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Vertebrate Collections

The Canadian Museum of Nature's Vertebrate Collections include fish, amphibians and reptiles, birds, mammals and an osteological reference collection.

Our Fish Collection contains ca. 60,000 lots of fluid-preserved specimens, 1,000 lots of cleared and stained specimens, and ca. 500 lots of fish skeletons and otoliths. We have ca. 1,740 type specimens that are mainly paratypes. We have a good representation of freshwater and marine species, predominately from North American high latitudes. The museum holds the best Canadian Arctic and lamprey collection in the world.

Our Amphibian and Reptile Collection contains ca. 37,000 lots, most of which are fluid-preserved, with some skeletons, skins and mounted specimens. It also boasts a very good collection of dried frog skins mounted on a sheets of paper like plants; they offer a very good source of tissue for DNA extraction. Our emphasis is on geographic and life history variation of common species in Canada. Approximately 89% of the collection comprises Canadian specimens. This collection counts representatives from 972 species (379 are amphibians; 593 are reptiles) in 63 families. One hundred and thirty-seven are type specimens, including two holotypes, among which one is a Canadian holotype and five are Canadian paratypes.

Our extensive Bird Collection comprises study skins, mounted specimens, skeletons, nests, eggs and some fluid-preserved specimens. In all, there are approximately 125,000 specimens representing about 2,600 species (1/4 of the world's species). This reference collection documents the extensive variation found in bird species across Canada, but also in countries where some of our birds spend the winter, such as Mexico or Brazil. The collection contains specimens taken over a long span of time, including species that are now extinct.

Our Mammal Collection has ca. 85,000 study skins, pelts, mounts and skeletons, from about 600 species. We have the most comprehensive collection of Canadian mammals, with extensive coverage of Arctic regions. Carnivores, ungulates, rodents and marine mammals are well represented. The museum also holds many cetacean tissue samples (both dry and fluid-preserved) that were collected in the North Atlantic during commercial whaling operations in the 1960s and early 1970s.