The Lost Species: Great Expeditions in the Collections of Natural History Museums

by Christopher Kemp

The tiny, lungless Thorius salamander from southern Mexico, thinner than a match and smaller than a quarter. The lushly white-coated Saki, an arboreal monkey from the Brazilian rainforests. The olinguito, a native of the Andes, which looks part mongoose, part teddy bear. These fantastic species are all new to science—at least newly named and identified; but they weren’t discovered in the wild, instead, they were unearthed in the drawers and cavernous basements of natural history museums. As Christopher Kemp reveals in The Lost Species , hiding in the cabinets and storage units of natural history museums is a treasure trove of discovery waiting to happen.

With Kemp as our guide, we go spelunking into museum basements, dig through specimen trays, and inspect the drawers and jars of collections, scientific detectives on the hunt for new species. We discover king crabs from 1906, unidentified tarantulas, mislabeled Himalayan landsnails, an unknown rove beetle originally collected by Darwin, and an overlooked squeaker frog, among other curiosities. In each case, these specimens sat quietly for decades—sometimes longer than a century—within the collections of museums, before sharp-eyed scientists understood they were new. Each year, scientists continue to encounter new species in museum collections—a stark reminder that we have named only a fraction of the world’s biodiversity. Sadly, some specimens have waited so long to be named that they are gone from the wild before they were identified, victims of climate change and habitat loss. As Kemp shows, these stories showcase the enduring importance of these very collections.

The Lost Species vividly tells these stories of discovery—from the latest information on each creature to the people who collected them and the scientists who finally realized what they had unearthed—and will inspire many a museumgoer to want to peek behind the closed doors and rummage through the archives.
 

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Biology, Nature, Natural History, History, Evolution

272 pages, Paperback

First published December 4, 2017

About the author

Christopher Kemp is a molecular biologist specializing in neurodegenerative diseases at Michigan State University. He lives with his family in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Reviews

[Curtis Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good read that was often hard to put down, but was easy to get through. It is filled with several good stories of discovering species that have been buried in collections for decades and often centuries. The stories were short enough and jumped around taxonomically enough to keep me interested. Overall, a fun read for any museum curator or collections manager.

[Shyamal · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting sampling of zoological "discovery" and naming stories but for the new-comer to the field, I would definitely prefer to suggest Michael Ohl's The Art of Naming. I came to look up the book via the New Scientist article on Walter Rothschild which I found very interestingly written but I thought this book missed an opportunity to examine the story of the power of the collecting world and ancient museums over the biologically rich and lived-in tropics.

[Esther Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book in praise of taxonomy and natural history collections.

[Merahnaga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine a library filled with rare and important books but with no librarians to care for them....


I like so much this Book. Great!

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted just a little bit more from this book. Maybe color photos or illustrations would have pushed it to a 5. I had to look up giant fuzzy rats and sky Islands on the Internet to see what was being described and make the (very good, really) text come alive more. Fascinating topic.

[Jean-marie Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inconceivable how little we humans actually know about our world. Readable, though filled with the scientific names of flora & fauna. Pictures useless in identifying topic of each chapter.

[Alejandro · Rating 2 out of 5]

DISCLAIMER: I did not fully finish it, rather I decided I was not enjoying it anymore and it would be better for me to just move on to other books. This means that this book might not be bad, but it might have just been not the correct book for me to read at this moment in time. I suggest maybe giving it a try and if you like it, then keep on reading it!

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When I first started reading it, I was enjoying "The Lost Species" quite a bit. It was entertaining in the sense that it was discussing a profession and career I am not truly verse in. Museums and taxonomy are truly fascinating, and I decided to pick this up based upon my love of youtube channels such as "The Brain Scoop" and general interest in biology.

However, as I kept on reading I started to see a certain monotony in the way the different species are presented. There was a clear pattern, for example: scientist goes to museum and requests specimens, finds a speciment that is not like the other, investigates the specimen, and then makes a new species. I decided to be quite generic with this description as to avoid spoilers, but I think you might get the point.

Personally, this might not be something inherently bad. If you are truly interested in this area or if you work in museum/love taxonomy, this book might be just for you. For example, it was quite nice at showing me the true expanse of biodiversity found on planet earth, and it made me appreciate the work that is put behind classifying these species by truly amazing and fascinating scientsits. However, for me personally "The Lost Species" did not entice me to read more and finish it. Maybe in the future I might try rereading it again!

[LeeAnn Heringer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure, my grandmother worked for the Natural History Museum of Los Angelos as an expert in sea shells and she did, in fact, take trips around the world to collect more shells for her extensive personal collection. I have this vague sense that my grandparents may have been fascinating people, chiefly driven by odd family photos -- the two of them drunk in a Mexican bar with at least 20 shot glasses and a couple empty bottles of tequila spread out in front of them, my grandfather on his late 1920s motorcycle, my grandfather in the cockpit of his biplane. But, unfortunately, by the time, I was old enough to have adult conversations with them and appreciate that, my grandfather was dead and my grandmother had calcified into old age and dementia. I have vague memories of being taken as a child to the museum and made to sit in a corner for hours while she patiently sorted through tiny sea shells with a microscope (which I was not allowed to touch) and she would disappear for long periods on trips, but she never talked about the trips, never left any notes about her life or her work. Her personal shell collection was handed off to the museum on her death.

