Documenting and preserving the planet’s biodiversity
The Zoology Collections consist of nine collections with approximately 1.27 million specimens (including backlog). Specimen records are currently available online through Arctos or Symbiota, with data published to different portals including GBIF, SCAN, iDigBio, GGBN, BISON, Map of Life, VertNet, SEINet, InvertEBase, GLoBI and GenBank.
The largest collections include entomology with ~1.1 million specimens and taxonomic strengths in Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) and several families of Coleoptera (beetles), including a globally significant collection of scarab beetles. The arachnology collection (~56,300 vials) is one of the largest in the country and includes specimens from 10 orders. The ornithology collection (~55,000 specimens) is one of the largest in the American West with holotypes, paratypes, extinct taxa, and many species of conservation importance. The marine invertebrate collection (~43,700 lots) covers a worldwide range, with particular strengths in material from the Caribbean, western Mexico, and the Pacific. The mammal collection (~21,000 specimens), which has more than doubled in size over the last decade, covers seven continents, with a particularly strong Colorado focus. Both vertebrate collections span the last 150 years, with a focus on the Rocky Mountain region (>75%) and associated frozen tissues and parasites. The four smaller collections include the egg and nest collection (~7,300 specimens), the botany collection (~4,500 specimens) representing 240 families, the amphibian and reptile collection (~1,000 specimens), and the parasite collection (~7,500 lots), which grows in parallel with the bird and mammal collections.
