Species Identification of Common Native Arctic Mammals in Inuit Fur Clothing Based on Hair Microscopy ...

• Main Author: Schmidt, Anne Lisbeth
• Format: Other Non-Article Part of Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Taylor & Francis 2022
• Subjects: Physiology; FOS Biological sciences; Evolutionary Biology; Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified; Ecology; Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified; Developmental Biology; Marine Biology; Arctic Fox; Arctic; Bering Strait; Greenland; inuit; musk ox; polar bear; Alaska; Lynx
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.21563644.v1; https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Species_Identification_of_Common_Native_Arctic_Mammals_in_Inuit_Fur_Clothing_Based_on_Hair_Microscopy/21563644/1

Correct material identification is considered essential when documenting museum objects. This study examines the morphology of mammal hair and records the geographical use of common species in Inuit fur clothing collected by the National Museum of Denmark (NMD) from c. 1830–1940 in the Bering Strait region, Alaska, Arctic Canada, and Greenland. Through hair microscopy, the purpose is to test whether original identifications are correct to assess the origin of unique Inuit garments. By means of transmitted light microscopy (TLM) of stained, 1 µm thick cross-sectioned hairs and undyed, longitudinally mounted hairs, the research reveals that specific morphological structures are characteristic of the common native reindeer/caribou, musk ox, members of the seal family, domestic dog, wolf, Arctic fox, polar bear, and wolverine. Rarer animals (hare, lynx, otter, etc.) are not part of this study because of limitations in the collection. Hairs from seal species are difficult to distinguish from one another. Hairs ...