The Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology (MWFB) was founded in July 1972 and has a history with specimens dating back to the late 1800s. However, it is primarily noted as a modern collection of vertebrates, with the bulk of our specimens dating from the 1970s to present. As such, It houses one of the most important modern collections of vertebrates in California (approximately 70,000 specimens). The museum is engaged in several research and long-term monitoring efforts providing a steady stream of materials supporting research and teaching with primary growth in California. Other regions of current collection development include North America (mid-Atlantic, Texas, SW United States, and Northern Prairies), South East Asia (Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia), South America (Chile), and the Hawaiian Islands. The MWFB has geographic representation from other regions including Central America (Belize, Mexico, and Panama), Papua New Guinea, Antarctica, and Australia. In addition to internal expansion, its importance as a vertebrate museum has benefited from the acquisition of several orphaned collections: the UC Davis Zoology collection, the University of California, Irvine Museum of Systematic Biology, Mills College, American River College, Point Reyes Bird Observatory, and Curiodyssy. Our ties with the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine has provided significant specimens from West Nile Monitoring and the UC Davis Raptor Center. Our tissue collection now surpasses 13,000 specimens across all vertebrate classes, representing 585 genera and over 800 species.
Researchers may schedule a visit to the MWFB by contacting our collections manager at mwfb@ucdavis.edu.
