To whom it may concern:
Please consider this as a Memorandum of Understanding on the retention of specimens between Universidad del Valle (UVG), the Principle Investigators of the LLAMA Project, and the LLAMA Taxonomic Collaborators (listed below).
The explicit goals of this collaboration for UVG are to have the Guatemalan arthropod fauna identified or described to the greatest extent possible, to retain paratypes as a part of the Guatemalan national heritage, and to provide their national collections with broad, representative, and expertly determined specimens. The explicit goal of the LLAMA Project is to maximize the scientific value and output of their efforts by having as much material as possible prepared and available for use by the broadest scientific community possible. The Taxonomic Collaborators propose to facilitate the achievement of these goals by acting as a preparation, data capture and distribution hub of taxa with the explicit goal of increasing the breadth and depth of their respective collections.
With the purpose of promoting these goals, UVG is disposed to authorize the retention of specimens to the LLAMA Taxonomic Collaborators under the following guidelines:
All specimens given to the Taxonomic Collaborators will become property of their respective institutions to be accessioned, deaccessioned, and distributed to third parties at their discretion, under the following condition:
Upon the eventual description of or determination to species, a subset of specimens will be deaccessioned and returned to UVG in the following manner:
The first paratype, if any, of newly described taxa At least one specimen from series greater than 5 When sexes are visibly distinct, separate forms will be treated the same as distinct species
The following additional conditions apply:
Significant series (>10 specimens, if possible) of all taxa not initially isolated for molecular analysis will be mounted, labeled, and data based by the Taxonomic Collaborators.
Specimens originally isolated for molecular analysis but not so used or intentionally curated for this purpose remain the property of the Taxonomic Collaborators and should be mounted, labeled, and data based in the same manner as specimens not originally isolated for molecular analysis.
Holotypes of newly described species will be deposited in a public institution determined by the Taxonomic Collaborator.
The deposition of paratypes and representative specimens of each taxon not claimed by UVG shall be negotiated on a case by case basis with the intent of allowing third parties to retain a subset of paratypes and identified material for their efforts.
Likewise, the deposition of molecular voucher specimens, extracts derived there from, and specimens to be indefinitely curated for future molecular analysis will be similarly negotiated.
Any remaining specimen residues will remain the property of the Taxonomic Collaborators.
Specimens deaccessioned by the Taxonomic Collaborators and/or third party researchers and returned to UVG will be individually noted as such in the appropriate data base(s).
The specimens generated by the LLAMA Project cannot be totally or partially commercialized or used in commercial research.
Any publications resulting from the use of LLAMA material should be sent to UVG, the Principle Investigators of the LLAMA Project, and the LLAMA Taxonomic Collaborators as either hardcopy or pdf. Likewise, all molecular data generated from LLAMA specimens will be made known and available to these same parties.