The SDSU Mammalogy Collection contains over 3,000 specimens, with the oldest specimens dating to the 1800s. Material in the collection includes mostly skins and skeletons, with a limited number of alcohol specimens. Our collection is focused on southern California, but with many years of donations from the Zoological Society of San Diego as well as modest field collections from Africa, Asia, and Australia, and of marine mammals, we have a relatively good synoptic representation of most major taxa. While specimens can be loaned to other institutions, the major thrust of our collection is for use in teaching that permits over 2,800 students a year to have access to mammal specimens. The collection also serves as an important comparative basis for graduate student and faculty research. A catalogue of our mammal collection is accessible on this page. For further information about the mammalogy collection, please contact one of the curators, Dr. David Archibald (terrestrial mammals) or Dr. Annalisa Berta (marine mammals), or the collection manager, Mike Van Patten .