The herpetology collection at Georgia Southern University isn’t new, and it didn’t develop overnight. In fact, the earliest specimens in the collection have been around since the mid-1950s. However, there is still so much to learn from old and new specimens alike, according to its curator Lance McBrayer, Ph.D.
“Even though they’re dead, there’s still lots of information,” says McBrayer as he stands in the latest room to house the collection; he’s moved it three times since joining Georgia Southern as its curator in 2005.
The collection consists of thousands of specimens, each captured in time and locked away in clear jars in a display that would make some people's skin crawl. But not McBrayer. He's in his element surrounded by reptiles and amphibians.
Georgia is known as a hyper diverse state because of its five physiographic regions. This is why it has a plethora of opportunities for studying a wide range of amphibian and reptile species. Two important species found in the collection are the indigo snake (Drymarchol couperi) and the flatwood salamander (Ambystoma cingulatum). Both species are listed as either threatened or endangered by Georgia and the federal government. But there’s a reason the salamander is so plentiful in the collection.
“The curators who started this collection at the Savannah Science Museum studied salamanders,” explains McBrayer. “They collected a lot of salamanders – about 14,000 specimens across all the species we have in the state. They understood that A. cingulatum was increasingly rare and wanted to document it before it was gone.”
Despite some specimens' age, the collection continues to be used by scientists to collect data. Specimens of A. cingulatum from Georgia Southern’s herpetology collection were used to split the flatwood salamander into two separate species in 2007. Located in the western panhandle of Florida, the species there is called the Ambystoma bishopi (or, more commonly, the reticulated flatwoods salamander). It’s on the federal endangered species list, along with A. cingulatum. Scientists continue researching endangered species, using collections like the one at Georgia Southern.
“I just loaned out some of our A. cingulatum to another biologist,” says McBrayer. “We don’t really know anything about how many eggs females have. A biologist at Virginia Tech who also works with the Orianne Society here in southeast Georgia, used our specimens to conduct egg counts so we can try to quantify how many eggs a female may lay.”
McBrayer explains that researching the reproductive life of endangered salamanders may help a fledgling captive breeding program. And that’s just the start.
Some of the latest exploration in similar collections has been in the form of molecular research. The herpetology collection has been preparing for this future, too.
“We are making the transition so that we continue to collect specimens but also with those specimens we now collect tissue samples as well,” explains McBrayer. “Tissue samples will get stored in ultracold freezers so you can take the sample out, shave off a tiny piece of muscle, then send that to someone to extract DNA or RNA in their molecular research. Then we can re-freeze the sample so that someone else may use it years later.”
McBrayer adds that there are newly-developed methods to extract DNA from preserved specimens. However, it’s more difficult to get DNA utilizing those methods. That’s why it’s now protocol to extract tissues from each new specimen.
“We collect at least one and up to four different types of tissue (liver, heart, gonad, and muscle). You get different amounts and quality of DNA out of different tissues. So now we’re building a tissue collection to compliment the specimen collection,” says McBrayer. “Right now, we’ve got about 12,000 tissue samples. Yet, very soon you won’t need a specimen; you’ll just take a sample of tissue and extract DNA, then be able to get all, or most, of your answers. That’s what we’re gearing up for.”
For more information on the Georgia Southern – Savannah Science Museum’s Herpetology Collection and research opportunities pertaining to it, click here.
