Reptiles and Amphibians

Reptiles and amphibians belong to the cold-blooded quadrupeds. These groups can be divided into several taxonomic groups such as among the reptiles the snakes, turtles, lizards, worm lizards and crocodiles. Amphibians include frogs, toads, salamanders and worm salamanders. The collection is arranged taxonomically and contains more than 100,000 recorded reptiles and amphibians. Most are kept in glass jars or large containers in formaldehyde but there are also a large number of dry mounted skeletons and skins in the collection. Geographic focuses of this collection are the Netherlands, Europe, Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia and Japan, Suriname and the Amazon.

Oldest
collection

The collection of the National Museum of Natural History was created by the amalgamation of a number of collections and cabinets at the time of the museum's foundation in 1820 by King William I. These cabinets of natural history objects arose because, from the 15th and 16th centuries onward, people came into contact with animals and plants through voyages of discovery that had never been seen in Europe. Later, many large natural history cabinets arose in the Netherlands because of our position and participation in world trade. One of the most famous natural history cabinets was that of Albertus Seba. Some objects from this cabinet ended up in the Naturalis collection via the stadholder cabinet.

Naturalis' Reptiles and Amphibians collection has its origins in these cabinets and, after the museum was founded, was expanded to include objects collected during trips such as those of the then newly established Natural History Commission. Director Temminck wanted this committee to promote Physical Research in the Dutch East Indies and sent out members to collect pieces for the museum. Important members of the committee who collected much herpetological material included H.Kuhl, J.C.van Hasselt, H.Boie, H, Macklot and S.Muller. Later members included Schwaner, P.Diard and Forsten.

Hoogmoed
collection

The collection of Marinus Hoogmoed consists of reptiles and amphibians collected by him between 1968 and 1999 during a large number of expeditions mainly in South America. He collected in the depths of the jungles of countries such as Suriname, Brazil, Venezuela and French Guiana, thus charting the range of reptiles and amphibians living in these remote areas. This collection of some 10,000 specimens in total is kept at Naturalis and is still frequently consulted by scientists around the world.

Expeditions

The collection of reptiles and amphibians continued to grow in the 19th and 20th centuries through the many expeditions organized by the museum or of which the museum was a part. Important expeditions for this collection include the two expeditions to Dutch New Guinea, Wisselmeren in 1939 and the Star Mountains in 1959. This was followed by several expeditions to Suriname, including the Brokopondo research project in 1969, followed by many collecting trips led by M.S.Hoogmoed in the Amazon region.

Centerpieces

The material of the Physics Committee has been collected in Java, New Guinea, Sumatra, Moluccas and Borneo, among other places. This collection has been a very valuable source for the descriptions of new species, contains many type specimens and is still of great scientific and cultural-historical value.