DanaFeil-2005.SHIS135.pdf Page 3 



I NTRODUCTION 



The herpetological collection of the Institute of Ecology and Systennatics has the majority of 

 the families of amphibians and reptiles living in Cuba and some foreign specimens. This collection 

 is the most important in Cuba not only because of the number of specimens but also owing to its 

 broad taxonomic and geographic representation. Presently, the Institute houses 64 holotypes of 

 endemic Cuba reptiles: 20 species and 44 subspecies of the 142 and 152 Cuban species and 

 subspecies. 



Orlando H. Garrido began the type collection in 1967 with the deposition of herpetological 

 specimens in the collections of the Institute de Biologia (IB). The initial types included the 

 holotypes of Leiocephalus macropus asbolomus, Leiocephalus macropus phylax and Antillophis 

 andreai melopyrrha. Prior to 1967, types of Cuban species were deposited in foreign collections, 

 mainly in American museums (Rodriguez Schettino, 2000). In 1972, the Institute de Biologia was 

 split into several institutes: Institute de Zeelogia (IZ) and others. Subsequently, the Ministerio de 

 Ciencia, Tecnologia y Medio Ambiente created the Institute de Ecologia y Sistematica (IBS) in 

 1987. The collections from the Institute de Zeelogia were placed into the lES as Colecciones 

 Zeologicas delaAcademia deCiencias de Cuba (CZACC). 



The Cuban herpetofauna is listed in various publications (Schwartz and Thomas, 1975; 

 Garrido and Jaume, 1984; Schwartz and Henderson, 1988, 1991; Powell et al., 1996; Estrada and 

 Ruibal, 1999; Rodriguez Schettino, 2000; Rivalta Gonzalez, 2000; Rodriguez Schettino and 

 Rivalta Gonzalez, 2003). However, the critical information on type specimens appears only in the 

 publications of the original description of the species and subspecies. Thus, we wish to summarize 

 the type material held at the reptile collection of the lES and begin here with the holotypes. 



The following list includes for each holotype: scientific name; authors; date of publication; 

 original museum number (IB or IZ); type locality; sex of specimen; CZACC new catalogue 

 number; date of collection; and collector(s). 



