Description
The Museum and Zoo Gardens at Trivandrum was established in 1855. The museum and garden began functioning in the premises of an old Bungalow vacated by the Director of Observatory. The garden improved gradually with more additions, including an avenue planted with full-grown cork trees, a fountain, small pools etc. In 1866, 70 lanterns were placed in the garden on the teak-wood poles. Subsequent year a cast iron fountain was erected. By late 1860s it was being felt that the existing building ‘which is very old, requires to be pulled down, and one of larger dimensions and better pretensions to architectural beauty ought to be erected in its place. The improvement of the capital, and the increasing popularity of the Museum, appears alike to demand a new structure.” In 1873 the old building was removed to make place for the new one designed by Chishlom who was an architect with the Madras government. The initial cost estimation of the building was a handsome Rs.70,000. The museum with new building was renamed ‘Napier Museum’ as a complement to one of the Governor Generals of Madras. The museum started functioning in the new building in 1880. The new building also symbolised the emergent ‘public’ sphere in the princely Travancore. Apart from the collections of scientific instruments and ornamental items, a natural history collection was also maintained in the Museum. Among the items of this collection included ‘a few stuffed animals, a whale’s skull, and an Elephant’s tusk of extraordinary size’. Skins of birds and mammals obtained from abroad were also added to the natural history section of the museum in 1884-85. Skins were also procured from Australia with the help of Lieut. Wyllie of the Nair Brigade. As far as taxidermy collection is concerned, a collection of 807 specimens of bird skins was contributed by the Maharajah of Travancore in mid 1880s. The collection was labelled and classified by Davidson of Oottacamund. Twenty different kinds of bird’s eggs were also procured in 1885 (Report on the Administration of Travancore from 1862 to 1947, Amruth 2010). HS Ferguson was in charge of the insect and bird collection from 1888. A taxidermist was sent to the Government Central Museum in Madras in 1889 to improve his knowledge and a taxidermist from British Indian Museum, Calcutta came to Trivandrum to train the museum staff. A collection of the birds of Travancore was undertaken during the period of Ferguson. It has also been recorded that Hugh Whistler sent 57 specimens collected during the Travancore Ornithological Survey to His Highness Maharaja of Travancore, who in turn presented them to the Museum (Report on the Administration of Travancore from 1862 to 1947 (RAT)).
No register or other details were available regarding the collection in the museum office or library. Apart from the details given in the RAT mentioned above, no information was available. From where the 807 bird specimens that the Maharaja contributed originated or which were these specimens, we do not know. Museum and Public Gardens, Administration Report – 1108 ME (1933), states the following:
“… Of all the galleries…those devoted to Ornithology and Ichthyology have been attracting the greatest interest. These two branches have been carefully and systematically worked out…considerable progress has been made with regard to the Ornithological Branch. There are already about 2,000 specimens of birds, neatly cured, sexed and labelled, each species represented by about 15 to 20 specimens so that seasonal variations, sexual differences, immature and mature specimens etc. could be made out without difficulty…The total collection represents about 330 species of Travancore Birds including two peculiar to this country and about 70 immigrants... An excellent opportunity for making further and more intensive study of the birdlife of the State was offered during the year of report by the Ornithological Survey undertaken by Mr. Sálim A Ali under the auspices of Bombay Natural History Society, and part financed by the Government. The Museum Curator Mr. Gomathinayagom Pillai, who is a Zoology graduate, was deputed to work with Mr. Sálim Ali in camp and to specialise in this branch. The Curator has received very good training and has profited by the opportunity. The survey lasted for about four months during which collections were made from 14 stations at different parts of the State. About 700 specimens were collected… The specimens collected are being worked out by Mr. Hugh Whitler of the British Museum. Some of our cabinet specimes selected by Mr. Sálim Ali also has been forwarded to Mr. Hugh Whistler. These, together with the duplicates of the collection made by the Survey Party, are expected to be receives shortly when they will be exhibited in suitable specimen cases which are being made. As a supplement to the Survey proper, the Curator collected about 185 specimens from all over the Trivandrum Taluk, by himself, during the rains. This collection is of particular interest in that few specimens obtained during seasons of rain are usually found in collections, has also been forwarded to Mr. Whistler, who has greatly appreciated Mr. Gomathinayagom Pillai’s work.”
