Alligator Dissection HIGHLIGHTS!

This event took place in the Grainger Science Hub at the Field Museum in Chicago on Friday, June 7, 2019.

FAQs:

1. Who's doing the dissection?

   --Me (Emily) and Josh Mata, Collections Assistant in Reptiles/Amphibians

2. What is this specimen?

   --We're preparing (skinning + dissecting) a juvenile American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)

3. Who are all the people in the background?

   --The dissection is happening in the Field Museum's Grainger Science Hub! It is open to anyone who paid for basic admission to the museum.

4. Why are you doing this?

   --For science! and education! The alligator was donated by researchers at the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana. This specimen's skeleton will be added to the Field's research collections.

5. Where is this specimen from?

   --The alligator was donated by researchers at the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana.

6. Did you kill it?

   --We did not. It had been in the freezer for around 10 years after it was donated; we do not know how it died.

   But, there are many instances where collecting animals for research is important, and to be supported. We made a whole video about it for you: "Where'd you get all those dead animals?"

7. What are you doing with it?

   -- We will skin the specimen, remove the major muscles and organs, take a tissue sample for DNA research, run the skeleton through our flesh-eating dermestid beetle colony, and finally place the specimen in an educational collection.