i'll bet he was jazzed about that. i've seen "things" in both institutions and private collections that were collected many, many, many years ago.....thats a double edged sword right there cause if nobody ever collected, lots of folks wouldnt get to see and learn about such things, but the collecting itself probably contributed to the rarity and eventual demise.
Although one could look at critters like the ivory billed woodpecker, condor, and whooping crane, or what have you, as "the last survivors of the Pleistocene, an age long past"....of which some these highly specialized critters were indeed decimated by the destruction of habitat by humans, in a sense they were simply not designed to keep living with even the slightest disruption to their habitat....destined to eventually die out as much as we try to hold on to them. its interesting to see how related species like the pileated woodpecker, turkey vulture, sand hill crane fluorish and all adapt just fine to changing habitat. you could go down the mammal list the same way...sabertooth versus cougar, giant beavers versus modern beavers, dire wolf/coyotes....i have no clue what i'm talking about... time for my second beer.
