Combines data from the skeletal and spirit inventories with information about the distribution of the approximately 9,000 species of birds of the world.

In the study that led to this publication we asked which species of birds, from given geographical areas, are poorly represented by anatomical specimens? To answer this question, we needed an inventory of the anatomical materials (skeletons and spirit specimens) in the museums of the world, and lists of species for the geographical areas of interest. The first was provided by two publications (World Inventory of Avian Skeletal Specimens, 1982, and World Inventory of Avian Spirit Specimens, 1982). The inventories included summaries for the 92 participating museums, indicating their total holdings of spirit and skeletal specimens.