Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Herbert D. Athearn (1923-2011) was an avid student of freshwater mollusks. He named his private shell collection “The Museum of Fluviatile Mollusks,” which was meticulously organized at his residence. This collection was curated at current museum standards with detailed labels, all lots with catalog numbers, and all unionoid valves with catalog numbers in india ink. Specimens span collecting dates between 1850 and 2005, with 23,344 cataloged lots containing over 3,000 lots of imperiled and extinct taxa. Many lots contain growth series from the smallest juveniles to the largest specimens seen. He traded extensively with collectors worldwide, obtaining specimens from 84 countries. This collection was donated to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in 2007. Approximately 60 percent of this collection has been databased, totaling an estimated 585,000 specimens. The collection consists of freshwater bivalves, primarily Unionidae, Margaritiferidae, Sphaeriidae, and gastropods, represented by 40 families, with the greatest abundance representing the freshwater Pleuroceridae. The Athearn collection donation included his correspondence, his library, field notes, and USGS topographic maps with marked field localities.
Source: Diversity
DOI: 10.3390/d17040284
Authors: Arthur E. Bogan, Jamie M. Smith, Cynthia M. Bogan
Institution: North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,534
OpenAlex ID: W4409564013