Did she discover new species? Did she name them? I will never know. So, this book resonated with me on a very personal level. Two thumbs up.

[Bill Leach · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is examines the role of zoological collections in terms of the study of newly identified organisms. Frequently specimens are collected, only to be classified years later, sometimes providing insights that allow greater understanding of the interaction of the organism with it's ecosystem.

The book starts with the story of an entomologist who requests a set of specimens from the Natural History Museum of London and is surprised to find that one beetle was collected by Darwin during his Beagle voyages, but never classified.

The many chapters are short stories of newly discovered species, including the Olinguito, the Red Seadragon, the Little Black Tapir, and Darwin's Rove Beetle.

The various zoological collections around the world represent a huge inventory of the earth's organisms, but have been only partially examined. "Almost a quarter of new species in collections wait more than fifty years for description."

[Jeannette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why five stars for this little book?
One star is for the subject, creatures that have been mislabeled, hidden, lost in museums.They need attention and the author is attending.
Second star is for the choice of creatures, so varied, so representative.
Third star is for the stories the author tells of the people who found the lost species in museums. Very interesting nuggets.
Forth star is for good writing and research
Fifth star is due to the discovery that I really like this format for writing about science. You dont get a big boring smorgasbord of chapters about senses, behaviors, physiology, research, etc. but small succinct tales, each a scientific snack, delicious morsels.
Obviously I loved this book!

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book. If you've ever wondered what happens behinds the scenes with natural history collections this is the book to read. Naturalists describe what happens on their expeditions collecting specimens in far away countries describing animals one might have never heard before like the olinguito as described in chapter 1. The author goes to describe what happened to collection that famous naturalists like Darwin collected and other collections that were lost at sea on their way being sent back. Reading this book has further awakened my love for natural history.

[Tricia Kyzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book feels like I am wandering the back rooms of a Natural History Museum with a curator or tramping through the jungles searching for a snail species under leaf litter. The author takes the reader on an adventurous journey through time, space, and species. Once he has taken you into the magic and mystery, he completes the journey by revealing why these collections matter. I closed the book and immediately began planning which natural history museum I want to visit next and wondering if it is too late to become a field researcher.

[Eric Munscher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful read that takes you on trips through time with some of the great taxonomists and field biologists of all time. This book truly shows you in detail why collections are so important and just how much more there is to learn. We think we know so much and yet we only know a fraction and what is unknown is so important. As the book closes the author says it matters. Every species matters. I highly recommend this book.

[Amanda Witt · Rating 5 out of 5]

an amazing read of not so well known species of animal, insects and plants, where the dried bodies have laid for years in a jar or drawer until a visiting researcher or student has noticed a small difference between the ones in this book and typical samples.

[The Inquisitive Biologist · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rallying cry for taxonomy, The Lost Species is an addictive read about the many new species discovered in natural history collections. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2018...

[Lara Sprenger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wirklich schönes Buch, leider sehr repetitiv und somit irgendwann doch etwas zäh zu lesen. Würde es aber trotzdem empfehlen zu lesen! Aber vielleicht nicht in einem durch sondern ein Kapitel pro Woche oder so:)

[Lance Grabmiller · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent book on how many species have been discovered in the deep repositories of natural history museums and other collections.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

NF Science
222 pages

Very interesting. A story of our
natural world.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice collection of nonfiction that reads like short stories

[Christopher Kemp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote it!

[Palswd · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of stories about the collectors and the collected.

[Jo-Al Meilleur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting! I read it in a day, I couldn’t put it down.

[Annemieke Windt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started off as research interesting. I hoped for more on The discoverers. It is however more on the collections and after a number of chapters I got a little bored.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! It is so interesting and makes me want to sit by a cabinet full of jars and discover something! If not something new then just explore what has already been found!

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worum geht es?
Im Grunde genommen ist es ein Plädoyer für die Wertschätzung biologischer Sammlungen, denn es wird geschildert, wie in den letzten Jahren immer wieder neue Arten entdeckt und beschrieben werden und das nicht durch Funde in freier Wildbahn, sondern durch das Sortieren, Prüfen und Untersuchen von Sammlungsmaterial. Teilweise von Stücken, die schon mehr als 100 Jahre in Museen lagern.
Diese Punkte an sich sind für jemanden, der etwas in der Materie drin steckt jetzt nicht neu, trotzdem fand ich es interessant über diese bisher unbekannten, oftmals übersehenen Arten zu lesen.
Was mich etwas gestört hat war allerdings, dass in gefühlt jedem Kapitel (über 20) wiederholt wurde, dass in den Sammlungen in der ganzen Welt überall in den Schränken, Gläsern etc. noch unbekannte Arten schlummern. Selbst wenn ich das nicht schon vorher gewusst hätte, hätte ich es spätestens nach der dritten Erwähnung gecheckt. Weniger Wiederholungen und dafür die Vorstellung von ein paar mehr Arten hätten den Unterhaltungswert für mich deutlich gesteigert. Daher vergebe ich 3,5 ⭐. Auch wenn ich die Botschaft "Erhalt und Erforschung biologischer Sammlungen ist wichtig" durchaus unterstreichen kann, man muss es mir nicht mit dem Zaunpfahl einprügeln.

[Cjkemp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote it.

[Cjkemp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote it.

[Cjkemp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote it.