Support for Care and Use of the Herpetology Collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences

费城自然科学院的爬行动物收藏馆（两栖动物和爬行动物）是一个中等规模的收藏馆（大约有30,000个标本），其中包括许多种类和来自新大陆的早期藏品。负责馆藏的馆长约翰·卡德尔博士建议通过全面清查、重组、更新鉴定和建立计算机数据库来改进馆藏。本项目选择的数据库程序MUSE在其他爬虫学和鱼类收集中广泛使用。建议的收集升级和计算机化项目将在爬行动物研究界内外产生重大影响。将找到重要的原始模式标本，并提供给系统研究。早期的收集将为生态学家和生物地理学家提供宝贵的见解，让他们了解几个世纪以来人类活动对该地区生物多样性的影响。翻修后的藏品将成为研究、公共教育和年轻爬虫学家专业发展的长期资产。

The Herpetology Collection (amphibians and reptiles) of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences is a mid-sized collection (roughly 30,000 specimens) that contains many types and early collections from the New World. Dr. John Cadle, Curator in charge of the collection, proposes to improve the collection through a general inventory, reorganization, updating of identifications, and implementation of a computer database. The database program chosen for this project, MUSE, is in wide use in other herpetology and fish collections. The proposed collection upgrade and computerization project will have substantial impact both within and beyond the herpetology research community. Important primary type specimens will be located and made accessible for systematic research. Early collections will give ecologists and biogeographers invaluable insight into the effects that several centuries of human occupation have had on the region's biodiversity. The renovated collections will be a long-term asset in research, public education, and the professional development of young herpetologists.