University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
PRINTED BY
JEAN M. NEIBARGER, STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA, KANSAS
1962
29-4227
Type Specimens of Amphibians and Reptiles
in the Museum of Natural History,
The University of Kansas
BY
WILLIAM E. DUELLMAN AND BARBARA BERG
In recent years various museums have issued lists of the type specimens in their collections. These lists are valuable to systematists by providing these workers with information that otherwise sometimes is difficult to obtain. Although by comparison with the large museums in the eastern part of the United States, such as the American Museum of Natural History, the United States National Museum, and the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard, the herpetological collections in the Museum of Natural History at The University of Kansas are relatively small (70,000 specimens), a large number of types are contained in the collection. The largest number of types are of species described from Costa Rica by Edward H. Taylor between 1949 and 1958. Beginning in 1932 and continuing until World War II, Taylor described many species from México; types of these species were contained in the Edward H. Taylor—Hobart M. Smith collection. Inquiries from herpetologists reveal that many workers suppose that the EHT-HMS collection is in the Museum of Natural History. Such is not the case, for the EHT-HMS collection has been divided between the Chicago Natural History Museum and the University of Illinois Museum of Natural History.
The list of type specimens presented here includes all holotypes and paratypes that are known in the museum as of April 15, 1962. Only specimens actually designated as paratypes by the original describer are considered as such. Each species or subspecies is listed in the combination as it was originally proposed. If the name has been subjected to subsequent nomenclatural change or has been placed in synonymy, the name in current use is given after an equals sign, together with a citation to the authority for the change. The arrangement in the following list is alphabetical by genus and species within orders (suborders in the Squamata). Current combinations of names that have been changed subsequent to their original proposal are listed in the correct alphabetical place with a cross-reference to the original combination.
All original citations have been checked, and actual dates of publication are given for each. The checking of original citations, museum catalogues, labels, and sometimes collectors’ field catalogues has revealed numerous errors. In some cases the catalogue numbers of the holotypes and paratypes given by Taylor actually were his field numbers. In the following list the museum numbers that were subsequently assigned are given. Certain localities have been given incorrectly; for example, Taylor described several species from Moravia de Chirripó, which he gave as being in Limón Province, Costa Rica. Actually Moravia de Chirripó is in Cartago Province. We have attempted to correct all such errors.