Mammalogy is the study of non-human mammals, which are some of the animals (dogs, cats, squirrels) that are most familiar to us.  Mammals are animals that have backbones and hair, and female mammals feed milk to their young. Mammals are typically preserved as skins plus skeletons.  They are also sometimes preserved in fluids such as alcohol.  The skeletons are particularly important for scientific research, because they are the most important evidence for determining relationships among living species and their fossil relatives.

VMNH houses the largest collection (about 17,000 specimens) of mammals from Virginia.  Another 2000 specimens are from other parts of North America.  This collection includes substantial holdings (more than 1500 individuals) from the Virginia barrier islands.  Additionally, VMNH has large numbers of eastern gray squirrels and eastern fox squirrels from throughout their natural ranges in the eastern United States, making this one of the largest collections of tree squirrels in North America. 

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	•	DR. NANCY MONCRIEF: Curator of Mammalogy			•	MAMMALOGY NEWS