Specimen collection is essential for modern science

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002318
• Publication Date: 2023-11-22T18:23:28Z
• Authors: Michael W. Nachman; Elizabeth J. Beckman; Rauri CK Bowie; Carla Cicero; Chris J. Conroy; Robert Dudley; Tyrone B. Hayes; Michelle S. Koo; Eileen A. Lacey; Christopher H. Ma...; Jimmy A. McGuire; James L. Patton; Carol L. Spencer; Rebecca D. Tarvin; Marvalee H. Wake; Ian J. Wang; Anang Achmadi; Sergio Ticul Álva...; Michael J. Andersen; Jairo Arroyave; Christopher C. Au...; F Keith Barker; Lisa N. Barrow; George F. Barrowc...; John Bates; Aaron M. Bauer; Kayce C. Bell; Rayna C. Bell; Allison W. Bronson; Rafe M. Brown; Frank T. Burbrink; Kevin J. Burns; Carlos Daniel Cadena; David C. Cannatella; Todd A. Castoe; Prosanta Chakrabarty; Jocelyn P. Colella; Joseph A. Cook; Joel L. Cracraft; Drew R. Davis; Alison R. Davis R...; Guillermo D’Elía; John P. Dumbacher; Jonathan L. Dunnum; Scott V. Edwards; Jacob A. Esselstyn; Julián Faivovich; Jon Fjeldså; Oscar A. Flores-V...; Kassandra Ford; Jérôme Fuchs; Matthew K. Fujita; Jeffrey M. Good; Eli Greenbaum; Harry W. Greene; Shannon Hackett; Amir Hamidy; James Hanken; Tri Haryoko; Melissa TR Hawkins; Lawrence R. Heaney; David M. Hillis; Bradford D. Holli...; Angela D. Hornsby; Peter A. Hosner; Mohammad Irham; Sharon Jansa; Rosa Alicia Jiménez; Leo Joseph; Jeremy J. Kirchman; Travis J. LaDuc; Adam D. Leaché; Enrique P. Lessa; Hernán López-Fern...; Nicholas A. Mason; John E. McCormack; Caleb D. McMahan; Robert G. Moyle; Ricardo A. Ojeda; Link E. Olson; Chan Kin Onn; Lynne R. Parenti; Gabriela Parra-Olea; Bruce D. Patterson; Gregory B. Pauly; Silvia E. Pavan; A Townsend Peterson; Steven Poe; Daniel L. Rabosky; Christopher J. Ra...; Sushma Reddy; Alejandro Rico-Gu...; Awal Riyanto; Luiz A. Rocha; Santiago R. Ron; Sean M. Rovito; Kevin C. Rowe; Jodi Rowley; Sara Ruane; David Salazar-Val...; Allison J. Shultz; Brian Sidlauskas; Derek S. Sikes; Nancy B. Simmons; Melanie L. J. Sti...; Jeffrey W. Streicher; Bryan L. Stuart; Adam P. Summers; Jose Tavera; Pablo Teta; Cody W. Thompson; Robert M. Timm; Omar Torres-Carvajal; Gary Voelker; Robert S. Voss; Kevin Winker; Christopher Witt; Elizabeth A. Wommack; Robert M. Zink
• Keywords: Citizen Science

Natural history museums are vital repositories of specimens, samples and data that inform about the natural world; this Formal Comment revisits a Perspective advocated for adoption compassionate collection practices, querying whether it will ever be possible to completely do away with whole animal specimen collection.