A SUMMARY of the 11 Archbold Expeditions (1929-1976): Biological Explorations in Madagascar, New Guinea, Arizona, Australia, and Sulawesi

A SUMMARY of The 11 Archbold Expeditions (1929-1976): Biological Explorations in Madagascar, New Guinea, Arizona, Australia, and Sulawesi

Compiled by Fred E. Lohrer, Archbold Biological Station, 19991123, revised 20191120, 20210818 < https://www.archbold-station.org/documents/publicationsPDF/Lohrer_2019_11ArchboldExp.pdf >

THE CORPORATION

1937 Biological Explorations. On 25 March 1937, Richard Archbold founded Biological Explorations, a nonprofit corporation, in Philadelphia, under the laws of Pennsylvania. Purposes: “To finance ... and conduct scientific expeditions, ... making biological, ethnological, geological and geographic investigation of ... little known regions; ... for the purpose of advancing ... and improving ... the biological, ethnological, geological and geographical knowledge and information now available relating to said regions.”

1940 Archbold Expeditions. On 11 July 1940, The Corporation was renamed Archbold Expeditions, again in Philadelphia, because of confusion among agencies granting permits with the similarly named U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Biological Survey (1905-39). Archbold Expeditions was authorized to operate in Florida on 20 March 1941.

THE EXPEDITIONS

All 11 Archbold Expeditions (listed next page) were conducted in collaboration with the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City. Richard Archbold was a Research Associate of the Museum’s Department of Mammalogy (1931-76). In 1935 he became a Benefactor of the AMNH.

Expedition Leaders

Richard Archbold: Photographer and assistant mammalogist on the Madagascar Expedition (1929-31). He organized, funded, and led three New Guinea Expeditions (1933-39) and the Arizona Expedition (1940). He chose New Guinea for his expeditions on the advice of Dr. Ernst Mayr, AMNH ornithologist, who had conducted much research across all of northern New Guinea (1928- 29).

Dr. Leonard J. Brass, Archbold Botanist: Leader of the Australia Expedition (1948) and of three New Guinea Expeditions (1953-59).

Hobart M. Van Deusen, Archbold Assistant Curator of Mammalogy, AMNH: Leader of the seventh New Guinea Expedition (1964).

Dr. Guy G. Musser, Archbold Curator of Mammalogy, AMNH: Leader of the Sulawesi Expedition (1973-76).

Map. The seven Archbold Expeditions to eastern New Guinea. Map from Brass and Hoogland 1972.

The Eleven Archbold Expeditions 1929-1931 Madagascar; Mission Zoologique France-Anglo-Américaine à Madagascar. The U.S. share of expedition costs paid by John F. Archbold through the American Museum of Natural History.

1933-1934 First Archbold Expedition to New Guinea. Papua New Guinea; A transect from coast to summit of Mt. Albert Edward, 13,100 feet.

1936-1937 Second Archbold Expedition to New Guinea. Papua New Guinea; The Fly River. Fairchild amphibian aircraft, Kono, sunk at anchor in harbor of Port Moresby by a sudden storm, a Guba.

1938-1939 Third Archbold Expedition to New Guinea. Irian Jaya; Northern slopes of the Snow Mountains from Baliem River to Lake Habbema, 10,580 feet, and Mt. Wilhelmina, 15,585 feet. A joint project with the government of Netherlands Indies. Basic transportation was by a PBY-2 (Catalina) flying boat, the Guba. The large, densely- populated high valley of the Baliem was discovered and explored.

1940 Archbold Expedition to southern Arizona. Tanque Verde Ranch; Foothills of the Rincon Mountains, near Tucson.

1948 Archbold Expedition to Cape York Peninsula. Northern Queensland, Australia.

1953 Fourth Archbold Expedition to New Guinea. Papua New Guinea; Eastern Papua on Cape Vogel Peninsula and Goodenough Island.

1956 Fifth Archbold Expedition to New Guinea. Papua New Guinea; Eastern Papuan islands.

1959 Sixth Archbold Expedition to New Guinea. Papua New Guinea; Eastern Highlands, including Mt. Wilhelm, 15,000 feet.

1964 Seventh Archbold Expedition to New Guinea. Papua New Guinea; Huon Peninsula in northeastern New Guinea.

1973-1976 Archbold Expedition to Sulawesi. Central highlands of Sulawesi; Areas remote from human settlements and including many comprehensive altitudinal transects. EXPEDITION ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The first three Archbold Expeditions to New Guinea were notable for their geographic scope, meticulous preparation, and support by airplanes on the second and third expeditions. The Archbold Expeditions after World War II were less ambitious in scope and did not use airplanes. Nonetheless, the combined results of the 11 Archbold Expeditions were remarkable for the great number of specimens of plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates they collected, and for the detailed ecological and geographical information, photographs, and chromosomal preparations (Sulawesi) that accompanied the specimens. These collections included many new species in almost all taxa collected.

The vertebrate specimens, records, and photographs from Archbold Expeditions to New Guinea, Australia, Arizona, and Sulawesi were donated to the AMNH. The plant specimens were donated to the Arnold Arboretum (Harvard Univ.), and to several other major collections (5th New Guinea Exp. to Rijksherbarium, Leiden, 6th to U.S. National Herbarium, Washington, D.C.).

