96 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1948 
STATUS OF COLLECTION 
Class Species Individ- Class Species parce 
Mammals: 25 22s bat ete 196 72094 tImsects. 220) Bes ee 1 100 
Birds ie ibs eae 339 1) 0647||PArachnidss==- se 2 3 
Reptilesso: 22 Ss Se ee 100 5067) Uo usksios eae eae eee 2 12 
[Arniphibians sas sseaeemeeneans 25 179 ee 
Fishes i Be eB 25 224 Totalt M22 690 2, 797 
SUMMARY 
Animals on hand | Jimliyds-1 94 Gis ce ee eee eee 3, 007 
Accessionsiduring: the wears Cabs E eae ee allie. eee een 1, 041 
Total number of animals in collection during the year______-_____ 4,048 
Removals for various reasons such as death, exchanges, return of animals 
ONPOEPOSIG, CUC= sire = ya Naa Ee ee Mtg ek See ak ence 125m 
En collection on, June 30; 1948-4 A ee ee ee 2, 297 
ACQUISITION OF SPECIMENS 
Air transportation of specimens of moderate weight but of unusual 
interest has brought to the Zoo some of the outstanding exhibits of 
the year, including the collection of tarsiers, cloud rats, tree shrews, 
monkey-eating eagle, and other specimens brought from the Philip- 
pines by Charles Wharton. The National Geographic Society sent 
by air from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to Washington a pichi ciego mayor 
(Burmeisteria retusa), a small, very peculiar type of armadillo, which 
is a great rarity in collections. It was alive when it arrived in Miami, 
Fla., but unfortunately died before it reached Washington. However, 
the National Museum gained a valuable specimen and some of the 
Washington biologists had their first glimpse of the remarkable little 
creature. This may be the first one to have arrived alive in the United 
States. 
The outstanding animals received during the year were: 
4 King penguins. 1 Arctic fox. 
28 Mindanao tarsiers. 2 Snow buntings. 
9 Philippine tree shrews. 104 Elepbant shrews. These were 
7 Bushy-tailed cloud rats. brought to the United States 
1 Monkey-eating eagle. from East Africa by the Medical 
3 Coconut crabs. Division of the United States 
1 Sitatunga. Navy for studies of tropical dis- 
6 Giant racquet-tailed drongos. eases, and were quartered at the 
8 Emperor penguins. Zoo until the Navy could provide 
4 Adelie penguins. quarters for them. 
As in any colony of living things, there is a steady turn-over, so 
that the exhibits are constantly changing. Thus, the inventory list of 
specimens in the collection on June 30 of each year does not show all 
the kinds of animals that were exhibited during the year; sometimes 
creatures of outstanding interest at the time they were shown are no 
longer in the collection at the time the list is prepared. 
