The Collection of Batrachology and Herpetology of the Spanish Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC)

Abstract

The Collection of Batrachology and Herpetology of the Spanish Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, has more than two hundred years old, contain about 40.000 specimens. It’s the biggest collection of his type in Spain and also the best and the most representive of iberian fauna in the word. It has representation of 273 anfibians species and 473 of reptiles, grouped into 25 and 33 families respectively. The most of them are spanish, but there are significant samples of the european fauna, and faunas of others continents where Spain has politics influence in the past. It’s has an importan collection of type specimens and series, as spanish species as sudamerican, african or asiatic specimens. The collection is inventory in 60% and computerized in 45%. There are several “Author collections”, since a few initials specimens of Franco Davila collection, passing for Graells’, Boscá’s, Jiménez de la Espada’s collections, and so on. It is a public collection with an annual estimate for management and conservation, for that it can by used by all scientific comunity, also is an ideal institution to placed and to preserve the specimens coming from scientic research, overcoat type specimens.