Lost in translation or deliberate falsification? Genetic analyses reveal erroneous museum data for historic penguin specimens
Historic museum specimens are increasingly used to answer a wide variety of questions in scientific research. Nevertheless, the scientific value of these specimens depends on the authenticity of the data associated with them. Here we use individual-based genetic analyses to demonstrate erroneous loc...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.1837 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2009.1837 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2009.1837 |
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2009.1837 2024-09-30T14:23:35+00:00 Lost in translation or deliberate falsification? Genetic analyses reveal erroneous museum data for historic penguin specimens Boessenkool, Sanne Star, Bastiaan Scofield, R. Paul Seddon, Philip J. Waters, Jonathan M. 2009 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.1837 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2009.1837 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2009.1837 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 277, issue 1684, page 1057-1064 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2009 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.1837 2024-09-02T04:21:07Z Historic museum specimens are increasingly used to answer a wide variety of questions in scientific research. Nevertheless, the scientific value of these specimens depends on the authenticity of the data associated with them. Here we use individual-based genetic analyses to demonstrate erroneous locality information for archive specimens from the late nineteenth century. Specifically, using 10 microsatellite markers, we analysed 350 contemporary and 43 historic yellow-eyed penguin ( Megadyptes antipodes ) specimens from New Zealand's South Island and sub-Antarctic regions. Factorial correspondence analysis and an assignment test strongly suggest that eight of the historic specimens purportedly of sub-Antarctic origin were in fact collected from the South Island. Interestingly, all eight specimens were obtained by the same collector, and all are currently held in the same museum collection. Further inspection of the specimen labels and evaluation of sub-Antarctic voyages did not reveal whether the erroneous data are caused by incorrect labelling or whether deliberate falsification was at play. This study highlights a promising extension to the well-known applications of assignment tests in molecular ecology, which can complement methods that are currently being applied for error detection in specimen data. Our results also serve as a warning to all who use archive specimens to invest time in the verification of collection information. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic The Royal Society Antarctic Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 277 1684 1057 1064 |
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English |
description |
Historic museum specimens are increasingly used to answer a wide variety of questions in scientific research. Nevertheless, the scientific value of these specimens depends on the authenticity of the data associated with them. Here we use individual-based genetic analyses to demonstrate erroneous locality information for archive specimens from the late nineteenth century. Specifically, using 10 microsatellite markers, we analysed 350 contemporary and 43 historic yellow-eyed penguin ( Megadyptes antipodes ) specimens from New Zealand's South Island and sub-Antarctic regions. Factorial correspondence analysis and an assignment test strongly suggest that eight of the historic specimens purportedly of sub-Antarctic origin were in fact collected from the South Island. Interestingly, all eight specimens were obtained by the same collector, and all are currently held in the same museum collection. Further inspection of the specimen labels and evaluation of sub-Antarctic voyages did not reveal whether the erroneous data are caused by incorrect labelling or whether deliberate falsification was at play. This study highlights a promising extension to the well-known applications of assignment tests in molecular ecology, which can complement methods that are currently being applied for error detection in specimen data. Our results also serve as a warning to all who use archive specimens to invest time in the verification of collection information. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Boessenkool, Sanne Star, Bastiaan Scofield, R. Paul Seddon, Philip J. Waters, Jonathan M. |
spellingShingle |
Boessenkool, Sanne Star, Bastiaan Scofield, R. Paul Seddon, Philip J. Waters, Jonathan M. Lost in translation or deliberate falsification? Genetic analyses reveal erroneous museum data for historic penguin specimens |
author_facet |
Boessenkool, Sanne Star, Bastiaan Scofield, R. Paul Seddon, Philip J. Waters, Jonathan M. |
author_sort |
Boessenkool, Sanne |
title |
Lost in translation or deliberate falsification? Genetic analyses reveal erroneous museum data for historic penguin specimens |
title_short |
Lost in translation or deliberate falsification? Genetic analyses reveal erroneous museum data for historic penguin specimens |
title_full |
Lost in translation or deliberate falsification? Genetic analyses reveal erroneous museum data for historic penguin specimens |
title_fullStr |
Lost in translation or deliberate falsification? Genetic analyses reveal erroneous museum data for historic penguin specimens |
title_full_unstemmed |
Lost in translation or deliberate falsification? Genetic analyses reveal erroneous museum data for historic penguin specimens |
title_sort |
lost in translation or deliberate falsification? genetic analyses reveal erroneous museum data for historic penguin specimens |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.1837 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2009.1837 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2009.1837 |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 277, issue 1684, page 1057-1064 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.1837 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
277 |
container_issue |
1684 |
container_start_page |
1057 |
op_container_end_page |
1064 |
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1811637975246700544 |