| Abstract | The Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) tissue collection contains approximately 11,000 mammal, 8,000 bird, and 20,000 herpetological tissue samples. Over 90% of these samples have voucher specimens in the MVZ collections. The majority of samples were preserved in the field in liquid nitrogen and are stored at -75C. However, the Museum also maintains a growing collection of non-frozen tissues preserved in 95% ethanol or in buffer. In addition, DNA obtained from traditional specimen material (e.g., skin, hair, feathers, toe pads, bone) represents a potentially important resource for genetic studies. |
