The collection of the Herpetological Museum of the University of Antioquia (northwestern Colombia)

Abstract Northwestern South America harbors one of the richest herpetofauna in the world. The connection among several biogeographic provinces along with climatic and orographic complexity makes this region an important contributor to the Neotropical biodiversity. Despite of this importance, the amphibian and reptile fauna in this area remains largely unknown as few herpetological collections has been made in recent decades. Motivated by this, the Herpetological Museum at the Universidad de Antioquia (Medellín, Colombia) has been increasing the collection in the last 16 years to better understand the herpetofaunal diversity and thus contribute to ecological, systematic, biogeographic and conservation research in the Neotropics. Here, we present the results of this effort and highlight how future collection will impact our understanding of the Neotropical herpetofauna.


Introduction
The Herpetological Museum of the Universidad of Antioquia (in Spanish: Museo de Herpetología Universidad de Antioquia -MHUA) was created in 1998 with the main goal to generate, perpetuate, organize and provide information and data of amphibian and reptile faunas focusing mostly in northwestern Colombia in the Department of Antioquia and the northern Andes. The 13,343 specimens in the MHUA collection are mainly the result of the fieldwork and identifications of multiple researchers and students associated with the Biology Institute at the Universidad de Antioquia over the last sixteen years. Since its creation, the museum has been administered by the Antioquia Herpetological Group (in Spanish: Grupo Herpetológico de Antioquia -GHA, http://herpetologicodeantioquia.org/) and is currently directed by professors: Vivian P. Páez, Brian C. Bock and Juan M. Daza. Significant contributions to the growth, maintenance and optimal operation of the MHUA collection have also been made by past and current researchers: John J. Estrada, Juan M. Daza, Juan P. Hurtado, Esteban Alzate, Mauricio Rivera, Juan C. Arredondo, Eliana Muñoz, Lina Hinestroza, and Paul D. Gutiérrez-Cárdenas. During the short history of the GHA and the MHUA, this collection has been a fundamental initiative, where specimens have been collected during research conducted by professors, biologists, and undergraduate and graduate students. It also has been essential for providing reference material for other studies conducted by the GHA research Lab and by other researchers from other national and international institutions. Of the current 13,343 specimens deposited in the MHUA collection,8,195 are amphibians representing 230 identified species (~29.9% of the species in Colombia) and 5,148 are reptiles representing 223 identified species (~37% of the species in Colombia). Catalog numbers for amphibians range from MHUA A-0001 to MHUA A-8195 and for reptiles from MHUA R-10000 to MHUA R-18540. Specimens data are stored in a digital database including in some cases calls and pictures of the living specimen. Additionally, the museum houses seven holotypes and 142 paratypes of 11 species Table 1) and 240 tadpole lots preserved in formaldehyde and their data recorded on paper (Currently not included in the online database).

Catalog Number Reference
Dendropsophus norandinus

Sampling methods
Study extent: The MHUA is a regional museum covering mostly the northwestern region of Colombia (Fig. 1). Department of Antioquia with an area of 63,326.5 km is the most significant political division represented in the MHUA collection with 1,033 sampling localities and 8,544 specimens. Collection effort per locality varies from 1 up to 318 specimens.
Geographic distributions of specimens deposited in MHUA collection. A: All specimens, Amphibian and Reptiles; B: Amphibians and C: Reptiles collected within Antioquia Province.
The collection of the Herpetological Museum of the University of Antioquia ...

Sampling description:
Specimens deposited in the MHUA are the result of multiple research projects, teaching activities, and donations. As a consequence, no general, single or uniform protocol has been followed to collect and prepare specimens. For example, collections procedures of donated specimens are largely unknown as most of the specimens were found fortuitously. In contrast, specimens from research projects and teaching activities share similar sampling and preparation protocols. Depending on the research goal, capture methods include Visual Encounter Surveys (VES), sampling plots, linear transects, and pitfall traps according to Angulo et al. (2006). All specimens are preserved in wet, alcohol for adults and formaldehyde for tadpoles.
Quality control: Before a specimen is deposited in the collection, the museum curatorial staff revises the associated information to the specimen, i.e., locality, coordinates, taxonomy. The minimum information required to include a specimen in the collection is the one needed to publish the data in GBIF. Scientific names follow two standarized taxonomic nomenclatures. For amphibians we follow Frost (2014) and reptile taxonomy follows Uetz (2010).

Geographic coverage
Description: The 13,343 specimens deposited in MHUA collection came mainly from the Andean region of northwestern Colombia ( Fig. 1 -A). Specimens have been collected from 1524 localities (953 for amphibians and 762 for reptiles), and the maximum number of amphibians (72.7% -5959 specimens) and reptiles (53.1% -2757 specimens) has been collected within province of Antioquia (1033 localities) ( Fig. 1 Fig. 2). Altitudinally, specimens in MHUA represents since sea level up to 4000 m. a. s., however, the majority of collections have been made in low and mid lands (below 2000 m a. s.; Fig. 3).

Temporal coverage
Notes: The MHUA data cover specimens collected from 1971 to 2013. Specimens collected before 1998, when the museum was founded, are mostly donations and sampling efforts of independent researchers. Most specimens have entered the collection after the year 2000 thanks to research projects in our laboratory and teaching activities (Fig. 4).  The taxonomic rank of the most specific name in the scientificName collectionID An identifier for the institution having custody of the object(s) or information referred to in the record