Stephens Island Wren - Specimens

Specimens

15 specimens (excluding prehistoric bones) are now known. Additionally, there are some uncertainties suggesting that some additional ones might have existed.

  • Rothschild's specimens, all of which were collected between July and October 1894:
    • Natural History Museum, London: three (NHM 1895.10.17.13; 1939.12.9.76; 1939.12.9.77).
    • American Museum of Natural History, New York City: four (AMNH AM 554502; AM 554503; AM 554504; AM 554505).
    • Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia: one (ANSP 108,631).
    • Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Massachusetts: one (MCZ 249,400).
  • Buller's specimens, collected at unknown dates between 1894 and 1899:
    • Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh: one (CMNH 24639), labelled as female and dated 1894 in Buller's handwriting. Apart from the date discrepancy, it could be the bird Buller spoke of in August 1895; possibly the specimen was collected months before Buller had examined it. Alternatively, it could be the Bethune bird in case Buller kept it (he initially seems to believe it to be a female), as Rothschild (1907) believed. DNA analysis could at least clarify the bird's sex.
    • Canterbury Museum, Christchurch: AV917 and AV918, a pair from the collection of Buller's son, dated 1899. They were acquired between late 1896 and 1899, but may have been collected before that date.
  • World Museum Liverpool: one (B 18.10.98.10). Purchased by Buller from Travers for Tristram, probably after late 1896 (but may have been collected earlier). Sold to the museum in October 1898.
  • Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington: one (OR.005098) mounted specimen without data; may be Travers' specimen sold in 1901 or another one. This photograph by Dr Paddy Ryan shows the Te Papa specimen and another one - possibly the Otago Museum bird, but the matter is not clear.
  • Otago Museum, Dunedin: one, but two catalog numbers (AV739 and AV7577) exist. It is not clear whether they represent re-cataloguing of the one specimen sold by Travers in 1905, or whether a specimen was lost.
  • Unaccounted for (all collected in 1894 or very early in 1895):
    • Bethune's specimen: lent to Buller for the description, apparently later given back. If so, it was probably deposited at the Colonial Museum (now part of Te Papa) for safekeeping between 1895 and 1897, or
    • Buller's female mentioned in August 1895, or even both (if neither is CMNH 24639).
    • two of Lyall's first three specimens (one was given to Bethune) remain unaccounted for. They may be part of Rothschild's nine, or Buller's three. They were not in Buller's possession as of early February 1895.
    • Travers' "lost" specimen referred to in January 1895. It is not certain that this specimen was indeed lost; it may have been one of the alcohol specimens mentioned in November 1895, and Travers may simply have withheld it so he could fetch a higher price as the bird became extinct.

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