Research Center for Biology - Zoology Division

HERPETOLOGY LABORATORY
MUSEUM ZOOLOGICUM BOGORIENSE
ZOOLOGY DIVISION
RESEARCH CENTER FOR BIOLOGY
INDONESIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCES

A. Scientific Collections

The Herpetology Laboratory of the Bogor Zoological Museum or Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense (MZB) is the national biodiversity repository for Indonesian Herpetofauna (Amphibians and Reptiles). The museum maintains a wet collection preserved in 70% ethanol and a dry collection composed of skeletons and skins. About 90% of collections are preserved (wet) specimens; the remainder are dry specimens preserved in borax.


This is the wet collection room in the MZB, in which amphibian and reptile specimens are stored in compactors.	Holotype, paratype, and syntype specimens are stored separately in a fire-proof cabinet. The bottles marked with red are holotype specimens; bottles with yellow contain paratypes or syntypes.


View of the shelving and preserved specimens within a single compactor.


Dry collection room in the Herpetology Laboratory.

The number of amphibian and reptile species that are stored in the Herpetology Laboratory as of April 2009 is shown in Table 1 below. The number of species and specimens in the collection has been growing rapidly as a result of LIPI research activities, as well as those of foreign researchers studying the herpetofaunal diversity of Indonesia.

Table 1. Number of Herpetofauna species in MZB for April 2009.

Class	Ordo/Order	Family	Number of Species (common collections)	Number Of Type Specimen
Class	Ordo/Order	Family	Number of Species (common collections)	Holotype	Paratype	Syntype
AMPHIBIA	Gymnophiona	Ichthyophidae	5	-	-	-
	Anura	Bombinatoridae	-	1	-	-
		Myobatrachidae	3	-	-	-
		Megophryidae	12	-	1	-
		Bufonidae	23	1	1	-
		Hylidae	43	7	9	-
		Microhylidae	60	7	11	-
		Ranidae	93	4	10	-
		Rhacophoridae	36	-	3	-
		Limnodynastidae	-	-	-	1
Total Number of Species			275	20	34	1

Class	Ordo/ Order	Family	Number of Species (common collections)	Number Of Type Specimen
Class	Ordo/ Order	Family	Number of Species (common collections)	Holotype	Paratype	Syntype
REPTILIA	Crocodylia	Crocodylidae	4	-	-	-
	Testudinata	Cheloniidae	4	-	-	-
		Dermochelyidae	1	-	-	-
		Carettochelyidae	1	-	-	-
		Chelidae	5	-	-	-
		Emydidae	10	-	-	-
		Testudinidae	3	-	-	-
		Trionychidae	6	-	-	-
	Lacertilia	Agamidae	57	2	2	-
		Dibamidae	3	-	-	-
		Gekkonidae	44	5	6	1
		Lacertidae	1	-	-	-
		Anguidae	2	-	-	-
		Pygopodidae	2	-	-	-
		Scincidae	104	6	8	2
		Varanidae	18	1	1	1
	Ophidia	Typhlopidae	9	1	3	-
		Cylindrophiidae	7	-	-	-
		Boidae	3	-	-	-
		Pythonidae	15	-	-	-
		Xenopeltidae	1	-	-	-
		Acrochordidae	3	-	-	-
		Colubridae	143	5	5	-
		Elapidae	39	-	1	-
		Viperidae	11	-	-	1
Total Number of Species			496	20	26	5

Some Publications of Type Specimen in MZB :

Based on catalog numbers, the number of specimens in the collection as of August 2009 is listed below:

Amphibian: Number of catalog is 15370;
Reptile are divided into 4 groups:

Crocodylia (crocodiles): Number of cataloged specimens is 27;
Testudinata (turtles): Number of cataloged specimens is 407;
Lacertilia (lizards): Number of cataloged specimens is 7653;
Ophidia (snakes): Number of cataloged specimens is 3952.

The wet collection is organized into four groups; Amphibia, Ophidia, Lacertilia and Testudinata. The phylogenetic hierarchy for species representing the four groups is based on the following references:

Amphibian :
Iskandar, D.T. and E. Colijn. 2000.Preliminary checklist of Southeast Asian and New Guinean herpetofauna. I. Amphibians. Treubia 31 (3) supplement : 1-133.
Ophidia :
Iskandar, D.T. and E. Colijn. 2002. A checklist of Southeast Asian and New Guinean reptiles. Part I. Serpentes. Binamitra. Jakarta.
Lacertilia :
Iskandar, D.T. Preliminary checklist of Asian herpetofauna. (in press).
Testudinata :
Iskandar, D.T. 2000. Turtles and Crocodiles of insular Southeast Asia and New Guinea. PALMedia Citra. Bandung.

