Selected collections of the UTEP Biodiversity Collections,
University of Texas at El Paso, are online. Currently, selected data from the Ornithology, Mammalogy, and Plant collections are
available, as is a portion of the Vertebrate Paleobiology collection. (Please use
this vertebrate paleobiology link for further information
concerning 
that database.) The databases are normally
available during working hours (Mountain Standard or Daylight Saving Time): log on
as "guest" (choose guest and then the "login" button—see
the figure at right). As made available through our FileMaker application, databases
are limited in the number of users that can access the databases at any one time;
please logoff when you are done to allow others to access the file (inactivity for 10
minutes will automatically log you off). On occasion databases may appear on the entry
page that are not accessible without a specific password; these normally will have
filenames ending in "master" and are not open to the general public.
When you access one of the databases, the control section will appear as above. As
marked, format is either a single record per page (record), a number of records per
page (list) placed one above the next, or as a table. Other labels should be pretty
much self-explanatory. There are a limited number of images available (mostly in the
paleobiology file; to access these, do a find with a "y" placed in the
"image present" field.
The acronym for the collections of the University of Texas at El Paso's UTEP Biodiversity Collections is UTEP. The Ornithology collection is designated "B", the Mammalogy Collection "M", and the Paleobiology Collection by "F". For information not on the public database, for loan of material, or to make arrangements to visit the collections, contact the Curator of Ornithology, Scott Cutler (scutler@utep.edu), the Curator of Mammalogy, Arthur H. Harris (aharris@utep.edu), or the Curator of the Herbarium, Richard D. Worthington rworthin@utep.edu. Harris also is Curator of Vertebrate Paleobiology.
Identification data in the database are, of course, tentative and should not be utilized in publications or research without examination of specimens or, at minimum, communication with the Curators. As with all human endeavors, database accuracy as presented here cannot be guaranteed. Because of the sensitive locality data for some taxa, locality data below that of county are not included in the public database; access to these data requires justification through communication with the Curators.
The databases usually will be available between about 8 am and 5 pm Mountain Standard or Daylight Savings Time on weekdays and 12 N to 5 pm on weekends. These times cannot be guaranteed, however. Under our current software (standard FileMaker Pro 11), the number of individuals that can access a database at any one time is limited. If you are denied entry, please try again later. When leaving a database, please log off to avoid preventing other prospective users from accessing the databases.
Last Update: 10 Aug 2012