The collection of the Herpetological Museum of the University of Antioquia (northwestern Colombia)

Abstract

Northwestern South America harbors one of the richest herpetofauna in the world. The connection among several biogeographic provinces along with climatic and orographic complexity makes this region an important contributor to the Neotropical biodiversity. Despite of this importance, the amphibian and reptile fauna in this area remains largely unknown as few herpetological collections has been made in recent decades. Motivated by this, the Herpetological Museum at the Universidad de Antioquia (Medellín, Colombia) has been increasing the collection in the last 16 years to better understand the herpetofaunal diversity and thus contribute to ecological, systematic, biogeographic and conservation research in the Neotropics. Here, we present the results of this effort and highlight how future collection will impact our understanding of the Neotropical herpetofauna.

In Silico Selection and Evaluation of Pugnins with Antibacterial and Anticancer Activity Using Skin Transcriptome of Treefrog (Boana pugnax)

“…A substantial fraction of these species is found in the department of Antioquia, which has an area of 62,150 km 2 . According to data from the Herpetology Museum of the University of Antioquia (MHUA), approximately 30% of Colombia's amphibian species are present in this territory, represented by 230 species (~34% of Colombia's species) [16]. The nocturnal tree frog B. pugnax (Schmidt, 1857), which ranges in size from 68.9 to 77.9 mm, lives in the open lowlands of Southern Central and Northern South America [17].…”