Primate Skeletons

This is the open collection of primate skeletal material at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Its specimens have either been collected by museum personnel or they have been donated directly to the Museum. Currently, this collection contains over 70 specimens ranging in size from gorillas to mouse lemurs. The level of documentation and its accuracy equal or exceed that of similar Hamann-Todd Collection of primate skeleton specimens.

Many of these primate specimens were collected on Museum-sponsored expeditions. Since field conditions are not ideal for the complete preparation of specimens for accession into a museum collection, many of these specimens came back to Cleveland as field dressed specimens. A number of these specimens are currently undergoing maceration.

Other specimens in this collection are in the lab’s freezers awaiting maceration. The use of refrigeration has two advantages. First, the specimen does not have to be field dressed to keep it from spoiling before maceration takes place. Second, the cold retards the development of molds and insect infestation.

Definitions

Field dressed specimens:
Specimens that have been prepared in the field for shipment back to the Museum. This involves skinning the specimen, gutting it, and removing most of the large muscle masses.  Specimens are dismembered before being labeled and packed in appropriate containers. Since the specimens are not completely macerated, they will need further cleaning and curation before they are ready to go on display.

Maceration:
The process of reducing a field dressed specimens down to its skeleton.
Usually this involves boiling the specimens in a solvent to remove the last of the flesh, grease and cartilage.  The most commonly used solvent is water. Sometimes bleaching agents or degreasing agents are added to the water. In the past other chemicals have been used such as 1,1,1 trichlorethane, ammonia, or carbon tetrachloride.