Heavy metals in mammal tissue over the last 100 years and their proximity to populated places in Minnesota

This dataset makes use of the University of Minnesota's Bell Museum of Natural History collection examining specimens of four mammal species (a mouse, shrew, bat and squirrel) to ask how tissue metal content has changed over a 94-year time period (1911-2005), and implications for measures of individual performance (body size and cranial capacity). The metal content of organisms is often elevated closer to cities, so these specimens were examined for spatial variation in metal exposure based on their proximity to human populations and the size of those populated areas at the time of collection. Analysis of mammal tissues focused on six heavy metals associated with human activity (Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni, Mn), to address whether these anthropogenic metal pollutants vary in concert with human activity.