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Herpetology

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Herpetology

The Museu de Zoologia’s herpetological collection gathers the largest collection of South American reptiles and amphibians in the world, figuring among the six largest herpetological collections in existence. It currently has about 260,000 specimens (120,000 reptiles and 140,000 amphibians) of which 468 are type species, a tissues collection with approximately 6,850 samples and a skeleton collection with more than 1,000 specimens prepared in dry or diaphanized. Its collections have been computerized to allow a better management. It has been continuously used by specialists from Brazil and abroad as an indispensable base for research and training of human resources in graduate studies. It receives, annually, more than 30 visitors from Brazil and abroad. Countless students of initiation, improvement, master’s degree, and doctoral degree, today working in the most diverse Brazilian institutions, also visit the Herpetology collection to complement their research. Currently, the Herpetology collection of MZUSP represents an unavoidable reference for any researcher who performs revisionary work on Neotropical herpetofauna. The outstanding role of the collection also contributes to the fact that it is chosen preferentially by researchers who want to deposit large collections and type material from their research.