Richard Archbold and Guba, his flying boat, at Challenger Bay, Hollandia, north-central coast of New Guinea, on the first arrival from San Diego, California, 10 June 1938. The base camp for the Third New Guinea Expedition is in the left background. Photo by Leonard J. Brass.

The Archbold logo was created by Richard Archbold from elements in the design of the flag on his father’s (John F. Archbold) yacht, “Hibiscus.” The logo was first used on the 2nd New Guinea Expedition, 1936-37.

EXPEDITION ACCOLADES

In 1941, Ernst Mayr (Mayr 1941) published his book, “List of New Guinea birds.” On a copy he sent to Archbold ornithologist Austin L. Rand, he inscribed the following,

“Without the Archbold collections this list would be just a torso.”

In 1982, Guy Musser (Musser 1992) described a new species of Philippine Shrew Rat, naming it Archboldomys luzonensis in honor of Richard Archbold.

"… The late Mr. Richard Archbold. His interest in adventure and natural history stimulated him to share his resources for expeditions to the Far East and research in museums, usually associated with the New Guinea Area. Richard Archbold, through the auspices of Archbold Expeditions, never imposed geographic limits or a particular focus on his associates. Naming a Philippine endemic after him points up the past breadth of his patronage and commitment to indifferent inquiry of whatever and wherever" (page 31).

In 2000, 67 years after the first Archbold Expedition, Richard Zweifel (Zweifel 2000) remarked on the value of the expeditions to science in his description of a new species of New Guinea frog, Austrochaparina archboldi.

“The patronymic honors Richard Archbold, sponsor and early leader of a series of seven expeditions to New Guinea (1933-1964) that contributed immeasurably to knowledge of the biota of that island. Profitable mining of the collections for material of value to systematic biology will doubtless continue for decades.” EXPEDITION PUBLICATIONS

Collections and activities of the 11 Archbold Expeditions contributed entirely, or substantially, to, at least 326 publications about taxonomy and systematics, and about natural history and ecology.  Botany 127  Invertebrates 64 (includes insects 60)  Vertebrates 135 (fishes 5, amphibians 11, reptiles 5, birds 26, mammals 88)

Also published were 8 official summaries of, and 23 general interest articles about, the expeditions.

The Numbered Results of the Archbold Expeditions

BOTANY  Numbered “Botanical Results of the Richard Archbold Expeditions,” no. 1-58, 1933-1952: Published either by the NY Botanical Gardens or by the Arnold Arboretum (Harvard Univ.). o No.1-10, 1936-1938, Brittonia (New York Botanical Gardens) o No 11-58, 1938-1954, Journal of the Arnold Arboretum o Parts 1-21, 1939-1953, Plantae Papuanae Archboldianae in J. Arnold Arboretum

Other botany papers were published in 15 other scientific journals, including Nova Guinea, New Series (8), Philippine Journal of Science (8), and Blumea (National Herbarium of Netherlands) (4).

ZOOLOGY-INVERTEBRATES  Of the 64 invertebrate publications, 36 were titled “Results of the Archbold Expeditions,” without a numbered sequence, and published in: o Nova Guinea, New Series (27) during 1945-1965 o Treubia (9) during 1948-1955

The remainder were published without the ROTAE phrase in 10 journals.

ZOOLOGY-VERTEBRATES  Numbered “Results of the Archbold Expeditions,” no. 1-123, 1935-1991: Published by the AMNH (American Museum Novitates or Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History).

A few other vertebrate papers were published in Journal of Mammalogy (6) and Natural History (2).

Expedition Publications - The Sulawesi Squirrels, A Long History

In 1931, Richard Archbold became a Research Associate of the AMNH Department of Mammalogy. That same year, he purchased many specimens of small mammals from Celebes (now Sulawesi) from the professional scientific collector Gerd Heinrich (Heinrich 2007).

In 1935, the first numbered “Results of the Archbold Expeditions,” by Richard Archbold and G.H.H. Tate, was a description of a new genus and species of Sulawesi ground squirrel, Hyosciurus heinrichi, based on specimens from that 1931 purchase.

Archbold, R., and G.H.H. Tate. 1935. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 1. A new genus and species of squirrel from Celebes. American Museum Novitates 801:1-6. link

In 2010, one of Guy Musser’s last publications about Sulawesi mammals (of 34, 1969-2015), published 8 years after he retired (2002) from the AMNH as the Archbold Curator of Mammalogy, included a taxonomic revision of the 8 endemic species of Sulawesi squirrels.

Musser, G.G., et al. 2010. Systematic review of endemic Sulawesi squirrels (Rodentia, Sciuridae), with descriptions of new species of associated sucking lice (Insecta, Anoplura), and phylogenetic and zoogeographic assessments of sciurid lice. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 339:1-260. link

EXPEDITION SUMMARIES Formal summaries were published for all 7 New Guinea Expeditions and the Cape York Expedition.

