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Interpretations of extinct vertebrate anatomy, behavior, and life history are built upon comparative anatomy data from neontological collections. Ideally, these interpretations are informed by metadata collected while the organism was alive such as diet, mass throughout life, social relationships, and reproductive history. Unfortunately, these data are not available for many specimens as natural history collections have focused on wild-caught individuals for which mass at collection, sex, and collection locality are typically the only associated data. In contrast, extensive life-history data are collected from organisms in sustained human care, but transferring these data from zoos to natural history collections is not standardized or prioritized. The Duke Lemur Center (DLC) has been designing a database that allows researchers access to morphological and life-history data derived from animals that were part of the living research colony. The DLC is home to over 200 lemurs representing 16 different species. The colony has access to open air, multi-acre habitats. For over 50 years the AZA-accredited DLC has been a platform for non-invasive research on strepsirrhine primates and the DLC Museum is the repository for DLC specimens and fossils related to the evolution of primates. The colony’s breeding records, veterinary care, husbandry data, locomotor behaviors, and diets are recorded by researchers and staff. However, these data are disaggregated, making it difficult to explore. The DLC Data Team started by generating microCT scans of the osteology and frozen cadaver collection to make morphological data available on MorphoSource. Preserved specimens were rehoused and inventoried. Now we are using DLC-developed REDCap database management tools to network scans with life-history records, building a database that researchers can use to explore questions such as individual variation in tooth wear, osteological signatures of different pathologies, and individual biomechanical performance. The REDCap database is also used to store fossil metadata like field notes and specimen preparation records. Our goal is to make these database tools available to other living colonies and natural history collections, so life-history data can be shared and standardized across institutions. This effort – in collaboration with the ZooMu network – will ultimately make life histories accessible to researchers – including paleontologists exploring the fossil record. 

The evolutionary journey of primates is complex, as lineages disperse between continents and adapt to new ecosystems. The fossil collection at the Duke Lemur Center (DLC) is well positioned to tell this story using primate specimens from the Paleogene of North America and Africa, and the Neogene of Africa, South America, and Madagascar. Founded in 1977, the collection was primarily only accessible – and interpretable – to specialized researchers. Visitors and students unfamiliar with fragmentary fossils and obscure taxonomy faced the daunting task of keeping track of the primate journey while following staff through cabinets and drawers. This contrasted with significant education and outreach efforts at the DLC’s main campus, where noninvasive research on the colony of over 200 living lemurs was accessible to the public through tours, interpretive exhibits, and classroom outreach. Our goal was to work together with the DLC education team to fabricate an exhibit that helped visitors access our Big Idea: Humans and Lemurs Share an Evolutionary History That Spans the Globe. The exhibit space is relatively small and the taxa and time periods are unfamiliar to most visitors. We designed color-coding and symbols that are consistent throughout the exhibit and collection spaces to create a layered experience for visitors. A visit can focus on primate adaptations, ecological niches, plate tectonics, or the geological timescale – all science curriculum goals for different grade levels in North Carolina. The exhibit is also physically layered, with modern primate diversity at eye-level accompanied by infographics that summarize the anatomical distinctions between major clades. Displayed below modern specimens are fossil specimens, demonstrating how fossils are used to understand modern biodiversity and vice versa. This structure is disrupted in the Madagascar section, where subfossil lemur taxa are displayed alongside osteological specimens, emphasizing the recent extinction of Malagasy megafauna. This reinforces the DLC’s larger mission to understand and conserve remaining biodiversity. Exhibit materials were designed with the explicit goal of making them available for collaboration with international partners. The team trained volunteer docents to help visitors access the space, and the exhibit opened to visitors in May 2023. Visitors can provide feedback through a standardized form so we can evaluate exhibit materials and revise them in response to engagement.