The KU Biodiversity Institute studies the life of the planet for the benefit of the Earth and its inhabitants. The institute, including the KU Natural History Museum, accomplishes this mission through the acquisition, curation and study of collections of plants, animals, fossil material and cultural artifacts for undergraduate, graduate and public education, as well as research and public and professional service.

The Biodiversity Institute’s worldwide collection of almost 9 million specimens and 1.2 million archeological artifacts encompass the study of archaeology, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, mammals, plants, parasites, insects, and fossil plants and animals. More than 100 research scientists and graduate students in the institute study the species, ecosystems, evolution and cultures of the planet. They use this information to model and forecast environmental phenomena that are critical to human well-being, including threatened and endangered species, the potential spread of diseases and pest species, and the effect of climate change on Earth’s biodiversity and habitats.

The KU Natural History Museum is home to four floors of public exhibits including the historic Panorama; live snakes and insects; vertebrate and invertebrate fossils; parasites and microbes; and the flora and fauna of the Great Plains. The museum provides content-rich, hands-on informal science learning for school groups in grades K–12. These programs have reached more than 40,000 participants over the past decade. The museum also offers a wide range of public programs and events.

University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute ichthyology tissue collection

The University of Kansas Ichthyology frozen tissue collection continues to expand rapidly and has broad representation of both marine and freshwater fish diversity - 11,000 individual tissue samples from 2384 taxa (297 families and 1077 genera) and 38 countries (Australia, Belize, Ethiopia, Fiji, Nepal, Seychelles, South Africa and Tonga etc., as well as oceanic localities). The collections and the scope of research activities in the division continue to grow due to the ongoing activities of ichthyology staff and students. The collection is used by national and international researchers as well as by state and federal agencies. The Division of Ichthyology is designated as a Regional Center in the Midwest and Great Plains Regions (Collette & Lachner 1976, Copeia 1976: 625-642; Poss and Collette 1995, Copeia 1995: 48-70) and is among the top twenty ichthyological collections in the country. Almost 60% of the specimens in the collection are from the Great Plains Region. The collection is an important resource for anyone interested in the region’s fishes. The data concerning these faunas are not extensively duplicated by other ichthyological collections. The tissue collection comprises tissue samples originally collected in liquid nitrogen, DMSO and ethanol and stored in state-of-the-art liquid nitrogen dewars at -170°C. The tissues are made up mostly of muscle tissue but also includes, liver and other internal organs, fin clips and whole specimens. A large proportion of our collection has vouchers held either at KU or at other collections. The provenance of these vouchers is indicated in the database

Collection Size

11000 frsehwater and marine tis

Collection Coverage

Usage restrictions

Usage restrictions for individual collections should be investigated by accessing the individual collection pages for those divisions at http://biodiversity.ku.edu.

Access rights

http://biodiversity.ku.edu/research/university-kansas-biodiversity-institute-data-publication-and-use-norms

Curation details

McGinley Conservation statuses

Institution Codes

Rights

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en_US