MLZ Bird Collection (Arctos)

John McCormack

doi:10.15468/1w791r

MLZ Bird Collection (Arctos)

Citation

McCormack J (2024). MLZ Bird Collection (Arctos). Version 33.96. Moore Laboratory of Zoology. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/1w791r accessed via GBIF.org on 2024-12-13.

Description

The Moore Laboratory of Zoology is located at Occidental College. The bird collection houses over 64,000 ornithological specimens. It is the largest Mexican bird collection in the world. The vast majority of the specimens are study skins (60,677), but the MLZ also contains 1,364 skeletons and 536 sets of nests and eggs. Robert T. Moore and his wife Margaret founded the MLZ in 1950, moving Moore’s personal collection from his Pasadena home to the building at Occidental College. Prominent collectors aside from Moore include Chester C. Lamb (who worked as Moore’s primary collector for decades and collected over 40,000 of the MLZ’s specimens), the Olalla Brothers and Sons, Mario del Toro Aviles, C.F. Underwood, J.T. Wright, and W.W. Brown. The collection continues its growth today with the addition of species from the western U.S. and Mexico.

Additional info

http://vertnet.org/resources/norms.html

Taxonomic Coverages

Taxonomic strengths of the MLZ bird collection include Tyrannidae (7,494), Trochilidae (6,969), Passerellidae (5,171), Parulidae (3,923), Icteridae (3,651), Cardinalidae (3,611), Troglodytidae (2,866), Turdidae (2,810), and Thraupidae (2,508). Robert T. Moore described nearly all of the 82 bird holotypes, paratypes, and topotypes currently in the collection.

Aves
rank: class

Geographic Coverages

The MLZ bird collection is global, with the largest holdings from Mexico (50,000 specimens) and Ecuador (6,100 specimens). Other geographic strengths include Honduras (2,200 specimens), Guatemala (1,200 specimens), and Costa Rica (1,200 specimens). Most parts of Mexico are well-represented with the exception of Baja California and the Yucatan Peninsula.

Bibliographic Citations

Contacts

John McCormack
originator
position: Director/Curator
Moore Laboratory of Zoology
1600 Campus Road, Occidental College
Los Angeles
90041
CA
US
Telephone: (323) 259-1352
email: mccormack@oxy.edu
homepage: http://faculty.oxy.edu/mccormack/

John McCormack
metadata author
position: Director/Curator
Moore Laboratory of Zoology
1600 Campus Road, Occidental College
Los Angeles
90041
CA
US
Telephone: (323) 259-1352
email: mccormack@oxy.edu
homepage: http://faculty.oxy.edu/mccormack/

Laura Russell
programmer
position: VertNet Programmer
VertNet
email: larussell@vertnet.org

David Bloom
programmer
position: VertNet Coordinator
email: dbloom@vertnet.org

John Wieczorek
programmer
position: Information Architect
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley
email: tuco@berkeley.edu

Dusty McDonald
point of contact
position: Arctos Database Programmer
University of Alaska Museum
email: dlmcdonald@alaska.edu
homepage: http://arctos.database.museum

James Maley
content provider
position: Collections Manager
Moore Laboratory of Zoology
1600 Campus Road, Occidental College
Los Angeles
90041
CA
US
Telephone: (323) 259-1320
email: jmaley@oxy.edu
homepage: http://www.oxy.edu/moore-lab-zoology

John McCormack
administrative point of contact
position: Director/Curator
Moore Laboratory of Zoology
1600 Campus Road, Occidental College
Los Angeles
90041
CA
US
Telephone: (323) 259-1352
email: mccormack@oxy.edu
homepage: http://faculty.oxy.edu/mccormack/

James Maley
administrative point of contact
position: Collections Manager
Moore Laboratory of Zoology
1600 Campus Road, Occidental College
Los Angeles
90041
CA
US
Telephone: 3232591320
email: jmaley@oxy.edu