The UCM Herpetology collection spans 81 countries, with its geographic strength in taxa from Colorado, Mexico and the southwestern United States. The collection contains over 68,000 specimens, including over 22,000 from Mexico, which have been actively studied and cited in systematic herpetology publications over recent decades. Additionally, the whiptail lizards (genus <i>Aspidoscelis</i>) are particularly well represented, including over 12,000 fluid-preserved specimens and two hundred dry skulls. World-renowned herpetologists, Hobart M. Smith and T. Paul Maslin, as well as a number of their students and collaborators, were the major architects of this collection. R. Earl Olson's contribution of 3,800+ specimens recently expanded our taxonomic and geographic coverage, including new material from Minnesota and Haiti. Most recently, Julio A. Lemos-Espinal contributed 2,600 specimens from the northern Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, and Coahuila.

GBIF url: https://www.gbif.org/dataset/8935e64a-f762-11e1-a439-00145eb45e9a
Homepage: http://cumuseum.colorado.edu/research/vertebrates
Citation: Braker E (2025). UCM Amphibian and Reptile Collection (Arctos). University of Colorado Museum of Natural History. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/1llmgl accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-06-18.