Collection Overview
The Herpetological Collection was built to collect, preserve, interpret, and make available for teaching and study materials related to herpetology of the New England Geographic Province and to promote the knowledge of the evolution, biodiversity, biogeography and natural history of amphibians and reptiles on Earth.
The Herpetological Collections also serves as a resource for regional natural history information for the public and regional agencies and organizations. It houses 2000 –3000 preserved and osteological specimens representing world diversity and nearly 8000 records from the Massachusetts Herpetological Atlas whose goal was to identify, document, and map amphibians and reptiles in the state of Massachusetts. This effort produced the most thorough inventory of state records from a given decade in any collection anywhere.
Curator: Dr. Alan Richmond
I have been affiliated with the herpetological collections at the University of Massachusetts since 1983. In that time,I have expanded the collection from a modest teaching collection to a nationally recognized collection. The primary focus of the collection is to support the Herpetology Course and other whole organism biology courses at the University of Massachusetts.
Secondarily, the collection is a repository for salvaged state listed species of amphibians and reptiles as well as the repository for all of the records for the Massachusetts Herpetological Atlas project.
More Information
For more information about the Herpetology Collection, contact Vertebrate Collections Manager, Katherine Doyle.