openly.
• To establish data standards and workflows for trait digitization extendable to other regions and taxa.

Main Methods:

• A community effort involving 23 institutions to digitize traits from mammal specimens.
• Focus on non-marine mammal species (native and introduced) in western Canada, the western United States, and Mexico.
• Development of interoperable data streams and trait data standards.

Main Results:

• Creation of a comprehensive, openly accessible dataset of mammal traits.
• Establishment of standardized informatics workflows for trait digitization.
• Enhanced digital specimen records with critical morphological, reproductive, and life-history information.

Conclusions:

• The Ranges Digitization Network advances mammalogy by enriching digital specimen data.
• This project creates a community-curated resource for research, training, and conservation.
• It establishes a model for extending trait digitization to global biodiversity collections.