B. Research

Research in the Herpetology Laboratory includes species taxonomy, basic and community ecology, phylogenetics of species on the basis of molecular biology, and experimental captive breeding for some reptiles that are threatened by habitat loss or trade. Most of the activities on species taxonomy are based on fieldwork for species exploration and species inventory in areas that have not been studied previously. Activities on species ecology are usually conducted on focal species that are under threat in their natural habitats. Research on species phylogeny is an activity that is usually carried out in the Genetic Laboratory of the MZB. Experimental captive breeding activities for the study of ex situ biology of several species are focused on threatened and red-listed species according to the IUCN. There are several species of turtle that are kept in Herpetology Laboratory, includes Cuora amboinensis and Elseya novaeguineae.

Report of Activities

To offer a guideline on the acoustic identification of SE Asian frog species, the Herpetology Laboratory has started to compile an acoustic database of calls of frogs from Indonesia. The sound recordings were made by Dr. Arjan Boonman of Queen Mary University, UK and the project is led by Hellen Kurniati of Herpetology Laboratory, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI); and with additional recording by dr. Mirza Kusrini and college (Fahutan IPB). We are presently working on publishing descriptions of these sounds. Note that the sounds downloadable here are in compressed format and therefore unsuitable for scientific publications. The human auditory perception of the sounds presented here can nevertheless be of great use in acoustic herpetological surveys. Sounds can be downloaded by clicking here.

C. Services

Some services are provided by the Herpetology Laboratory, including:

Species identification:
Species identification services are given by researchers in the Herpetology Laboratory.
Consultation on environmental issues:
Environmental consultation and assessment of environmental impacts resulting from land use and land conversion are provided by researchers in the Herpetology Laboratory.

Taxidermy:
Taxidermy services are given by research assistants in the Herpetology Laboratory.


In the Herpetology Laboratory, taxidermy work is provided by our research assistants.

Student advisor :
Student advisor services are provided by researchers in the Herpetology Laboratory for under graduate and graduate students.

D. Human Resources

Herpetology Laboratory is supported by nine personnel including seven researchers and two research assistants. A list of current personnel is shown in Table 2.

Table 2. List of Herpetology Laboratory personalities.

Name	Position	Degree of Academy
Irvan Sidik	Head of the laboratory/Researcher	S2 (Master)
Mumpuni	Researcher	S1 (Bachelor)
Hellen Kurniati	Researcher	S1 (Bachelor)
Awal Ryanto	Researcher	S1 (Bachelor)
Dadang R. Subasli	Researcher	S1 (Bachelor)
Amir Hamidy	Researcher	S1 (Bachelor)
Evy A. Arida	Researcher	S2 (Master)
Mulyadi	Research Assistant	High school
Tri Wahyu Laksono	Research Assistant	High school

E. Published books

Description :

Kurniati, H. 2003. Amphibians and reptiles of Gunung Halimun National Park. Research Center for Biology. Nagao Natural Environment Foundation. Cibinong. 134 pp.
Kurniati, H. 2008. Buku Panduan. Pembesaran dan penangkaran buaya jenis Buaya Muara Crocodylus porosus dan Buaya Air Tawar Irian Crocodylus novaeguineae. Bidang Zoologi, Pusat Penelitian Biologi, LIPI. Cibinong. 33 pp. (Manual book. Ranching and captive breeding of saltwater crocodile Crocodylus porosus and New Guinea freshwater crocodile Crocodylus novaeguineae).
Kurniati, H. 2005. Metode survei pemantauan populasi satwa. Seri kesatu. Buaya. Bidang Zoologi, Pusat Penelitian Biologi, LIPI. Cibinong. 35 pp. (Survey method on wildlife population monitoring. First version. Crocodile).
Riyanto, A. and Mumpuni. 2003. Metode survei pemantauan populasi satwa. Seri ketiga. Kura-kura. Bidang Zoologi, Pusat Penelitian Biologi, LIPI. Cibinong. 34 pp. (Survey method on wildlife population monitoring. Third version. Turtle).

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Written by Hellen Kurniati
Last Update at 06-01-2011