THE REPTILE-AMPHIBIAN COLLECTION 



BY 



ARTHUR LOVERIDGE 



The reserve study collections of reptiles and amphibians in the Mu- 

 seum of Comparative Zoology are probably only excelled in variety 

 of species by those in the British Museum. 



The actual number of specimens is difficult to ascertain, as in 

 former times one registration number was given to a series from one 

 locality; latterly only up to twenty-five representative specimens 

 from a large series have been entered. The rapid growth in the col- 

 lections dates from 1903, a point easily verified by consulting the 

 registers which were commenced in 1875. If we divide the fifty-six 

 years covered by the registers we find that: in the 28 years covering 

 1875-1902, 9046 entries were made; in the 28 years covering 1903- 

 30, 36,087 entries were made, and the entries tend to increase annu- 

 ally. It is probable that an estimate of 400,000 would give a fair idea 

 of the total number of specimens in the collection. 



At the last census taken (September, 1932) there were 5,147 dis- 

 tinct species or races represented in the collection. 



At the present time there are holotypes or paratypes of about 1,500 

 species; a number which is continually being augmented. 



In early days A. A. Dumeril furnished the Museum with a selec- 

 tion of the material which had been used by his father, together with 

 his colleague Bibron, in the publication of their standard work on the 

 reptiles and amphibians. Many of Cope's types are in the Museum, 

 for he reported on several of the earlier collections. 



The collection is so uniformly representative that it is difficult to 

 single out groups which are particularly good; it is easier to treat the 

 collection from a geographical standpoint. There are, however, a 

 few groups so nearly complete that they may be mentioned here; 

 these are the Crocodylia; Chelonia; the sea snakes (Malcolm Smith 

 collection) among the Ophidia; the Anoles (Barbour collection) 

 among the Lacertilia; the Rhiptoglossa (A. Loveridge collections)- 

 and the Caudata among Amphibia. 



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