Support to Enhance the Accessibility of the Herpetological Collections of the FMNH

菲尔德自然历史博物馆（Field Museum of Natural History）的爬虫类藏品包括234,000种已编目的世界两栖动物和爬行动物代表，包括1226种。该藏品是美国第五大爬虫类藏品，博物馆管理部门最近大大增加了分配给该藏品的那部分建筑。负责收集的馆长哈罗德·沃里斯博士正在为这个扩建项目计划额外的存储设备，包括一个用于冷冻组织收集的超低温冷冻室。将为访问科学家建立新的研究区域并配备设备，并将现场记录、冷冻组织和组织学切片收集的数据添加到收集数据库中。对这一重要爬虫类标本的改进将增加其对研究界的价值和影响。数据库的改进将使标本更多地用于研究和借阅，为来访的爬虫学家提供的新实验室空间将得到大量使用。像这样的自然历史收藏是研究地球生物多样性的主要资源，它们的持续改进对未来几代研究人员至关重要。

The herpetological collection of the Field Museum of Natural History contains 234,000 catalogued representatives of the world's amphibians and reptiles, including 1,226 types. The collection is the fifth largest herpetology collection in the U.S., and the Museum administration has recently added significantly to that portion of the building assigned to the collection. Dr. Harold Voris, Curator in charge of the collection, is planning additional storage equipment for this expansion project, including an ultra-cold freezer for the frozen tissue collection. New research areas will be constructed and equipped for visiting scientists, and data from the field note, frozen tissue, and histological slide collections will be added to the collection database. The proposed improvements to this important herpetology collection will increase its value to and impact on the research community. Improvements to the database will make specimens more available for study and loan, and the new lab space for visiting herpetologists will be heavily used. Natural history collections such as this are the primary resource for studying biological diversity on earth, and their continued improvement is essential for future generations of researchers.