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(两栖和爬行动物)是一个中等规模的收藏(大约30,000个标本)，其中包含许多模式和来自新大陆的早期收藏。负责收藏的馆长John Cadle博士建议通过全面清点、重组、更新身份和建立计算机数据库来改进收藏。为这个项目选择的数据库程序MUSE在其他爬行动物和鱼类收藏中得到了广泛的应用。拟议的采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。重要的初级模式标本将被定位并可供系统研究使用。早期的收藏品将为生态学家和生物地理学家提供宝贵的洞察力，了解数百年来人类占领对该地区生物多样性的影响。翻新后的藏品将成为研究、公共教育和年轻爬行动物学家职业发展的长期资产。

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.