List of reptiles in the collection of BNHS

The BNHS museum houses a vast collection of specimens collected from across the Indian subcontinent over the past hundred years. The dataset provides a checklist of reptiles based on preserved specimens collected from across India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Iran. The museum collection holds a total of 565 reptile species of which 246 are lizards, 289 are snakes, 28 turtles and tortoises, and 2 species of crocodiles. The collection includes a number of species that are listed under the threatened category or data deficient while some are only known based on few museum specimens. Given the recent trend of new species discovers across India this number is expected to increase in the near future. An updated checklist of species in a museum collection will help researchers from across the world to study these poorly known species in detail.