During the Travancore-Cochin Ornithological Survey of 1933, Sálim Ali had inspected the collection, as is evident from his mention in certain species accounts in the paper Ornithology of Travancore and Cochin (Ali & Whistler 1935 – ’37). William Davison (1886) described a species of laughingthrush based on two “stained” specimens in Trivandrum Museum collected from “hills east of Cannanore”, as recorded in the tag of one specimen. This has been quoted by Oates and Blanford (1898) and Baker (1922) in their books. These specimens are now in the Natural History Museum (BMNH), UK. This species named Trochalopterum cinnamomeum Davison, 1886 does not feature in subsequent literature as there were no more specimens available or sight records to substantiate the existence of such a species. No other mention of the bird collection in the museum is available as of now, but a thorough search in the archives and other sources is bound to reveal more details.
The bird specimens catalogued in 2010 were housed in wooden cabinets in a room opposite to the cabin of the Museum Superintendent. The cabinets had six rows of drawers; specimens of larger birds were placed as such in the drawers, but smaller ones were arranged in lid covered card-board boxes strengthened with metal corners. The boxes were of different dimensions, according to the size and number of the specimens. A printed label with the family name of the enclosed species was stuck on the top of the lid, in most cases. The boxes looked as if they were specially manufactured for the purpose and have survived decades without any apparent damage. Two more wooden cabinets were found later in 2013 in a room adjacent to the cabin of the Museum Superiintendent. These cabinets had drawers in which the specimens were kept directly and not in card board boxes. Most of the drawers have not been opened for the past several years and many had to be forced open. Apart from accumulation of a little dust, the specimens were in reasonably good condition. No moth, cockroaches or any other insects had infested them; arsenic soap could have been used in preparing the skins, obviously.
Data Records
The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 2,227 records.
1 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.
This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.
Versions
The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.
How to cite
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
Vijayalakshmi P V, Praveen J (2024). Research Specimens (Aves) at Thiruvananthapuram Natural History Museum (TNHM). Version 1.1. Thiruvananthapuram Natural History Museum. Occurrence dataset. https://cloud.gbif.org/asia/resource?r=researchaves-tnhm&v=1.1
Rights
Researchers should respect the following rights statement:
The publisher and rights holder of this work is Thiruvananthapuram Natural History Museum. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.
GBIF Registration
This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 2c68786e-352f-4eb3-8c20-c70ca13d7500. Thiruvananthapuram Natural History Museum publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by Participant Node Managers Committee.
Keywords
Occurrence; Specimen
Contacts
- Metadata Provider ●
- Originator
- Superintendent
- Natural History Museum
- 0471-2316275
- Metadata Provider ●
- Point Of Contact
- Honorary Associate (Ornithology)
- Natural History Museum
- 9900028479
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5422-2763
- Point Of Contact
- Superintendent
- Natural History Museum
- 0471-2316275
- Point Of Contact
- Principal Investigator
- Custodian Steward
- Superintendent
- Natural History Museum
- 0471-2316275
- Point Of Contact
- Honorary Associate (Ornithology)
- Natural History Museum
- 00919900028479
Geographic Coverage
Most of the specimens are collected from erstwhile Travancore princely state, which now consists of southern Kerala and southwestern Tamil Nadu. A few skins from elsewhere are also present.
