Early Faunal Surveys by the MVZ
Since the Museum’s founding in 1908, we have had a rich history of field surveys to document the distribution and diversity of terrestrial vertebrates in western North America. These early expeditions included transects across the major ecological life zones of California and led to significant publications such as Animal Life in the Yosemite (Grinnell and Storer 1924) and Vertebrate Natural History of a Section of Northern California through the Lassen Peak Region (Grinnell, Dixon and Linsdale 1931).
The collections of specimens, field notes, photographs, maps, paintings, and publications that resulted from the early MVZ surveys form the foundation for modern studies focused on recording changes in habitats and associated vertebrate fauna over space and time. For example, the Grinnell Resurvey Project, which aims to revisit over 200 of the 700 sites visited by early MVZ field workers, could not be done without the extensive material left as a legacy for future study.
Major monographs and books from the early 20th Century MVZ field surveys, including photographs, maps, and paintings by Allan Brooks, Louis Agassiz Fuertes, and others.
Author(s) | Year | Title | Publisher |
Grinnell | 1908 | The biota of the San Bernadino Mountains | University of California Publications in Zoology |
Grinnell | 1913 | Distributional list of the mammals of California | University of California Publications in Zoology |
Taylor | 1914 | Field notes of amphibians, reptiles, and birds of northern Humboldt Co., Nevada | University of California Publications in Zoology |
Grinnell | 1914 | An account of the mammals and birds of the Lower Colorado Valley | University of California Publications in Zoology |
Grinnell | 1915 | A distributional list of the birds of California |
Cooper Ornithological Club |
Grinnell, Bryant, & Storer | 1918 | The game birds of California | University of California Press |
Grinnell | 1918 | Natural history of the ground squirrels of California | The Monthly Bulletin, California State Commission of Horticulture |
Grinnell & Storer | 1924 | Animal life in the Yosemite (available online and at the Internet Archive) | University of California Press |
Grinnell & Wythe | 1927 | Directory to the bird-life of the San Francisco Bay Region | Cooper Ornithological Club |
Grinnell | 1928 | A distributional summation of the ornithology of Lower California | University of California Publications in Zoology |
Grinnell, Dixon, & Linsdale | 1930 | Vertebrate natural history of a section of northern California through the Lassen Peak Region | University of California Press |
Grinnell | 1932 | Life zones of Yosemite | Contributions from the MVZ |
Grinnell | 1932 | Mammals of Yosemite | Contributions from the MVZ |
Grinnell | 1932 | Birds of the Berkeley campus | Contributions from the MVZ |
Grinnell & Linsdale | 1936 | Vertebrate animals of Point Lobos Reserve, 1934-35 | Carnegie Institute of Washington |
Grinnell, Dixon, & Linsdale | 1937 | Fur-bearing mammals of California | University of California Press |
Linsdale | 1938 | Environmental responses of vertebrates in the Great Basin | American Midland Naturalist |
Grinnell & Miller | 1944 | The distribution of the birds of California | Cooper Ornithological Club |
Hall | 1946 | Mammals of Nevada | University of California Press |
Johnson, Bryant, & Miller | 1948 | Vertebrate animals of the Providence Mountains area of California | University of California Publications in Zoology |
Leopold | 1959 | Wildlife of Mexico | University of California Press |
Miller & Stebbins | 1964 | The lives of desert animals in Joshua Tree National Monument | University of California Press |