Herpetology Highlights

  • Expeditions

    Expeditions

    Herpetology in Myanmar and the Gulf of Guinea
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  • Galapagos Tortoise Collection

    History

    Collecting herpetological specimens since 1853.
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  • Collections

    Collections

    Explore Herpetology's vast collections
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  • tetragenesis

    Research

    Frogs of the Arabuko-Sokoke forest.
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During the past two and half decades, the Department has produced well over 100 scientific papers, and authored or contributed to the publication of at least 11 books. Herpetology faculty and staff have served as officers and board members of national and international organizations such as the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Geological Society of America, Willi Hennig Society, California Institute for International Studies, Forum for the History of Science in America, the Biodiversity Foundation for Africa (Zimbabwe) and the National CITES Standing Committee of the Kenya Wildlife Service, to name a few.

Collection Statistics

As of March 2011, 300,761 specimens have been cataloged in the Department of Herpetology. The collection is comprised of the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) collection (247,465 specimens) and the Stanford University (CAS-SU) collection (53,296 specimens).

African Frogs

Visit Dr. Bob Drewes' pages on The Frogs of the Impenetrable Forest, Frogs of the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, Gulf of Guinea Treefrogs, and the discovery of a new Serengeti Treefrog.  The Amphibian and Predator list, available on the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest page, contains images, sounds, and descriptions of the frogs, some of the predators, and other inhabitants.

Funding Opportunities

The Herpetology Department maintains two grant programs: The Charles Stearns Memorial Grant-In-Aid for Herpetological Research and The Brett Stearns Award for Chelonian Research. 

New species of reptiles and amphibians discovered from Myanmar

Download Dr. Jeff Wilkinson's presentation of new species discovered in Myanmar.

 

 

 

Projects funded by the National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has funded several major California Academy of Sciences Herpetology Department projects.

Herpetology Department Innovations

The members of the Department of Herpetology pride themselves in being one of the more creative and innovative departments in the Academy. Our past three decades have included many Academy "firsts."

The Digitization and Rectification of the Brown and Alcala Philippine Collection

The California Academy of Sciences maintains the largest collection of Philippine amphibians and reptiles in the world, comprised of 29,656 whole preserved specimens, representing 386 taxa, including 95 holotypes, 12 syntypes (10 taxa), seven neotypes, two lectotypes, two paralectotypes and 1,813 paratypes (102 taxa). The collection’s breadth covers 98 islands including all the main islands within the Philippine Archipelago. Over 156 scientific publications have utilized specimens from this collection, and at least 10,713 specimens (over one third of specimens) have been cited.

Research Expeditions

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Contact the Department

  • Herpetology
  • California Academy of Sciences
  • 55 Music Concourse Drive
  • San Francisco, CA 94118
  • 415-379-5289 (direct)

Summer Systematics Institute

 

The Academy's SSI and BI internships are now open to submission of applications according to the instructions given here. Learn more.

 

 

 

 

February 17, 2012

FAQs

  • Can I tour Herpetology?

    The Academy hosts a myriad of tour packages including a Platinum Behind the Scenes tour where you can visit multiple research departments. If you specifically only want a tour of Herpetology please contact our collection's manager, Jens Vindum at least 3-4 weeks in advance.  Visitation is dependent upon work load, visiting researchers, staff levels and schedules. 

  • Can you identify a reptile or amphibian for me?

    Positive identifications can only be made if a specimen is brought to our laboratory.  We cannot declare genera based solely upon general descriptions, drawings, or even photographs.

  • I'm thinking of becoming a Herpetologist or know someone who is developing an interest. Do you have any advice?

    Herpetology is a wonderful field with many possibilities.  Please visit our staff pages to learn more about our interests, foci, and specialties first and then send an email or letter with your questions.  We'll answer as best we can and as time permits (sometimes we're in the field for up to 2 months at a time!)

  • What’s the best way to take care of my animal?

    Please note that we do not work with the live animals on exhibit, nor do we focus on husbandry. Inquiries regarding animals on exhibit should be directed to the Aquarium, and for inquires regarding husbandry, we recommend contacting the East Bay Vivarium.

  • Can I donate specimens?

    We only accept donations of specimens if you are able to provide locality data, (this includes latitude and longitude as given by a GPS unit). Otherwise please contact the Academy's Naturalist Center . They take donations of specimens that are in good condition for educational purposes.

Dr. Drewes Gulf of Guinea Blog

The Race: Our Omali Base and Year’s Odds and Ends.
Year’s end and things are busy, even in Academia. Here at the Academy, we are already in planning mode for GG VI but more on that in coming months. We are awaiting the publication of more of our discoveries, and I will report them here as they appear. In the meantime this is a ...
The Race: New Species, New People and Intriguing Biogeography
Lots of news this time. First, graduate students of the University of California, Santa Cruz and California State University, Monterey Bay teamed up to do a most excellent on-line presentation of our work in the Gulf of Guinea Islands, called Documenting Eden; it includes a slide show and can be found here: http://sciencenotes.ucsc.edu/2011/pages/eden/eden.html On the biodiversity ...
The Race: An Embarrassing Surprise in Henrique’s Garden
Last May while still in the islands I wrote a blog entitled “Henrique’s Spider.”  Henrique Pinto da Costa is my good friend and former Minister of Agriculture in the Republic of São Tomé e Príncipe. We are quite close and call each other “Bob 42” and “Henrique 42”, referring to the year of our respective ...

Become a Donor

For those who would like to support young herpetologists through the Joseph B. Slowinski fund, tax deductible donations can be made to 'the California Academy of Sciences', with a cover letter stating that the money is to be credited to the Joseph B. Slowinski Memorial Fund. Please address your donation to:

 

Herpetology Chair
California Academy of Sciences
55 Music Concourse Drive
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA. 94118
United States