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [8.085, 75.34], North East [27.296, 98.349] |
|---|
Taxonomic Coverage
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Suliformes, Anseriformes, Galliformes, Passeriformes, Pelecaniformes, Gruiformes, Trogoniformes, Cuculiformes, Aves, Ciconiiformes, Falconiformes, Accipitriformes, Columbiformes, Charadriiformes, Bucerotiformes, Podicipediformes, Psittaciformes, Caprimulgiformes, Strigiformes, Coraciiformes, Piciformes Family: Podargidae, Pellorneidae, Estrildidae, Monarchidae, Irenidae, Upupidae, Phylloscopidae, Columbidae, Emberizidae, Rhipiduridae, Pycnonotidae, Glareolidae, Picidae, Leiothrichidae, Fringillidae, Alcedinidae, Scolopacidae, Charadriidae, Aegithinidae, Recurvirostridae, Eurylaimidae, Phasianidae, Hemiprocnidae, Jacanidae, Turdidae, Acrocephalidae, Caprimulgidae, Psittaculidae, Sulidae, Dicaeidae, Laniidae, Paridae, Ardeidae, Oriolidae, Dicruridae, Anatidae, Pittidae, Bucerotidae, Cuculiformes, Stenostiridae, Laridae, Corvidae, Muscicapidae, Motacillidae, Phalacrocoracidae, Cuculidae, Podicipedidae, Haematopodidae, Zosteropidae, Rostratulidae, Trogonidae, Vangidae, Ploceidae, Anhingidae, Sittidae, Sturnidae, Pandionidae, Megalaimidae, Coraciidae, Threskiornithidae, Passeridae, Accipitridae, Chloropseidae, Campephagidae, Hirundinidae, Artamidae, Strigidae, Alaudidae, Burhinidae, Timaliidae, Falconidae, Apodidae, Tytonidae, Rallidae, Turnicidae, Nectariniidae, Locustellidae, Cisticolidae, Ciconiidae, Meropidae, Pelecanidae,
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves, Chordata |
| Order | Suliformes, Anseriformes, Galliformes, Passeriformes, Pelecaniformes, Gruiformes, Trogoniformes, Cuculiformes, Aves, Ciconiiformes, Falconiformes, Accipitriformes, Columbiformes, Charadriiformes, Bucerotiformes, Podicipediformes, Psittaciformes, Caprimulgiformes, Strigiformes, Coraciiformes, Piciformes |
| Family | Podargidae, Pellorneidae, Estrildidae, Monarchidae, Irenidae, Upupidae, Phylloscopidae, Columbidae, Emberizidae, Rhipiduridae, Pycnonotidae, Glareolidae, Picidae, Leiothrichidae, Fringillidae, Alcedinidae, Scolopacidae, Charadriidae, Aegithinidae, Recurvirostridae, Eurylaimidae, Phasianidae, Hemiprocnidae, Jacanidae, Turdidae, Acrocephalidae, Caprimulgidae, Psittaculidae, Sulidae, Dicaeidae, Laniidae, Paridae, Ardeidae, Oriolidae, Dicruridae, Anatidae, Pittidae, Bucerotidae, Cuculiformes, Stenostiridae, Laridae, Corvidae, Muscicapidae, Motacillidae, Phalacrocoracidae, Cuculidae, Podicipedidae, Haematopodidae, Zosteropidae, Rostratulidae, Trogonidae, Vangidae, Ploceidae, Anhingidae, Sittidae, Sturnidae, Pandionidae, Megalaimidae, Coraciidae, Threskiornithidae, Passeridae, Accipitridae, Chloropseidae, Campephagidae, Hirundinidae, Artamidae, Strigidae, Alaudidae, Burhinidae, Timaliidae, Falconidae, Apodidae, Tytonidae, Rallidae, Turnicidae, Nectariniidae, Locustellidae, Cisticolidae, Ciconiidae, Meropidae, Pelecanidae |
Temporal Coverage
| Start Date / End Date | 1868-12-25 / 1989-01-29 |
|---|
Project Data
As requested by the Director, Museum and Zoo, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Forests and Wildlife Department entrusted us the work of cataloguing the specimens and granted the necessary funds. The first phase of the work was completed and the report was submitted in July 2011. Then, in January 2013, Sri S Abu, Superintendent, Natural History Museum informed me on the finding of two more cabinets of bird specimens. Dr. K. Udayavarman, Director, Museums and Zoos, Thiruvananthapuram granted us the necessary funds and facilities and these specimens also were catalogued in March 2013. This publication is a catalogue of the 2225 specimens. Handling the bird specimens, many of them more than a century old, was an exhilarating experience. The work was not easy at all: many specimens looked very different from the live birds which were familiar to us in the field. The dust – impregnated with arsenic – made us all sick at the end of each day, in spite of wearing masks and gloves. C Sashikumar A CATALOGUE OF THE BIRDS IN THE COLLECTION OF TRIVANDRUM MUSEUM ---------- In May 2024, converting this catalogue into a database was initiated with georeferencing localities and mapping taxonomy.
