OregonStaterMagazineWinter2024

2 ForOregonState.org/Stater MOME N T S In the basement of Nash Hall, more than 250,000 fishes are tucked away alongside another few thousand specimens from OSU’s bird and mam‑ mal collections. Their bones and bodies fit neatly in cabinets, float in alcohol‑filled jars, and are stowed in stainless steel vats on wheels or — in the case of one juvenile thresher shark—an industrial walk‑in freezer. Why bother with all these feathers and fins? “They provide a permanent library of biodiversity so we can study how animals have changed COLLECTED CURIOSITIES

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