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Animal Archives At The End of the World
Author’s Note: Back in July, I had the opportunity to present some research on biodiversity archives and species extinction at ASLE and AESS’s Biennial Conference. Since my actual presentation and our subsequent roundtable discussion were only open to conference registrants, I wanted to take this opportunity to share an extended version of my presentation with you.
Defining The Animal Archive
Before I dive into these different case studies, I feel that it’s worth explaining what I mean when I use the phrase “animal archive.” These kinds of archives are comprised of physical and/or digital collections of preserved specimens, biological data, and other information pertaining to different species. Some of the archives I’ll be discussing have institutional backing, others created by concerned peoples or groups to study various species, and there are others that have become accidental records of biodiversity throughout history.
I will be focusing specifically on archives that track past, present, and future animal extinctions, either as their central subject of study or an unintended consequence of their long-term collecting. Beyond looking at the sheer volume of this data collection and the biological materials that comprise these archives, I’m interested in how these stories of extinction are told and how choices such as narrative writing, artistic interventions, and aesthetics end up eliciting emotional reactions from the people who interact with these archives. These archives emerged as ways to collect and share information about the world around us, yet the way these ecological histories are expressed offer us alternative ways of comprehending this moment of mass extinction.
Taxidermy As The First Extinction Archive
On the third floor of Paris’s natural history museum, the Grande Galerie de l’Évolution, you’ll find a dimly-lit room, far less visited than the newer exhibitions. Known as La Salle des Espèces Menacées et des Espèces Disparues (The Room of Endangered and Extinct Species), this gallery, one of the museum’s originals, houses 257…