Madagascar, 1929-1931  Rand, A.L. 1936. The distribution and habits of Madagascar birds. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 77:143-499. link First Archbold Expedition, 1933-1934  Archbold, R. and A.L. Rand. 1935. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 7. Summary of the 1933-1934 Papuan Expedition. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 68:527-579. link Second Archbold Expedition, 1936-1937  Rand, A.L. and L.J. Brass. 1940. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 29. Summary of the 1936-1937 New Guinea Expedition. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 77:341-380. link  Brass, L.J. 1938. Notes on the vegetation of the Fly and Wassi rivers, British New Guinea. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 19:174-190. link Third Archbold Expedition, 1938-1939  Archbold, R., A.L. Rand, and L.J. Brass. 1942. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 41. Summary of the 1938-1939 New Guinea Expedition. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 79:197-288. link  Brass, L.J. 1941. The 1938-39 expedition to the Snow Mountains, Netherlands New Guinea. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 22:271-295,297-342. link | link Archbold Expedition to Southern Arizona, 1940  Rand, A.L. 1941. Arizona Expedition. Natural History 48:232-235. link Archbold Expedition to Cape York Peninsula, Australia, 1948  Brass, L. J. and G.H.H. Tate. 1953. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 68. Summary of the 1948 Cape York (Australia) Expedition. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 102:139-205. link Fourth Archbold Expedition, 1953  Brass, L.J. 1956. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 75. Summary of the Fourth Archbold Expedition to New Guinea (1953). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 111:81-152. link Fifth Archbold Expedition, 1956  Brass, L.J. 1959. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 79. Summary of the Fifth Archbold Expedition to New Guinea (1956-1957). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 118:1-69. link Sixth Archbold Expedition, 1959  Brass, L.J. 1964. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 86. Summary of the Sixth Archbold Expedition to New Guinea (1959). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 127:147-215. link Seventh Archbold Expedition, 1964  Van Deusen, H.M. 1978. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 101. Summary of the Seventh Archbold Expedition to New Guinea (1964). American Museum Novitates 2660:1- 21. link  Van Deusen, H.M. 1966. The seventh Archbold Expedition. BioScience 16:449-455. link Archbold Expedition to Sulawesi, 1973-1976 No expedition summary was published, perhaps because the expedition was focused on small mammals. Two publications (below), of many, contain; maps, photos, habitat and habits of species, habitat descriptions and photos, and photos or paintings of species -- all giving some idea of expedition activities.  Musser, G.G. 1982. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 110. Crunomys and the small- bodied shrew rats native to the Philippine Islands and Sulawesi (Celebes).Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 174:1-95. (Contains the original description of Archboldomys luzonensis, pp. 30-31.) link  Musser, G.G., and M. Dagosto. 1987. The identity of Tarsius pumilus, a pygmy species endemic to the montane mossy forests of central Sulawesi. American Museum Novitates 2867:1-53. link

LITERATURE CITED* and MAJOR SOURCES

Anonymous. [Archbold Expeditions?]. 1963. Summary of publications. 31 pp. Archives, Archbold Biological Station.

Archbold Expeditions, corporate notebook.

Archives, Archbold Biological Station.

*Brass, L.J. and R.D. Hoogland. 1972. Archbold Expeditions. Pp. 25- 28 in Ryan, P., ed., Encyclopaedia of Papua and New Guinea, Volume 1. Melbourne University Press in association with the University of Papua and New Guinea, Carlton, Victoria.

Carleton, M.D. 2009. They sort out like nuts and bolts: A scientific biography of Guy G. Musser. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 321:4-32. (Includes “Scientific publications of Guy G. Musser.”) link

Cookson, M. 2000. The Archbold Expeditions to New Guinea: A preliminary survey of archival materials held at the American Museum of Natural History. Journal of Pacific Science 35:313-318. link

*Heinrich, B. 2007. The snoring bird: My family’s journey through a century of biology. HarperCollins. [Biography of Gerd Heinrich, author’s autobiography.]

Lohrer, F.E. 2008. Richard Archbold (1907-1976), Explorer and Patron of Science: CURRICULUM VITAE. link

Lohrer, F.E. 2014. Leonard John Brass (1900-1971), Botanical Collector and Explorer: CURRICULUM VITAE. link

*Mayr, E. 1941. List of New Guinea birds: A systematic and faunal list of the birds of New Guinea and adjacent islands. American Museum of Natural History. link

McWhood, L. 1982. Brass, L. J. (Leonard J.). Papers of Leonard John Brass, 1936-1953: A Guide. Archives, Gray Herbarium Library, Harvard Univ. link

*Musser, G.G. 1982. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 110. Crunomys and the small-bodied shrew rats native to the Philippine Islands and Sulawesi (Celebes). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 174:1-95. link

Rand, A.L. 1936. The distribution and habits of Madagascar birds. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 77:143-499. link

Rand, A.L. 1941. Arizona Expedition. Natural History 48:232-235. link

Van Deusen, H.M. 1966. The seventh Archbold Expedition. BioScience 16:449-455. link

*Zweifel, R.G. 2000. Partition of the Australopapuan microhylid frog genus Sphenophryne with descriptions of new species. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 253:1-130. link