Ink and labels

Labelling specimens may seem pointless when you have a couple of skulls on a shelf, but it becomes absolutely essential when you start to have specimens all over the place. And while you might think that the choice of the pen you use to write down each specimen ID doesn't matter, it actually does. I recently realised that the ink on the labels on some of my specimens was starting to fade, probably due to light exposure. Turns out commercial pen should be avoided, and that "archival pens" (using pigment based ink instead of dye based ink) are much more suited for that purpose. So you might want to consider this when labelling your specimens, especially since light exposure is not the only thing that might threaten your precious identification system!

Label of a kitefin shark (Dalatias licha) jaw where the ink has faded due to light exposure.

This and other similar issues are covered in a very interesting poster by Amy Davidson, Samantha Alderson & Marilyn fox that can be found here.

Rattlesnake

I'm currently working on a large (c. 1.3 m) timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) for a veterinarian. The specimen was in great shape, and I didn't notice anything special when I dissected and skinned it prior to cleaning. However, once cleaned I was very surprised by the bony growth present on numerous vertebrae, sometimes completely locking them together. I still have to do some research, but from what I read and discussed with a couple of people, they might be some kind of cancerous lesions. The skull also exhibits minor deformations.

Multiple views of various vertebral segments. Only the most serious deformities are pictured here. Scale bar=1 cm.

Several views of the articulated vertebral column.

The right dentary also exhibits slight deformation.