Bird eggs from the National Museum and Art Gallery of Trinidad and Tobago (NMAGTT)

Ariel Dalrymple1, Alex Sansom2, Mike Rutherford3, Jennalee Ramnarine4, Amy Deacon1, Lorraine Johnson5

1 The University of the West Indies, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, St. Augustine, Trinidad And Tobago; 2 Birds Caribbean, ; 3 The University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Scotland, Glasgow, United Kingdom; 4 The University of the West Indies Zoology Museum, St. Augustine, Trinidad And Tobago; 5 National Museum and Art Gallery of Trinidad and Tobago, Frederick Street, Port of Spain, Trinidad, Port of Spain, Trinidad And Tobago

Corresponding author(s): Ariel Dalrymple (ariel_dalrymple@yahoo.com)Alex Sansom (redshank.girl@googlemail.com)Mike Rutherford (mike.rutherford@glasgow.ac.uk)Jennalee Ramnarine (jennalee.ramnarine@sta.uwi.edu), Amy Deacon (amy.deacon@sta.uwi.edu)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

Dalrymple A, Sansom A, Rutherford M, Ramnarine J, Deacon A (2023). Bird eggs from the National Museum and Art Gallery of Trinidad and Tobago (NMAGTT). Version 1.1. Test Organization #1. Occurrence dataset. https://ipt.gbif.org/resource?r=nmagtteggs&v=1.1

Abstract

This dataset contains bird eggs from the National Museum and Art Gallery of Trinidad and Tobago. The collection is composed of 823 clutches of eggs identified to the level of either species or subspecies. In 2014, the National Museum and Art Gallery of Trinidad & Tobago transferred their off-display natural history specimens to the UWIZM. As a result, these specimens are all stored in the Zoology Room of the UWIZM. The contents of each egg have been removed via a small hole, leaving the preserved and (in most cases) complete eggshell. Little is known about the origins of this collection, but it seems possible that many of the eggs were collected by Sir Charles Belcher & G. D. Smooker and connected to their 1936 publication "Birds of the Colony of Trinidad and Tobago".

Keywords: Occurrence, Specimen, Oology, Neotropics, null

Project details

Project title: Improving national biodiversity data accessibility in Trinidad and Tobago
Personnel: Amy Deacon, Ariel Dalrymple, Jennalee Ramnarine
Funding: Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) is a multi-year programme funded by the European Union and led by GBIF with the aim of enhancing capacity for effective mobilization and use of biodiversity data in research and policy in the ‘ACP’ nations of sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. More information:  https://www.gbif.org/programme/82243/bid-biodiversity-information-for-development 

Data published through GBIF: https://ipt.gbif.org/resource?r=nmagtteggs

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: This dataset consists of 102 species from 37 families belonging to the Phylum Chordata, Class Aves. Eggs were identified to species and subspecies level.
Taxonomic ranks
Family: Alcedinidae, Anatidae, Anhingidae, Apodidae, Aramidae, Caprimulgidae, Cardinalidae, Cathartidae, Ciconiidae, Coerebidae, Columbidae, Cotingidae, Cuculidae, Fregatidae, Fringillidae, Furnariidae, Galbulidae, Hirundinidae, Icteridae, Jacanidae, Momotidae, Pandionidae, Parulidae, Pelecanidae, Picidae, Pipridae, Podicipedidae, Psittacidae, Rallidae, Steatornithidae, Strigidae, Thamnophilidae, Thraupidae, Tinamidae, Tyrannidae, Tytonidae, Accipitridae

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: Specimens are mostly from unknown locations. It is likely many are from Trinidad and Tobago, but only a few are confirmed.
Coordinates: 10°43'0''N and 10°43'0''N Latitude; 61°34'60''W and 61°34'60''W Longitude 

Temporal coverage: August 1, 1921 - November 1, 1933

Natural collections description

Collection name: Bird eggs from the National Museum and Art Gallery of Trinidad and Tobago
Specimen preservation method: Other

Methods

Method step description: 1. Specimens in the collection were assessed for existing data (labels, notes on the shell, details in registers, etc)
2. Identifications were confirmed or made using a variety of literature sources (scientific papers, books, online resources) 
3. Specimens were photographed and properly stored, then the data was uploaded to the UWIZM Past Perfect database.
Study extent description: Trinidad and Tobago
Sampling description: Specimens were collected by hand, and were brought to the National Museum and Art Gallery of Trinidad and Tobago.
Quality control description: Specimen identifications were checked by UWIZM.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive Bird eggs from the National Museum and Art Gallery of Trinidad and Tobago (NMAGTT)
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: https://ipt.gbif.org/archive.do?r=nmagtteggs
Publication date of data: 2023-04-19
Language: English
Licences of use: Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2023-03-15
Hierarchy level: Dataset

References
Catalogue of Life. Accessed 7th June 2022. https://www.catalogueoflife.org/
Belcher, S. C., & Smooker, G. D. (1936). I.—Birds of the Colony of Trinidad and Tobago. Ibis, 78(1), 1-35. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1474-919X.1936.tb03645.x