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Chicago Academy of Sciences (CHAS-MAL)

The Chicago Academy of Sciences’ malacology collection consists of freshwater, marine, and terrestrial Mollusca, as well as specimens representing Echinodermata, Porifera, Brachiopoda, and Cnidaria. It is the third largest in the state of Illinois with approximately 15,000 specimens, split mainly between gastropods and bivalves. Many specimens are associated with Academy collectors, e.g. William Stimpson (1832-1872) or Frank C. Baker (1867-1942). Other major collectors include Elizabeth Emerson Atwater, William Wirt Calkins, Ruthven Deane, J. H. Handwerk, R. L. Lea, Howard N. Lyon, E. N. King, J. W. Velie, Frank Morley Woodruff, and Mrs. E. C. Wiswall. The collection consists mainly of North American varieties of mollusk, with a strong regional focus on the Midwest. Approximately 24% of domestic lots originated in Illinois. Academy expeditions in the late 1800s and early 1900s contributed a significant number of specimens from California and Florida, while a number of specimens collected by William Stimpson came from the eastern coast of the United States. Additional specimens originated in Bermuda, the Bahamas, Mexico, China, Indonesia, and Japan. Collection includes 7 holotypes and 50 syntypes, and specimens were primarily collected pre-1945.
Contacts: Dawn Roberts, collectionsinfo@naturemuseum.org
Homepage: http://naturemuseum.org/the-museum/collections/invertebrates
Collection Type: Preserved Specimens
Management: Data snapshot of local collection database
Last Update: 6 September 2024
IPT / DwC-A Source:
Digital Metadata: EML File
Usage Rights: CC0 1.0 (Public-domain)
Collection Statistics
  • 15,490 specimen records
  • 6,598 (43%) georeferenced
  • 197 (1%) with images (1,913 total images)
  • 11,523 (74%) identified to species
  • 431 families
  • 1,241 genera
  • 2,833 species
  • 2,881 total taxa (including subsp. and var.)
Extra Statistics