Doing Natural History

MVZ History

For a general introduction to the MVZ:

• Stein, Barbara R. 2001. On her own terms: Annie Montague Alexander and the rise of science in the American West. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Gerson, Elihu M. 1998. “The American system of research: Evolutionary biology, 1890-1950.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago.
• Griesemer, James R. 1990. “Modeling in the museum: On the role of remnant models in the work of Joseph Grinnell.” Biology and Philosophy 5: 3-36.
• Griesemer, James R., and Elihu M. Gerson. 1993. “Collaboration in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology.” Journal of the History of Biology 26: 185-204.
• Shavit, Ayelet and James Griesemer. 2009. “There and Back Again, or the Problem of Locality in Biodiversity Surveys,” Philosophy of Science 76: 273–294.
• Star, Susan Leigh and James R. Griesemer. 1989. “Institutional ecology, ‘translations’ and boundary objects: Amateurs and professionals in Berkeley’s MVZ, 1907–1939.” Social Studies of Science 19: 387–420.
• Sunderland, Mary. “Teaching Natural History at the MVZ,” The British Journal for the History of Science, in press.

Mammals

Mammals - Field Work

• Images
  • San Jacinto Map: Mammal-fieldwork1-map.jpg, cropped from img_10048.tif, MVZ image collection, MVZ, Berkeley.
  • Collectors: Mammal-field2-workers.jpg, img_45.tif, MVZ image collection, MVZ, Berkeley.
  • Tents: Mammal-field3-tents.jpg, img_53.tif, MVZ image collection, MVZ, Berkeley.
  • Workers writing in the Field: Mammal-field4-writing.jpg, img_6343.tif, MVZ image collection, MVZ, Berkeley.
  Research Question and Location
  • Joseph Grinnell to Annie Alexander, 18 February 1908, MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Alexander correspondence, folder Alexander 1908.
  • Joseph Grinnell to Annie Alexander, 5 May 1908,MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Alexander correspondence, folder Alexander 1908.
  • Chris Conroy, e-mail correspondence with Karen Klitz, 29 November and 3 December 2010.
  Collectors
  • Joseph Grinnell to Annie Alexander, 4 April 1908, MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Alexander correspondence, folder Alexander 1908.
  • Joseph Grinnell to Annie Alexander, 16 April 1908, MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Alexander correspondence, folder Alexander 1908.
  • Major Expeditions to 2000.xls, created by Karen Klitz from MVZ field notes.
  • Arctos specimen database, http://arctos.database.museum/SpecimenSearch.cfm
  Equipment
  • "Expedition Outfit List," April 15, 1934, Misc. Archives, MVZ, Berkeley, folder Museum Methods.
  • Walter P. Taylor to Joseph Grinnell, 18 April 1908, MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Taylor correspondence, folder Taylor 1908-1910.
  Field Notes
  • Joseph Grinnell to Annie Alexander, 18 February 1908, MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Alexander correspondence, folder Alexander 1908.

Mammals - Museum Work

• Path based on information from Monica Albe, James Patton and Chris Conroy.
• All photographs taken by Karen Klitz.

Mammals - Research

• Patton, James L. and Margaret F. Smith. 1990. “The Evolutionary Dynamics of the Pocket Gopher Thomomys bottae, with Emphasis on California Populations.” University of California Publications in Zoology 123: vii–161.
• Patton, James. 1967. “Chromosome Studies of Certain Pocket Mice, Genus Perognathus (Rodentia: Heteromyidae).” Journal of Mammalogy 48: 27–37.
• Patton, James and Margaret F. Smith. 1981. Molecular Evolution in Thomomys: phyletc systematics, paraphyly, and rates of evolution. Journal of Mammalogy 62: 493–500.
• Patton, James and Phillip V. Brylski. 1987. Pocket Gophers in Alfalfa Fields: Causes and Consequences of Habitat-Related Body Size Variation. The American Naturalist 130: 493–506.
• Patton, James and Margaret F. Smith. 1994. Paraphyly, Polyphyly, and the Nature of Species Boundaries in Pocket Gophers (Genus Thomomys). Systematic Biology 43: 11–26.

