In the summer of 2024, Duke undergraduate Erika Kraabel traveled to Madagascar to help the DLC Museum of Natural History team collect lemur bones at Bezà Mahafaly Special Reserve, a longstanding research site in southwestern Madagascar.
“At the DLC Museum, I’ve been learning the foundations of fossil preparation and have been involved in rehousing the osteological collection,” says Erica. “When I was offered the opportunity to be part of the Beza Mahafaly Osteological Collection team, it was possibly the fastest ‘YES’ I have ever given!”
Erika’s story was featured in the 2024 issue of LEMURS Magazine, an annual publication of the Duke Lemur Center. It follows the article “Digging Up New Data: Lessons from Skeletons,” which contains a complete account of the DLC’s mission to Bezà-Mahafaly (pages 14-19).

