LSA’s Museum of Zoology recently acquired tens of thousands of scientifically priceless reptile and amphibian specimens, including roughly 30,000 snakes preserved in alcohol-filled glass jars.
The new acquisitions boost the university’s collection of reptiles and amphibians to roughly half a million specimens, including some 70,000 snakes. With the latest additions, U-M now maintains the largest research collection of snakes anywhere in the world, according to museum curators.
More than 100 boxes containing jarred snakes, lizards, salamanders, newts, frogs, and turtles were hauled to Ann Arbor recently from Oregon State University, which felt the U-M museum was especially well-positioned to maximize the scientific potential of this valuable resource, according to evolutionary biologist Dan Rabosky, a curator at UMMZ.
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Photo by Eric Bronson/Michigan Photography