Birds

Birds - Field Work

• Images
  • Alden Miller in the field: img_8556, MVZ image collection, MVZ, Berkeley.
  • Columbia Field Station: Bird-field2-station.jpg, img_12614, MVZ image collection, MVZ, Berkeley
  • Miller's Map of Territories: Bird-field4-territories.jpg, Miller field notes, Miller, A.H. 1958-1959, MVZ field notebooks collection, MVZ, Berkeley
• Research Questions and Location
  • Starker Leopold to Alden Miller, 10 June 1958, MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Miller correspondence, folder Miller 1956-1966.
  • Alden H. Miller, “Field Notes Volume I: South America I, Section 2, Jan 1958-Feb 1959,” 15 April 1958, on 52.
  • Alden H. Miller, “Report on the Semi-Sabbatical Leave of Alden H. Miller for Spring Term, 1965,” MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Miller correspondence, folder Miller 1956-1966.
  • Alden H. Miller to A. Starker Leopold, 24 November 1958, MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Miller correspondence, folder Miller 1956-1966.
  • Alden H. Miller, “Field Notes Volume I: South America I, Section 2, Jan 1958-Feb 1959,” 14 November 1958, on 163.
• Equipment
  • Alden H. Miller to Edith Amsbaugh, 23 May 1958, MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Miller correspondence, folder Miller 1956-1966.
  • Starker Leopold to Alden Miller, 29 September 1958, MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Miller correspondence, folder Miller 1956-1966.
  • Frank Pitelka to Alden Miller, 30 October 1958, MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Miller correspondence, folder Miller 1956-1966.
• Collectors
  • Ruben A. Stirton to Ernst Mayr, 19 January 1966, MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Miller correspondence, folder A.H. Miller 1965-1966 Obituary.
  • Alden H. Miller to A. Starker Leopold, 24 November 1958, MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Miller correspondence, folder Miller 1956-1966.
  • Alden H. Miller “Report on the Semi-Sabbatical Leave of Alden H. Miller for Spring Term, 1965,” MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Miller correspondence, folder Miller 1956-1966.
  • Alden H. Miller to Edith Amsbaugh, 20 March1958, MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Miller correspondence, folder Miller 1956-1966.
  • Alden H. Miller to Frank Pitelka, 5 December 1958, MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Miller correspondence, folder Miller 1956-1966.
• Field Notes
  • Alden H. Miller, “Miller A.H. 1958-1959, South America 2, Section 2,” 13 February 1958, MVZ field notebooks collection, MVZ, Berkeley.

Birds - Museum Work

• Path based on information from Monica Albe and Carla Cicero.
• All photographs taken by Karen Klitz.

Birds - Research

• Images
  • Columbia Map: Bird-research1-mapnew.jpg created by Karen Klitz on 29 November 2010 from online map.
  • Territory Map: Bird-research2-territories.jpg is Figure 13 from Miller 1968 The Behavioral Ecology and Breeding Biology of the Andean Sparrow, Zonotrichia capensis. Ecologia Vol X No.47.
  • Captive Sparrows: Bird-research3-captives.jpg is Plate 2b from Miller 1968 The Behavioral Ecology and Breeding Biology of the Andean Sparrow, Zonotrichia capensis. Ecologia Vol X No.47.
  • Nesting Observations: Bird-research4-nestings.jpg is from Figure 1 from Miller 1962 Bimodal Occurrence of Breeding in an Equatorial Sparrow. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Vol.48, No.3.
• Biogeography
  • Ruben Stirton to Ernst Mayr, 19 January 1966, MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Miller Obituary Files.
  • Miller, Alden H. 1959. “Reproductive Cycles in an Equatorial Sparrow.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 45: 1095–1100, on 1097.
  • Alden H. Miller. 1961. "Molt Cycles in Equatorial Andean Sparrows." The Condor 63: 143-61, on 156.
• Field Observations
  • Alden H. Miller, "Field Notes, Volume II, South America II (en route, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia). Section 5, Zonotrichia capensis. 1958-1959," MVZ field notebooks collection, MVZ, Berkeley, 1-215.
  • Alden H. Miller. 1962. "Bimodal Occurrence of Breeding in an Equatorial Sparrow." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 48: 396-400, on 397-400.
  • Alden H. Miller. 1961. "Molt Cycles in Equatorial Andean Sparrows." The Condor 63: 143-61, on 143.
• Captive Observations
  • Alden H. Miller. 1965. "Capacity for Photoperiodic Response and Endogenous Factors in the Reproductive Cycles of an Equatorial Sparrow." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 54: 97-101, on 97-98.
  • Alden H. Miller. 1959. "Reproductive Cycles in an Equatorial Sparrow." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 45: 1095-1100, on 1096-97.
  • Alden H. Miller. 1962. "Bimodal Occurrence of Breeding in an Equatorial Sparrow." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 48: 396-400, on 400.
  • Alden H. Miller. 1961. "Molt Cycles in Equatorial Andean Sparrows." The Condor 63: 143-61, on 151.
• Physiology
  • Alden H. Miller, "Field Notes, Volume II, South America II (en route, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia). Section 5, Zonotrichia capensis. 1958-1959," MVZ field notebooks collection, MVZ, Berkeley, 1-215.
  • Alden H. Miller, 1959. "Reproductive Cycles in an Equatorial Sparrow." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 45: 1095-1100, on 1097.
  • Charles G. Sibley to Ernst Mayr, 22 January 1966, MVZ correspondence files, MVZ, Berkeley, Miller Obituary Files.
  • Alden H. Miller. 1962. "Bimodal Occurrence of Breeding in an Equatorial Sparrow." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 48: 396-400, on 399.

