Introduction 



The Section of Herpetology of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (LACM) 

 began in July of 1965 when the first specimen, Cynops pyrrhogaster, was cataloged. A goal of the 

 newly established Herpetology Section was to serve as the primary research and reference 

 collection in the greater Los Angeles area. Researchers at several southern California universities 

 wished to transfer their collections to a central depository in order to make these materials more 

 accessible to other investigators and to ensure long-term curatorial care that could not be assured in 

 an university environment. The core of the LACM herpetological collections was derived from 

 materials then at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Southern 

 California (USC, AHF, CRE), and the California State universities at Long Beach (CSULB) and 

 Fullerton (CSUF). 



The first curator was James R. Dixon. During his two-year tenure, two collections from the 

 University of Southern California (USC and AHF) were accessioned, and he began the transfer of 

 the UCLA material. John W. Wright replaced James Dixon in 1967, and shortly thereafter, the 

 remainder of the UCLA specimens arrived and were integrated into the growing collection. Other 

 significant collections were also donated by several Research Associates (e.g., Eric Pianka, Dennis 

 Paulson, and Richard Worthington). Robert L. Bezy joined the staff in 1970 as Associate Curator 

 and in 1998, David A. Kizirian arrived as Assistant Curator. 



Collections organization and integration received a critical boost in 1973 with an award from 

 the National Science Foundation. These funds allowed the hiring of two curatorial assistants for five 

 years. During this period the CSULB and several other large collections arrived and were 

 accessioned. By 1978, all but one collection originally promised for transfer had been integrated 

 into the LACM herpetological holdings. The exception was J. M. Savage's CRE [Costa Rican 

 Expeditions] collection. Upon the completion of his research for his book on the Costa Rican 

 herpetofauna in 1998, the CRE material was transferred to the museum. The consolidation of the 

 individual research collections has produced a readily accessible database of 180,000 specimens, 

 including a significant holding of type material. 



Because many type specimens were initially cataloged in other collection, a major goal of this 

 compilation is to provide data concerning their current location and the LACM catalog numbers 

 now assigned to them. Our recognition of a type specimen relies solely on those categories formally 

 recognized in the Code of Zoological Nomenclature (4th Edition, 1999, p. 121: "Type Specimen. A 

 term used in previous editions of the Code for holotype, lectotype, or neotype; also used generally 

 for any specimen of the type series [= paratype]" and as specified in Article 72 and 

 Recommendations 72 A: restricted to holotypes, lectotypes, neotypes, syntypes, paratypes, 

 paralectotypes, and allotypes). Furthermore, we rigidly follow Article 72b(v) with regard to the 

 automatic designation of all specimens in the type series as paratypes after a holotype is selected 

 unless they were expressly excluded [Art. 72b(vi)]. The minor exceptions are the single 

 hypoparatype (see Sympholis lippiens reclilimbus account, below) and topoparatypes. The term 

 topoparatype (i.e., a paratype from the type locality) is used to reduce redundancies in collection 

 data. In some cases only the number of specimens in a type series was provided by the descriptor; 