| Title | TNHM Research Specimen Digitization |
|---|---|
| Funding | Director, Museums and Zoos, Thiruvananthapuram |
The personnel involved in the project:
- Principal Investigator
- Processor
- Processor
- Processor
- Processor
- Custodian Steward
Sampling Methods
The methodology used for re-evaluating and cataloguing the bird specimens is described below. 1. Each cabinet was opened; specimens were taken out, cleaned and replaced in the cardboard boxes or in the drawer after inspection. The cabinet and the cardboard boxes were numbered. 2. The original tags were deciphered; some of them were in Tamil or Malayalam script. 3. The details such as date of collection, place of collection, name of the collector, remarks, the number of the box and the cabinet in which the specimen was kept etc. were noted in an excel spreadsheet against each species. 4. Identification of the species was rechecked using standard literature, mainly Ali & Ripley (1983), and corrected, if needed, in the new tag. The original tag was retied if found detached; a new tag was attached with the details on the old tag written clearly. 6. All details of the specimen (age, sex, condition of the specimen etc,) were noted in the spreadsheet. 7. In case of species without dimorphism, sex recorded in the labels was accepted; species with dimorphism were sexed afresh. Generally, we did not attempt to sex the specimens based on biometrics; but this can still be attempted after reexamining individual specimens. 8. A specimen number was assigned to each skin, which was written on the new tag as well as in the excel spreadsheet. 9. Photographs of the specimen were taken (dorsal and ventral) and tagged with the specimen number. A CATALOGUE OF THE BIRDS IN THE COLLECTION OF TRIVANDRUM MUSEUM -------------- In May 2024, the spreadsheet was transformed into a database that GBIF can accept. 1. Georeferencing all localities to the best possible contemporary location using Google maps. 2. Transforming taxonomy to the GBIF backbone taxonomy 3. Converting all other fields to DarwinCore fields.
| Study Extent | Travancore and a few specimens from elsewhere. |
|---|---|
| Quality Control | Specimens with a tag having complete details i.e. English name, scientific name, place of collection, date of collection and name of the collector belong to this category. Some of these have the biometrics of the bird also recorded. 489 specimens belong to this category. Specimens about which no information is available: some of these have tags, some of these have species name written, but no other details. 882 specimens are in this category; 21 specimens which could not be identified to the species level also are included in this. Several specimens have tags with partial information only. Among these, the major portion has place name and date of collection; these could be considered as useful specimens as those belonging to the first category: 639 specimens belong to this category. 109 specimens have place name only, while name of the collector and date are missing whereas 106 specimens have only date on the tag and no other details. This means that 1128 specimens in the collection have enough details to be of use to assess the avian diversity of the collection period. A CATALOGUE OF THE BIRDS IN THE COLLECTION OF TRIVANDRUM MUSEUM ------------------------- All georeferenced localities were converted into a kml file to check their actual locations and spot visible errors. The data was pushed into GBIF data validator to verify specimens that are outside the continent (e.g. at sea plotted points). GBIF backbone taxonomy mapping was also checked for 100% accuracy. Specimens with missing date, month or year were also cleaned up. |
Method step description:
- In 2010-12, all the research collections were catalogued in a spreadsheet
- In May 2024, the spreadsheet was transformed into a database that is conforming to the GBIF guidelines.
Bibliographic Citations
- Sashikumar, C.;Vishnudas C. K.,;Raju S.,;Vinayan P. A.,;Rajashree V. V., 2013. A catalogue of the birds in the collection of Trivandrum Museum. 1-206. The Forests and Wildlife Department & Depart of Zoo and Museums, Government of Kerala. Kerala
Additional Metadata
| Purpose | This project happened in two stages; a digitization phase during 2010-2012 and a georeferencing and upload phase in 2024. It is under the larger objective to enable the research community across the world to use of the collection housed in the museum. |
|---|---|
| Maintenance Description | Very few specimens are added now to the Aves collection. The only other update would be to make corrections to the uploaded entries. |
| Alternative Identifiers | 2c68786e-352f-4eb3-8c20-c70ca13d7500 |
| https://cloud.gbif.org/asia/resource?r=researchaves-tnhm |