Reptiles and Amphibians

Reptiles and Amphibians - Field Work

• Images
  • Map: Herp-field1a-map.jpg, digital photo taken by Karen Klitz of map in collection of David B. Wake, MVZ, Berkeley.
  • Lynch in the Field: Herp-field2a-Lynch.jpg, from collection of David B. Wake, MVZ, Berkeley.
  • Wake in the Field: Herp-field3a-machete.jpg, from collection of David B. Wake, MVZ, Berkeley.
  • Field Notes: Herp-field4a-LynchFNsalam.jpg, from the collection of David B. Wake, MVZ, Berkeley.
• Research Question and Location
  • Paul Elias, "Paul Elias Field Notes 1974," 23-24 August 1974, MVZ field note collection, MVZ, Berkeley, Section 1, page 1.
  • Paul Elias, "Paul Elias Field Notes 1975-1977," 2 August 1977, MVZ field note collection, MVZ, Berkeley, Section 4, page 78.
  • James F. Lynch, "Field Notes, Lynch J.F." 12 June 1970, MVZ field note collection, MVZ, Berkeley.
  • James F. Lynch, "Field Notes, Lynch J.F." 10 June 1970, MVZ field note collection, MVZ, Berkeley.
• Collectors
  • James Lynch. 1974. Ontogenetic and geographic variation in the morphology and ecology of the black salamander (Aneides flavipunctatus), page vii
• Equipment
  • Paul Elias, "Paul Elias Field Notes 1974," 22-23 August 1974, MVZ field note collection, MVZ, Berkeley, Section 1, page 2.
  • James F. Lynch, "Field Notes, Lynch J.F.," 9 June 1970, MVZ field note collection, MVZ, Berkeley.
  • James F. Lynch, "Field Notes, Lynch J.F.," 8 July 1970, MVZ field note collection, MVZ, Berkeley.
  • James F. Lynch, "Field Notes, Lynch J.F.," 3 July 1970, MVZ field note collection, MVZ, Berkeley.
  • Lynch, Yang, Papenfuss, Studies of Neotropical Salamanders of the Genus Pseudoeurycea I: Systematic Status of Pseudoeurycea unguidentis, 1977.
• Field Notes
  • James F. Lynch, "Field Notes, Lynch J.F.," 6 July 1970, MVZ field note collection, MVZ, Berkeley.
  • James F. Lynch, "Field Notes, Lynch J.F.," 11 June 1970, MVZ field note collection, MVZ, Berkeley.
  • Paul Elias, "Paul Elias Field Notes 1975-1977," MVZ field note collection, MVZ, Berkeley, on 75.

Reptiles and Amphibians - Museum Work

• Path based on information from Michelle Koo, Monica Albe and Carol Spencer.
• All photographs taken by Karen Klitz.

Reptiles and Amphibians - Research

• James Lynch. 1974. "Ontogenetic and Geographic Variation in the Morphology and Ecology of the Black Salamander (Aneides flavipunctatus)." PhD dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, on 162.
• James Lynch, Suh Yung Yang and Theodore J. Papenfuss. 1977. "Studies of Neotropical Salamanders of the Genus Pseudoeurycea, I: Systematic Status of Pseudoeurycea unguidentis." Herpetologica 33: 46-52.