Search for Specimens
Welcome to the Collection Database of the Charles Darwin Foundation. This database includes records of all Natural History Collections hosted at the Charles Darwin Research Station, Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos.
Our collection database includes records of all specimens of our four Galapagos Natural History Collections: the Herbarium (CDS), the Terrestrial Invertebrate Collection (ICCDRS), the Marine Invertebrate Collection (MCCDRS), and the Vertebrate Collection (VCCDRS).
Additionally this database includes "virtual specimens". This means some records are based on observation and not physical specimens. Other records refer to specimens not present in our own collections in Galápagos, but records of specimens hosted in collaborating Ecuadorian and international institutions. For acronyms of the institutions where these specimens are deposited please refer to the Biodiversity Collections Index ). We appreciate the permission granted to us to make this information publicly available.
CDF Collection Database Search
You can search the CDF collection database by any combination of the following fields, but be sure to enter combinations that are possible (for example, if you search the vertebrate collection for a plant genus your search will not return any results).
You can read instructions on how to use the search box here.
Scientific Name
Enter the genus name or the specific epithet or both genus and specific epithet. The search will retrieve also all subspecies, varieties and forms for the scientific name of a species. Partial searches are possible, though must be 3 characters or more to avoid unnecessary load on the server. If you enter "Sca" in the genus search box you will retrieve all specimens for "Scalesia" but also all specimens for "Scadoxus" or scientific names that include the specific epithet "scalesiae".
Geographic Region
You can search either specimens from a group of islands or from a specific island or both. If you use the dropdown menus please make sure that your search parameters include a logical combination. For example, the Island Group "Santa Cruz" includes several smaller islands such as "Isla Baltra", "Isla Daphne Mayor", "Isla Daphne Menor", etc. Thus, the combination of Island Group "Santa Cruz" and Island Name "Isla Pinzon" will not yield any results.
If you are not sure which Island Group a particular island belongs to or how a particular island is named, best select "not specified" and then enter a partial match in the free text box provided.
Collection
Here you can restrict the search to a particular collection choosing the collection acronym from the drop down box. Accession numbers are unique for their particular collections only.
Collector
Here you can search by surname, the person who collected a specimen in the field. A Collection Number may also be searched.
Current number of specimens online:
85677
Database last updated:
July 26th, 2011 @ 5:16pm