Preparing Amphibians as Scientific Specimens

Documentation of the species recorded in biodiversity and inventory projects frequently involves preparation of voucher specimens, which are extremely important for the credibility of such studies (see Chapter 5). In addition, these specimens and their accompanying field notes are valuable sources of scientific information used in systematic, biogeographic, evolutionary, and ecological studies. Most vouchers are preserved specimens from the study site, although photographs of individuals or tape-recorded calls of frogs are sometimes substituted. To be useful as vouchers and to facilitate identifications of species, preserved specimens must be well prepared and well documented. Poorly prepared or improperly documented specimens are of little scientific value and usually not worth the effort of preparation. In this section I review the steps involved in the proper preparation of amphibians as scientific study specimens (for additional discussion, see Pisani 1973; Kams 1986; Simmons 1987).