Abstract:

In order to understand the history of specimens, to fulfill requirements of the UNESCO World Heritage Center, and for biodiversity conservation broadly, we cataloged all the animal type specimens from the Libo World Nature Heritage Site. The information of animal type specimens were collected and analyzed, and here, we provide an updated catalogue. The results show that: (1) There are 204 species of animal type specimens at the Libo World Natural Heritage Site, belonging to 3 phyla, 6 classes, 22 orders and 60 families. (2) The collection of animal type specimens can be traced back to 1955, with the most recent additions in 2013, spanning 58 years, while the peak period of collections being 1995-2004. (3) A large number of species (93 species, 45.59%) were published by three scholars. (4) The shelf time (from collection to publication) of type species was severely delayed, with the longest delay at 47 years. (5) Type specimens were catalogued by 66 collectors/teams, and most of them were Chinese scholars (63, 95.45%). (6) These animal type specimens are preserved in 27 Chinese and foreign research institutions or private collections, of which 1,504 were collected from China and 7 from foreign countries. (7) New species from type specimens at the heritage site were published in 169 articles, 155 in Chinese and 14 in foreign languages. With the expansion of research at the Libo World Natural Heritage Site, more and more new species have been found, which indicates that the species resources in the heritage site are abundant and that biodiversity is likely to be underestimated. We suggest that effort still needs to be devoted to the classification of heritage sites worldwide.

Key words: Libo World Nature Heritage Site, type specimens, content analysis, new species, catalogue