Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ-Herpetology Collection)

The Museum of Comparative Zoology was founded in 1859 on the concept that collections are an integral and fundamental component of zoological research and teaching. This more than 150-year-old commitment remains a strong and proud tradition for the MCZ. The present-day MCZ contains over 21-million specimens in ten research collections which comprise one of the world's richest and most varied resources for studying the diversity of life. The museum serves as the primary repository for zoological specimens collected by past and present Harvard faculty-curators, staff and associates conducting research around the world. As a premier university museum and research institution, the specimens and their related data are available to researchers of the scientific and museum community.

Collection Type: Preserved Specimens
Management: Data snapshot of local collection database
Last Update: 22 June 2022
IPT / DwC-A Source:
Digital Metadata: EML File
Collection Statistics
  • 8,370 specimen records
  • 8,150 (97%) georeferenced
  • 321 (4%) with images (1,833 total images)
  • 3,652 (44%) identified to species
  • 32 families
  • 22 genera
  • 22 species
  • 35 total taxa (including subsp. and var.)
Extra Statistics
Geographic Distribution
Click on the specimen record counts within the parenthesis to return the records for that term