Explore/Vertebrate Zoology
Vertebrate Zoology
Mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles — along with fossils — from Hawai‘i and the Pacific Basin.
90+
amphibian and reptile holotypes
50+
bird and mammal holotypes
1778→
representatives of most bird species recorded in Hawai‘i since Western contact
The collections
The collections rank among the major collections from the Pacific region, with New Guinea and Solomon Islands holdings that are particularly impressive: the collection of reptiles and amphibians from Papua New Guinea is the most diverse and one of the largest in the world, with the best documented photographic and sound recordings taken in the field.
Bishop Museum is the only permitted repository for endangered and threatened Hawaiian species for all permits issued by the State of Hawai‘i. Many specimens significantly pre-date the major Hawaiian collections obtained for European museums in the 1890s — including several species that became extinct before 1890 — making the Museum unique in holding recent material that can be compared directly with century-old material.
Two New Guinea marsupials, long thought extinct, rediscovered with help from the Vertebrate Zoology collection.Open on YouTube
The collections database
Search 95,797 Vertebrate Zoology specimens
Records from 1851 to today, drawn from the Museum’s published data.
Tribolonotus annectensHolotype
BPBM 1001 · J Sedlacek
New Britain, Papua New Guinea
Callulops stictogasterParatype
BPBM 1002 · T C Maa
Papua New Guinea
Callulops stictogasterParatype
BPBM 1003 · T C Maa
Papua New Guinea
Cornufer macroscelesHolotype
BPBM 1005 · E J Ford, Jr.
New Britain, Papua New Guinea
Cornufer nexipusHolotype
BPBM 1009 · J L Gressitt
New Britain, Papua New Guinea
Asterophrys eurydactylaHolotype
BPBM 1014 · J L Gressitt
Fakfak Div., Indonesia
Callulops stictogasterParatype
BPBM 1019 · J Sedlacek
Papua New Guinea
Emoia guttataParatype
BPBM 10481 · A Allison
Papua New Guinea
Research
12 publications
Papers, reports and books by Vertebrate Zoology staff, with the PDF where there is one — readable in place and open to questions.
All Vertebrate Zoology publications ›2024
Systematics and biogeography of a Sunda-Papuan snake lineage (Natricidae: Tropidonophis Jan, 1863)Roberts, J.R., F. Kraus, A. Allison, S.J. Richards, B. Iova, B. Tjaturadi, S. Ruane, and C.C. Austin · Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
2024
Gold in the mountains: striking new species of Papuascincus (Sphenomorphini, Scincidae) from New GuineaSlavenko, A., S.J. Richards, S.C. Donnellan, A. Allison, and P.M. Oliver · Vertebrate Zoology
2024
The birds of North Halawa ValleyPreston, D.J., R. Pyle, F.G. Howarth · Bishop Museum Bulletin in Cultural and Environmental Studies
2024
The non-bird vertebrate fauna of North Halawa ValleyPreston, D.J. · Bishop Museum Bulletin in Cultural and Environmental Studies
2023
Diversity gradients of terrestrial vertebrates – substantial variations about a common theme: Richness patterns of terrestrial vertebratesRaz, T., A. Allison, L.L.J. Avila, A.A.M. Bauer, M.M. Böhm, G.G.H.H. de Oliveira O. Caetano, G.G. Colli, T.M. Doan, P. Doughty, L. Grismer, Y. Itescu, F. Kraus, M. Martins, M. Morando, G. Murali, Z.T. Nagy, C. de C. Nogueira, M. Novosolov, P.M. Oliver, P. Passos, D. Pincheira-Donoso, R. Sindaco, A. Slavenko, O. Torres-Carvajal, P. Uetz, P. Wagner, A. Zimin, U. Roll, and S. Meiri · Journal of Zoology
2023
Monitoring the diurnal and seasonal foraging of Hawaiian monk seals in mesophotic rubble habitat using seafloor event loggers called “electric rocks”Parrish, F.A., R.C. Boland, M. Sawyer, B. Greene, B. Buhleier, and G.M. Marshall · Endangered Species Research
From the collection
Research
The record of extinction — and survival
The Museum holds the largest collection of extinct Hawaiian vertebrate species in the state, and the only collection of Hawaiian subfossil bird fauna in the state — one of only two in the world. It is unique in having representatives of most of the bird species known to have occurred in the Hawaiian island chain since first Western contact in 1778.
Department staff
4 people
- MH
Molly Hagemann
Collection Manager
molly@bishopmuseum.org - AA
Allen Allison
Senior Zoologist
allison@bishopmuseum.org - TL
Terry Lopez
Collection Technician
terry.lopez@bishopmuseum.org - NW
Nicholas Walvoord
Collection Technician
nicholas@bishopmuseum.org
Research & loans
Specimens are available to scientists, students, artists, and all interested persons through loans and supervised use at the Museum. To request a collection visit or a back-of-house tour, use the Natural Sciences Collection Access and Use Request Form at bishopmuseum.org/collections-access.
molly@bishopmuseum.orgBe a part of our story
Celebrate the extraordinary history, culture, and environment of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific with a gift to Bishop Museum. As a partner in the Museum’s work, you help sustain the collections, the research and the knowledge behind every record on this site.
