Harrison Institute
Arabian Mammal Collection
The Arabian Mammal Collection contributes to:
• understanding the impact of climate change at species, population, community and biome levels and thereby helping to develop more effective policy
• supporting zoonoses research to reduce the risk of viral spillover between wildlife and humans, such as with SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)
• supporting local, national and regional conservation assessments, including IUCN’s Red List
• understanding how terrestrial ecosystems/landscapes can have multiple uses that promote biodiversity and human communities
• designing species management plans that promote the best use of conservation resources in the context of regional/global biodiversity declines
• designing and managing protected areas whilst considering social and environmental change
• supporting ecosystem management and restoration, including maintaining connectivity and functionality within and between protected areas
• testing the impact of conservation interventions to ensure the measures and actions taken are effective.
The collection listed by order and country (material from Palestine and Israel has been combined).
David Harrison in Iraq (1955)
The Arabian Mammal Collection
With over 2600 specimens of 135 species from 13 Arabian countries, this collection is unparalleled in its scope. It is the most comprehensive outside the Natural History Museum London and is both an historical and scientific treasure.
Pioneered by David Harrison and based on 70 years of collaborative study, it includes almost all the known terrestrial mammal species recorded from the region. As such, it provides an irreplaceable research and conservation database.
The material primarily comprises dry skins and skulls. However, there is also a sizeable minority of smaller mammals, especially bats and rodents, stored in ethyl alcohol.
Some of the first specimens were collected in 1953 in Trucial Oman, which is today UAE. Here, David’s interest was supported by Sheikh Zayid bin Sultan, who on one occasion accompanied him, together with a large escort, on afield trip to collect bats on the edge of the Al Ain Oasis.
Over the years, the collection has incorporated priceless material from numerous veterinary, medical and biodiversity surveys made by staff and colleagues throughout the region.
It is the database for over 70 Harrison Institute scientific publications, including two editions of the monograph The Mammals of Arabia, and holds mammal specimens from the ground-breaking fauna and flora surveys of the Jabal Akhdar, Wahiba Sands and Dhofar, Oman. These surveys spearheaded the concept of integrated biodiversity research in peninsularArabiaandprovidedthe dataforpromoting the first protected area within the region
The Institute’s Arabian mammal collection originates from 13 countries
Taxonomic revisions
• Providing a baseline of biodiversity change
• ID training courses
• Tissue sampling
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• Distributional records for producing atlases, conservation assessments and understanding changes in distribution
Population genetics using ancient DNA
• Osteology
• Genomics
• Policy work from taxonomic reassessments, to identify and designate Key Biodiversity Areas
• To identify field collections
• DNA sampling of specimens
• Conservation assessments
• Studying mammal pathogens and systematics
• Historical faunistics
• Establishing the distribution of protected species
• Estimate mammal species richness over time
• Describing new species
• Mapping distribution of mammal species• Testing archived specimens for infection with diseases to understand epidemiology
• Genetics and morphometrics of mammals
• Comparative studies with extinct species
• Establishing checklists of mammals for countries and regions
• Collaborating with genebanks
• Extracting information to incorporate into GBIF
• Identifying species boundaries
• Contributing to habitat and distribution modelling
• Contributing to Red List assessments
• Morphology and genetics of parasites
• Development of barcoding techniques
• Distributional gap analysis for modelling distributions
• Health status of recently dead specimens to inform public health policy
• Ecological niche modelling
• DNA to verify illegal hunting
• Validating historic records using voucher specimens
• Monitoring progress towards targets for biodiversity conservation
• Historic distributions and genetics to aid development of reintroduction programmes
• Assessing quality of biodiversity data, to develop tools to make use of museum data
• Analysing species distributions and data biases.
Appendix 1: Specimens are primarily skins and skulls but include wet material stored in ethyl alcohol
Appendix 2: Summary of the Harrison Institute’s Arabian Mammal Collection
