Over 100 publications and contract reports are based wholly or in part on specimens deposited in this collection. The curator is Dr. Brooks M. Burr. He formerly served as secretary for the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. Among the approximately 10,000 specimens in this collection, the fourth largest of its kind in Illinois, are about 4,400 catalogued amphibians and 2,500 catalogued reptiles, representing nearly 200 species of each, and a few thousand not yet catalogued. The oldest specimens in any of the SIUC collections, dating to the 1880s, are deposited here.
Most material is from the eastern United States, the midwest, and Mexico.
Of significance is a synoptic set of salamander larvae, Mexican species of Ambystoma, and excellent collections of some of southern Illinois rarest species. All of the catalogued collection has been computerized, as are most of the curator s field notes. Over 120 publications are based wholly or in part on specimens deposited in this collection. The curator is Dr. Ronald A. Brandon. This collection is used primarily for teaching and public tours and includes material largely from southern Illinois.