Abstract
(Englisch)
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During the 3-week-visit at the British Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrates, sub-department Herpetology, I got free access to the handwritten catalogue and access to the collection. Nearly all records of european amphibians (with the exception of the green frogs, which were not intended to be controlled) could be checked in the catalogue, several hundreds of them could be controlled directly in the collection. A selection of them were analysed in detail in the laboratory (morphological characters, measurements). The result is a list of more than 700 records of a certain interest, planned to be partly integrated in the distribution paragraph of the species chapters in the 'Handbuch der Reptilien und Amphibien Europas'. Of special interest were regions where no distribution atlas exists, e.g. Italy, most parts of the Balkan, the area of the former USSR, Minor Asia and Northern Africa.
In the same way all specimens of brown frogs (3 Rana-species from Central Europe, 5 species of Southern Europe, 3 species of Minor Asia) and the European and North African Discoglossids (genera Alytes and Discoglossus) were controlled. Distinguishing characters were checked in detail. Special interest was given to the several type specimens. No other museum has such a number of type specimens in its collections as the British Museum in London. Several species and subspecies, where the taxonomic status is under discussion (2 subspecies of the grassfrog Rana temporaria; the 3 taxons of brown frogs in Minor Asia) could be analysed in detail.
Of great help was the huge library (3 parts: general, zoological, herpetological library), where a number of old and/or rare, important books and articles could be seen for the first time and partly be photocopied. During half a day I got an introduction into the GIS-system.
And additionally, the exhibitions in one of the biggest Museums of Natural History in the world gave many new ideas to me as a collaborator of a middle sized Museum of Natural History in Switzerland.
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