CSBR: Ownership Transfer: Rehabilitation and digitization of a significant collection of amphibians, reptiles, and fishes through institutional networking

该奖项将支持从西德克萨斯A M大学（WTAMU）转移到德克萨斯A M大学（TAMU）的生物多样性研究和教学收藏（BRTC）的爬行动物，两栖动物和鱼类的集合。 WTAMU收藏了超过15，100种两栖动物和爬行动物标本。30，000种鱼类标本。它有丢失的危险，但具有重要的科学意义。WTAMU收藏了来自德克萨斯州西部和北部的藏品，填补了物种分布知识的空白。该项目的一个成果将是在WTAMU建立一个适当策划的教学和区域参考资料集，供动物学课程和自然资源机构使用。WTAMU的毕业生被聘为这些机构的生物学家，期望掌握标本鉴定技能。 本项目期间建立的联系将提高WTAMU和BRTC收集的有用性。BRTC是WTAMU收集的适当储存库。BRTC两栖动物和爬行动物部门（101，000个标本）是美国第12大，完全地理参考。鱼类部门（660，000个个体标本，在44，565个批次中编目）的规模排名第20位，在线，80%的地理参考。 WTAMU收集的一个独特之处是在生态学和海龟保护研究期间收集了同域鱼类，两栖动物和其他爬行动物。它包含至少2，060只淡水龟，分别代表34个属和14个属，每个属有超过5个标本。本文报道了中国地图龟属（Graptemys）的719个标本，其中包括濒危的卡格尔地图龟（Cagle's map turtle，G.卡格莱。 该项目将支持两名研究生和多名本科生，他们将获得丰富的策展经验和对收藏重要性的理解。 有了这个项目，新的材料将被纳入外展活动，通过得克萨斯州硕士博物学家计划，野生项目，野生飞行，科学和公民，和利奥波德教育项目。这些收集的数据将在地方、国家和国际生物多样性数据资源上提供，包括VertNet、全球生物多样性信息设施和iDigBio（https：//www.idigbio.org/），确保研究人员和公众能够获得。

This award will support the transfer a collection of reptiles, amphibians, and fishes from West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) to the Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections (BRTC) at Texas A&M University (TAMU). The WTAMU collection consists of more than 15,100 amphibian and reptile specimens and ca. 30,000 fish specimens. It is in danger of being lost, but has great scientific importance. The WTAMU collection contains holdings from West and North Texas that fill gaps in knowledge of species distributions. An outcome of the project will be a properly curated teaching and regional reference collection at WTAMU for use in zoology courses and by natural resource agencies. Graduates from WTAMU are employed as biologists for these agencies, with the expectation of skills at specimen identification. Linkages created during this project will enhance the usefulness of both WTAMU and BRTC collections.The BRTC is an appropriate repository for the WTAMU collections. The BRTC Division of Amphibians and Reptiles (101,000 specimens) is 12th largest in the USA and fully georeferenced. The Division of Fishes (660,000 individual specimens, catalogued across 44,565 lots) ranks 20th in size, is online and is 80 percent georeferenced. A unique feature of the WTAMU collection is that sympatric fishes, amphibians and other reptiles were collected during studies of ecology and conservation of turtles. It contains at least 2,060 freshwater turtles representing 34 genera and 14 genera represented by more than 5 specimens each. There are 719 specimens of map turtles in the genus Graptemys, including 312 specimens of the endangered Cagle's map turtle, G. caglei. The project will support two graduate students and multiple undergraduate workers who will gain extensive curatorial experience and understanding of the importance of collections. With this project, new material will be incorporated into outreach activities through the Texas Master Naturalist Program, Project Wild, Flying Wild, Science and Civics, and the Leopold Education Project. Data from these collections will be made available on local, national, and international biodiversity data resources, including VertNet, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and iDigBio (https://www.idigbio.org/), ensuring accessibility to researchers and the public.