[Taxacom] value of collections and Taxonomy

[John Grehan]

For those who document or record such instances, this is a nice example of
how collections in combination with taxonomy can house information to give
new insights. In this case some mummified baboon remains from Ancient Egypt:

"In an effort to identify their baboon’s birthplace, Dominy and his
collaborators analyzed the chemical isotopes in the tooth enamel of one of
the baboon skulls.

A large comparative study of over 150 baboons from 77 locations in East
Africa and the Arabian Peninsula suggests that the British Museum baboon
was born in a region that overlaps with modern-day Ethiopia, Eritrea,
Djibouti, and parts of Somalia and Yemen. Given that many archeologists
believe that Punt was roughly equivalent with this region, Dominy et al.
argue that the baboon skull is the earliest known Puntite treasure. The
discovery is a significant contribution that helps cement the theory that
the wealthy Land of the Gods was located in the same area as Ethiopia and
Eritrea."

Important point here is that taxonomy/systematics is crucial. Without that
it would not be possible to identify the mummified remains as baboons in
the first place and the collection would be meaningless. I think we tend to
overlook the obvious when the taxonomy seems to be 'obvious'.

John Grehan