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Dunnigan and Packard
P.B. Dunnigan and G.C. Packard collection at Radford University: why are they here and how did they get here?
by Annamarie Roszko (2008)
Introduction
The natural history collection at Radford University has over 3,500 cataloged specimens, and probably 10,000 left to catalog. Understanding the history of these specimens can help students achieve a great appreciation for them, and perhaps increase their inherent value. These specimens are important because everyone can learn something from them, such as why different species were in a location, how long they were there for, what kinds of environments they need to survive, if we know where they are found them we can make range maps to see where the different species are located. Specimens can also help us see what species used to be there but what may not be there anymore.
I chose to investigate the history and value of 59 specimens from two collectors: Patrick B. Dunnigan (39 specimens) and Gary C. Packard (20 specimens). From these specimens I wanted to answer several questions about them:
1. Why are they here in the Radford University natural history collection?,
2. How did they get here?,
3. Why were they collected?,
4. What can I learn about these specimens?, and
5. Are they currently at risk of extinction?
Collector #1 – Patrick B. Dunnigan
Mr. Dunnigan attended Mt. Saint Mary’s College and the University of Kansas, he also attended Duke University, The University of Virginia and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Departure Point, 2004). He was a Biology professor at Radford University in the mid/late 1960s, leaving approximately 1969. He is part of Departure Point Travel (Oakton, Va.) and repeated contacts have gone unanswered. Published articles focus on small mammals, e.g.:
Dunnigan, P.B. & Jones, J.K. (1965). Molossops greenhalli and Other Bats from Gurrero and Oaxaca, Mexico. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, 68, 461-462.
Dunnigan, P.B. & Fitch, J.H. (1967). Seasonal Movements and Population Fluctuations of the Cave Bat (Myotis velifer) in South-Central Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, 70, 210-218.
Dunnigan's master's thesis (1965) from University of Kansas is entitled "Pocket gophers of the genus Thomomys of the Mexican state of Sinaloa."
Collector #2 – Gary C. Packard
Dr. Packard attended the University of Illinois for his undergraduate work and the University of Kansas for his graduate work. He worked at Clemson University for one year and spent the rest of his career at Colorado State University until he retired in 2005. I communicated with Dr. Packard via e-mail. Dr. Packard has done many studies of turtles, birds, lizards and many small mammals and amphibians, below are a list of just a few of his many works:
Packard, G.C. (1999). Water Relations of Chelonian Eggs and Embryos: Is Wetter Better?. American Zoologist, 39, 289-303.
Packard, G.C. (1997). Temperatures during Winter in Nests with Hatchling Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta). Herpetologica, 53, 89-85.
Packard, G.C. (1971). Inconsistency in Application of the Biological Species Concept to Disjunct Populations of Anurans in Southeastern Wyoming and North-Central Colorado. Journal of Herpetology, 5, 191-193.
Packard, G.C. & Packard, M.J. (1970). Eccritic Temperatures of Zebra-Tailed Lizards on the Mojave Desert. Herpetologica, 26, 168-172.
Packard, G.C. (1967). Seasonal Variation in Bill Length of House Sparrows. The Wilson Bulletin, 79, 345-346.
He was very helpful but was unsure of how his specimens got into our collection here at Radford University. In one of the e-mails that I received he told me that he did not know about one of the specimens attributed to him – a painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) collected (Wise, VA, 1959) - ever being collected.
Specimens in Radford University’s Natural History Collection
There are 58 specimens in this collection attributed to either Dunnigan or Packard. There are 24 species in 14 families, although a few of the species identifications are incomplete to either family or genus.
Locality Information – Contemporary and Historical Findings
There are 27 specimens with no location listed, and 31 with locality information were collected in Virginia, Illinois, Oklahoma, or Kansas. In Virginia there was one specimen (Chrysemys picta) collected in Wise County. In Illinois, 15 of the 58 specimens were collected in the counties of Vermilion and Cook. In Kansas there were 11 specimens collected from Johnson, Douglas, Barber, and Meade counties. There were three specimens (two Reithrodontomys sp., and Peromyscus sp. (possibly leucopus)) collected from Oklahoma in Beaver County. There is also one bat (Natalus stramineus) in the collection from Mexico - Panuco, Sinaloa. There is a possibility that the painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) is from Wisconsin. However, the tag reads Hericon Marsh, which we interpreted as Horicon Marsh in Wisconsin, but the tag also says that the specimen is from Virginia in Wise County.
Two of the specimens were collected in the National Gypsum Mine, and it is still there. All the other locations listed, Paunco Sinaloa Mexico, Salt Fork River (Vermilion, Illinois), and Fairmont Quarry (Vermilion, Illinois) are verified localities there and still much the same as they were when these specimens were collected.
Ecological value of these specimens
According to the IUCN Redlist, none of these species were federally endangered or threatened. However, the grotto salamander, Typhlotriton spelaeus, is endangered in Kansas (Kansas Department of Wildlife, 2004). They are protected by the Kansas Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act. The grotto salamander can be found from Missouri to northern Arkansas, west to northeast Oklahoma and to southeast Kansas, living in streams as larvae and moving to caves as adults. Something that I found interesting about the grotto salamander is that when they are adults they are blind (Brown, 2007; Center for Reptile and Amphibian Conservation and Management). Ashley (2003) states that there have been parasites found on larvae grotto salamanders and that may be decreasing their population. According to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks these critical areas are areas where grotto salamanders live and they are protected: “All caves and associated spring flows within that portion of Cherokee County lying south and east of a line beginning at the Kansas-Missouri border junction with U.S. Highway 66 at Sec. 13, T34S, T25E, then extending westerly and southerly along U.S. 66 to the Kansas- Oklahoma border at Sec. 14, T35S, R24E.
