Having complete and properly labelled collections is crucial if scientists are to spot trends that could eventually impact on all of us. But keeping things in order isn't always as simple as it should be. The Natural History Museum's collection of bird skins is the envy of the ornithological world. There are five floors of cabinets like this here, with 1.25 million specimens in them, that's representing 95% of all known bird species. Even some extinct ones. So it's everything from Darwin's finches to this extraordinary peacock. But these birds are only of any scientific value if each is labelled with the date and location of its collection. If the labels are lost or worse faked then the specimens are literally worthless. So, when rumours began amongst the museum's senior ornithologists that certain specimens from a Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen might be fraudulent, it was time to investigate.


将标本分类标记，完整保存至关重要。科学家可以据此研究人类进程，最终影响全人类。但将藏品有序摆放，远不如想象中简单。自然史博物馆的鸟类皮肤藏品是鸟类学界的丰富宝藏，像这样的储藏柜，装满了五层楼。克里斯·凡·特勒肯囊括了125万种标本，占所有已知鸟类的95%，甚至包括已灭绝的物种。从达尔文雀到这只非凡的孔雀，应有尽有。但这些鸟类的研究价值，在于每只标签上，收集于何时何地的信息。如果标签丢失或系伪造，标本就毫无价值了。因此，博物馆的资深鸟类学家中传说，理查德·迈纳茨哈根上校提供的某种标本中可能有假时，调查势在必行。