Herpetology Collections
The CUMV Herpetology Collection became one of the leading university based herp collections in North America during the first half of the 20th century, largely due to the efforts of Professor Albert Hazen Wright and his wife, Anna Allen Wright. The major strengths of the collection, amphibians from the southeastern United States and reptiles and amphibians from the Northeast, reflects the intensive collection by the Wrights. Much of the material collected by the Wrights in New York and Georgia is not duplicated elsewhere.
The last 30 years have been seen important acquisitions for the collection. To complement our traditional strength in North American taxa, we have made a concerted effort to obtain foreign material, especially synoptic series representing geographic areas. This material includes research specimens collected by Dr. F. Harvey Pough in Western and South Australia. The donation of a personal collection by Dr. Kraig Adler (Neurobiology and Behavior) has added more than 100 new species to the collection. Through collecting, exchanges and acquisition of other various collections we now have good representation of Costa Rican viperids, lizards from Western and South Australia, amphibians and reptiles from Puerto Rico, snakes and lizards from Mexico, and a more representative collection of African and European species.
The last 30 years have been seen important acquisitions for the collection. To complement our traditional strength in North American taxa, we have made a concerted effort to obtain foreign material, especially synoptic series representing geographic areas. This material includes research specimens collected by Dr. F. Harvey Pough in Western and South Australia. The donation of a personal collection by Dr. Kraig Adler (Neurobiology and Behavior) has added more than 100 new species to the collection. Through collecting, exchanges and acquisition of other various collections we now have good representation of Costa Rican viperids, lizards from Western and South Australia, amphibians and reptiles from Puerto Rico, snakes and lizards from Mexico, and a more representative collection of African and European species.
Collection Highlights
Albert H. Wright and Anna A. Wright were early leaders of the collection, and many of the specimens that were used for color pattern descriptions in the classic volumes: Handbook of Frogs and Toads, and Handbook of Snakes I and II, are located on our shelves.
The McJunkin Family Reticulated Python. Collected in 1914 in the Philippines and housed by the McJunkin’s until their donation of the specimen to CUMV. This is the largest articulated wild-collected python housed in any collection.
Our amphibian collection, specifically the spotted salamander, was used to show how land-use practices can impact the phenoytpes of resident populations when input into the system is altered from its natural state.
The McJunkin Family Reticulated Python. Collected in 1914 in the Philippines and housed by the McJunkin’s until their donation of the specimen to CUMV. This is the largest articulated wild-collected python housed in any collection.
Our amphibian collection, specifically the spotted salamander, was used to show how land-use practices can impact the phenoytpes of resident populations when input into the system is altered from its natural state.
Fluid SpecimensThe majority of our collection holdings are fluid-preserved specimens, either in isopropanol or ethanol. At present, the collection contains nearly 27,000 cataloged lots representing 100 Families, 543 genera, and 1442 species from 89 countries. While largely synoptic in nature CUMV Herpetology collection also contains important series of some taxa.
Cleared & StainedThe Herpetology collection contains 253 cleared and stained specimens. Some earlier specimens are stained solely with Alizirin Red for bones (shown in red) while newer specimens are also stained with Alcian Blue (for cartilages). One protocol for preparing cleared and stained specimens originated at Cornell in the 1970’s. and has provided the scientific community a tool that is immeasurable in value.
Sound and Signal240 audio recordings from the Herpetology collection are deposited in Macaulay Library. Much of the audio is currently from frogs in the U.S., and a handful of frogs are recorded in Gabon.
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Skeletal MaterialsThe Herpetology collection contains nearly 200 skeletal preparations that highlight some of the amazing diversity in amphibians and reptiles. Much of the skeletal collection are reptiles. There is also a small collection of “pressed” frog skins that lay flat and document the color pattern of the body.
TissuesThe Herpetology collection is home to more than 1000 tissues. We typically don’t take voucher tissues without a specimen that is coincident with the tissue voucher. DNA analyses are always more robust when a phenotype for examination exists.
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