Cataloging the oldest herpetology collection in South Korea

The herpetology collection of the Ewha Womans University Natural History Museum (EWNHM) represents one of the oldest and largest institutional collections in the Republic of Korea. The specimens deposited in the EWNHM represent a major historical collection of the native herpetofauna, both in species diversity and time span. However, the full inventory of the herpetology collection has never been conducted and thus the collection has received little attention from researchers. Here, we provide the first full account of the herpetology specimens held at the EWNHM. We provide voucher information for all documented specimens to make the collection accessible for future studies.

Report of dicephalism in Gloydius saxatilis

We describe a specimen of Karsenia koreana, the only Asian plethodontid salamander, found in the herpetology collection of Ewha Woman’s University Natural History Museum (EWNHM), Republic of Korea. This specimen was collected in Daedun Mountain, North Jeolla Province on 8 May 1978 by EWNHM and subsequently misidentified as Hynobius leechii. Therefore, this particular specimen predates the formal description of the species by 27 years. We also remark on the specimen previously described by Nishikawa (2009) and an observation of K. koreana made in Baekun Mountain on 24 August 1999. These records altogether represent fuller historical data on the presence of this species in the country prior to formal species description.

This publication reports on the limb malformations in Oriental fire-bellied toads (Bombina orientalis) encountered in the collection of the Natural History Museum of Ewha Womans University. Herpetology Notes, volume 13: 29-31 (2020) (published online on 26 January 2020)