Another interesting specimen we have in this collection is a funnel-eared bat, Natalus stramineus. This specimen is very interesting in our collection because it is not native to the United States. The tag says that this particular bat is from Mexico in Sinoloa, Paunco. Their geographic range is from northern Mexico to east Brazil, they are also found in Jamaica, Lesser Antilles, Cuba and Tres Marias Island (Funnel Eared Bat: Natalidae- Funnel-eared bat (Natalus stramineus): Species Account, 2008). They are not endangered (Mitchell, 1967). They mostly live in caves in deciduous forests but sometimes are found in more moist forested areas. Other then what has already been said we do not know much more about this bat in our collection and the story behind its collection and arrival at Radford University is still unknown.
While going through our collection Dr. Karen Francl came across another species that was collected by P.B. Dunnigan, it is a pig frog (Rana grylio). According to the IUCN Redlist is it of Least Concern but it has a population decline (http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/58611). The pig frog (Rana grylio) can be found from South Carolina to southern Florida and west to Texas. They are native in the United States as well as the Bahamas and Puerto Rico. According to the study done by Lamb (1984) there was no problem with the population and they were breeding successfully.
Dunnigan and Packard’s remaining specimens in the collection are common within their range. They include: Chrysemys picta (painted turtle), Acris crepitans (northern cricket frog), Rana pipiens (northern leopard frog), Pseudacris nigrita (southern chorus frog), Diadophis punctatus (ring-necked snake), Rana catesbeiana (American bullfrog), Eumecus obsoletus (great plains skink), Eptesicus fuscus (big brown bat), Bufo cognatus (great plains toad), Bufo woodhousii (Woodhouse’s toad), Scaphiopus holbrookii (eastern spadefoot), Rana clamitans (green frog), Bufo americanus (American toad), Sceloporus undulatus (eastern fence lizard), Holbrookia maculata (common earless lizard), Crotalus viridis (prairie rattlesnake), and Thamnophis sirtalis (eastern garter snake).
Literature Cited
Webpages:
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. 2004. Grotto Salamander (Typhlotriton spealeus). Accessed on November 20, 2008 at: http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/news/Other-Services/Threatened-and-Endangered-Species/Threatened-and-Endangered-Species/Species-Information/GROTTO-SALAMANDER
Funnel-Eared Bats: Natalidae – Funnel0eared Bat (natalus stramineus): Species Account. 2008. Funnel-Eared Bats: Natalidae – Funnel0eared Bat (natalus stramineus): Species Account. Accessed on November 20, 2008 at: http://animals.jrank.org/pages/2886/Funnel-Eared-Bats-Natalidae-FUNNEL-EARED-BAT-Natalus-stramineus-SPECIES-ACCOUNT.html
The Center for Reptile and Amphibian Cpnservation and Management. Grotto Salamander Typhlotriton spelaeus. Accessed on November 20, 2008 at: http://herpcenter.ipfw.edu/index.htm?
http://herpcenter.ipfw.edu/outreach/accounts/amphibians/salamanders/Grotto_Salamander/&2
The ICUN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Accessed on November 20, 2008 and December 16, 2008 at: http://www.iucnredlist.org/
Articles:
Ashley, C.D. (2003). A Report on a Species of Ectoparasite on the Grotto Salamander (Typhlotriton spelaus) in Tumbling Creek Cave, Taney County, Missouri. Missouri Herpetological Association, 17, 3.
Brown, A.V. & Grarning, G.O. (2007). Ecosystem Dynamics and Population Effects in an Ozark Cave System. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 39, 1497-1507.
Culver, D.C. (1987). Eye Morphometrics of Cave and Spring Populations of Gammarus minus (Amphipods: Gammaridae). Hournal of Crustacean Biology, 7, 136-146.
Dunnigan, P.B. & Fitch, J.H. (1967). Seasonal Movements and Population Fluctuations of the Cave Bat (Myotis velifer) in South-Central Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, 70, 210-218.
Dunnigan, P.B. & Jones, J.K. (1965). Molossops greenhalli and Other Bats from Gurrero and Oaxaca, Mexico. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, 68, 461-462.
Lamb, T. (1984). The Influence of Sex and Breeding Conditions on Microhabitat Selection and Diet in the Pig Frog Rana grylio. American Midland Naturalist, 111, 311-318.
Mitchell, G.C. (1967). Population Study of the Funnel-Eared Bat (Natalus stramineus) in Sonora. Te Southwestern Naturalist, 12, 172-175.
Packard, G.C. (1999). Water Relations of Chelonian Eggs and Embryos: Is Wetter Better?. American Zoologist, 39, 289-303.
Packard, G.C. (1997). Temperatures during Winter in Nests with Hatchling Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta). Herpetologica, 53, 89-85.
Packard, G.C. (1971). Inconsistency in Application of the Biological Species Concept to Disjunct Populations of Anurans in Southeastern Wyoming and North-Central Colorado. Journal of Herpetology, 5, 191-193.
Packard, G.C. & Packard, M.J. (1970). Eccritic Temperatures of Zebra-Tailed Lizards on the Mojave Desert. Herpetologica, 26, 168-172.
Packard, G.C. (1967). Seasonal Variation in Bill Length of House Sparrows. The Wilson Bulletin, 79, 345-346.