Collection Data

At approximately 330,000 specimens, the KU Herpetology collection is the fourth or fifth largest collection in the Unites States and the largest collection of neotropical amphibian and reptile specimens in the world. The holdings include specimens from 156 countries, including 83,540 specimens from the U.S., 32,304 from Ecuador, 29,965 from Mexico, 24,684 from the Dominican Republic, 18,130 from Costa Rica, 18,000 from Haiti, 16,789 from the Philippines, 12,645 from Peru, and 12,570 from Panama.

Photo by Nick Krug of the Lawrence Journal-World

The KU Herpetology collections are strongest in the Neotropical realm (208,009, or ±65% of the collection) but the Nearctic (83,906, ±26%), and Asian (21,032, ±6.5%) holdings are also substantial. At 23,923 specimens (±7.5%) the collection from Kansas is the largest and most important systematic collection of the state’s herpetofauna in existence.

The collections at KU include 5412 amphibian and reptile species, with 2865 Amphibians (2547 species of Anura, 272 species of Caudata, and 46 species of Gymnophiona) and 2865 Reptiles (27 species of Amphisbaenia, 12 Crocodilia, 1 Rhynchocephalia, 1526 Sauria, 1159 Serpentes, and 140 Testudinea).

Mostly resulting from the research program of Curator Linda Trueb, KU has an outstanding collection of 5580 cleared-and-stained osteological preparations and 4798 dry skeletons. Likewise, the collection of amphibian larvae consists of 6243 lots.

The KU Herpetological Digital Archive includes 12,156 digitized images and 1,657 acoustic recordings.

 

The collection is a heavily used resource. In addition to staff and student research, the Division of Herpetology handles approximately 230–250 loan transactions each year (involving about 15,000 specimens in 2009). Specimens in the collection are generally available for loan upon approval by the Curator-in-Charge, Dr. Rafe Brown. Specimens may be loaned to qualified, recognized professionals or their students, at the discretion of the Curator-in-Charge, for a period of 6 months. Graduate and undergraduate students requesting specimens on loan must submit a letter of request co-signed by their advisor. The borrower assumes full and complete responsibility for the material on loan, and agrees to all conditions specimens for the handling and storage of borrowed specimens. The criteria considered in granting a loan request include but are not limited to the number of specimens in the request, which specimens are requested, the condition of the specimens, what the borrower plans to do with the specimens, the project design, the previous loan record of the borrower, the location of the borrower, and priority use of the material by another researcher. In some cases, it may be preferable for a researcher to visit Herpetology instead of borrowing specimens.

Facilities

 

Limited visitor space is available for qualified professional and student researchers to work in Herpetology. Because we host an average of 33 visitors (for 157 visitor days) a year, it is necessary to make arrangements in advance with Curator-in-Charge, Dr. Rafe Brown

The collection is housed in a state-of-the-art fluid collection facility, which opened in 1996. The facility has 2,400 sq ft of collection storage space on four floors. The collection storage environment is maintained at 65°F year-round. Specimens are protected by an overhead sprinkler system, an HVAC system with 100% air make-up, and UV-shielded lighting. Tours of the collection storage facility may be arranged by contacting Curator-in-Charge, Dr. Rafe Brown. Contact: Division of Herpetology, Biodiversity Institute, 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard, University of Kansas; Lawrence, Kansas USA 66045-7561; Rafe Brown or Linda Trueb Fax: 785-864-5335.

Interested in learning more about the collection?  Visit the Collection Details page.