In the spring of 1994, The Center for North American Amphibians and Reptiles (CNAAR) was established as a non-profit foundation incorporated in the state of Kansas by Joseph T. Collins, Herpetologist Emeritus, Natural History Museum, The University of Kansas, and Suzanne L. Collins, professional wildlife photographer, with the objective of promoting education and conservation of amphibians, turtles, reptiles, and crocodilians in the United States and Canada. In 2000, the CNAAR Board of Directors voted to change the name of the foundation to The Center for North American Herpetology (CNAH), to better reflect modern evidence that amphibians, turtles, reptiles, crocodilians, and tuataras are equivalent taxonomic groupings (i.e., Clades or Classes). CNAH continues to operate as a non-profit foundation.

The Center for North American Herpetology serves as a data bank for information about North American amphibians, turtles, reptiles, and crocodilians, and promotes the study and conservation of them by financial support of selected publications, photography, and any other appropriate medium, as well as the establishment of awards for excellence in research about these fascinating creatures. The herpetofauna in the United States and Canada consists of approximately 590 species. However, new advances in data analysis and technology, plus the appearance of exciting new concepts in taxonomic definition and zoogeography, will certainly reveal that North America (north of Mexico) harbors many more species of salamanders, frogs, toads, turtles, lizards, and snakes than heretofore envisioned.

The Center for North American Herpetology has been established to play a pivotal role in identifying and, where possible, rewarding the research efforts of those individuals investigating problems that will clarify the biodiversity of North America's herpetofauna. It is vitally important to do so, lest undiscovered species pass into extinction before they can be revealed by modern investigation. Through encouragement by the CNAH Board of Directors, the Center hopes to enhance this process of discovery and disseminate as widely as possible the information gleaned from it to those herpetologists interested in the herpetofauna of the United States and Canada. In this manner, CNAH hopes to escalate the conservation efforts of other individuals and organizations so that populations of all amphibian, chelonian, reptilian, and crocodilian taxa eventually known to inhabit the United States and Canada will be preserved for future generations of citizens to enjoy and study.

Recognizing that efforts at conservation of amphibians, turtles, reptiles, and crocodilians in North America (north of Mexico) can only be enhanced by the gathering and dissemination of more and better information about these creatures,The Center for North American Herpetology will produce and/or maintain on-line at its home page selected links that serve the North American herpetological community and any interested citizen.

Finally, recognizing that high-quality photography of amphibians, turtles, reptiles, and crocodilians is essential in emphasizing their importance to a curious and ever-growing number of citizen naturalists and environmentalists, The Center for North American Herpetology will serve as a substantial resource for professional-level color slides and high-resolution electronic images of these creatures, making them available at modest cost for use in non-profit endeavors, such as educational brochures and web sites, and at current industry-standard fees for use by others. Currently, CNAH has over 16,000 cataloged color slides and electronic images of amphibians, turtles, reptiles, and crocodilians, as well as approximately 5,000 uncataloged slides of these creatures, all by Suzanne L. Collins.

Joseph T. Collins
Director