Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University

Occurrence Specimen
Latest version published by Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University on Mar 21, 2026 Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
Home:
http://mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu/
Publication date:
March 21, 2026
License:
CC-BY-NC 4.0

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

Data as a DwC-A file download 2,317,032 records in English (1 GB) - Update frequency: unknown
Metadata as an EML file download in English (39 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (12 KB)

Description

The Museum of Comparative Zoology was founded in 1859 on the concept that collections are an integral and fundamental component of zoological research and teaching. This more than 150-year-old commitment remains a strong and proud tradition for the MCZ. The present-day MCZ contains over 21-million specimens in ten research collections which comprise one of the world's richest and most varied resources for studying the diversity of life. The museum serves as the primary repository for zoological specimens collected by past and present Harvard faculty-curators, staff and associates conducting research around the world. As a premier university museum and research institution, the specimens and their related data are available to researchers of the scientific and museum community.

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 2,317,032 records.

2 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.

Occurrence (core)
2317032
Identification 
3050553
Multimedia 
551036

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University (2016): Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. Dataset/Occurrence. http://digir.mcz.harvard.edu/ipt/resource?r=mczbase doi:10.15468/p5rupv

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 4bfac3ea-8763-4f4b-a71a-76a6f5f243d3.  Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF-US.

Keywords

Occurrence; Specimen; Occurrence

External data

The resource data is also available in other formats

Museum of Comparative Zoology home page http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/ UTF-8 web service

Contacts

MCZ Harvard University
  • Originator
Museum of Comparative Zoology
  • 26 Oxford Street
02138 Cambridge
MA
US
Paul J. Morris
  • Metadata Provider
  • Biodiversity Informatics Manager
Harvard University Herbaria and Museum of Comparative Zoology
  • 22 Divinity Ave
02138 Cambridge
MA
US
Brendan Haley
  • Point Of Contact
  • Senior Database Manager
Museum of Comparative Zoology
  • 26 Oxford Street
02138 Cambridge
MA
US
Paul J. Morris
  • Metadata Provider
  • Biodiversity Informatics Manager
Harvard University Herbaria and Museum of Comparative Zoology
  • 22 Divinity Ave
02138 Cambridge
MA
US
Breda Zimkus
  • Point Of Contact
  • Director of Collections Operations
Museum of Comparative Zoology
  • 26 Oxford St
02138 Cambridge
MA
US
President and Fellows of Harvard College
  • Owner
  • President and Fellows
Harvard College

Geographic Coverage

Global geographic scope.

Bounding Coordinates South West [-90, -180], North East [90, 180]

Taxonomic Coverage

Recent and Fossil Animals. All names in MCZbase are disclaimed for nomenclatural purposes.

Kingdom Animalia (Animals), Protozoa
Phylum Mollusca (Mollusks), Nematoda, Arthropoda, Annelida, Echiura, Coelenterata, Pentastomida, Nematoda, Priapulida, Acanthocephala, Myzostomida, Cycliophora, Chaetognatha, Rotifera, Nematomorpha, Cnidaria, Sipuncula, Platyhelminthes, Ectoprocta, Sipuncula, Ctenophora, Tunicata, Radiolaria, Tardigrada (Water Bears), Chordata, Cnidaria, Porifera (Sponges), Onychophora, Nemertea, Echinodermata
Class Acantharia, Actinopterygii, Adenophorea, Ammonoidea, Amphibia, Annelida, Anopla, Anthozoa, Aplacophora, Appendicularia, Arachnida, Archaeocyatha, Archiacanthocephala, Arthropoda, Ascidiacea, Asteroidea, Asterozoa, Aves, Bivalvia, Blastoidea, Blastozoa, Branchiopoda, Branchiura, Bryozoa, Calcarea, Cephalocarida, Cephalopoda, Cephalopodea, Cestoda, Chelicerata, Chilopoda, Chondrichthys, Cirripedia, Copepoda, Crinoidea, Crinozoa, Crustacea, Cubozoa, Demospongiae, Diplopoda, Echinoidea, Echinozoa, Echiuroidea, Enopla, Entoprocta, Eucycliophora, Gastropoda, Gordioidea, Granuloreticulosa, Heliozoa, Hexactinellida, Hirudinea, Holothuroidea, Hyalospongiae, Hydroidea, Hydrozoa, Hyolitha, Insecta, Larvacea, Malacostraca, Mammalia, Maxillopoda, Merostomata, Monoplacophora, Myxini, Myzostomida, Nautiloidea, Nectonematoida, Nudibranchia, Oligochaeta, Opalinea, Ostracoda, Palaeacanthocephala, Pauropoda, Pentastomida, Petromyzontidia, Phascolosomatidea, Polychaeta, Polyplacophora, Prosobranchs, Pteropoda, Pycnogonida, Reptilia, Rhizopodea, Sarcopterygii, Scaphopoda, Scyphozoa, Secernentea, Siphonophora, Sipunculidea, Stylommatophora, Symphyla, Tentaculata, Thaliacea, Trematoda, Trilobita, Turbellaria, Xenophyophorea, Xiphosurida, Zoantharia

Temporal Coverage

Start Date / End Date 1743-07-01 / 2030-12-31

Additional Metadata

Copyright © 2018 President and Fellows of Harvard College The MCZ does not guarantee the accuracy of these data. Individual researchers should verify individual records by making direct reference to corresponding museum specimens. For terms and conditions of use, see: https://mcz.harvard.edu/user-agreement

Alternative Identifiers 4bfac3ea-8763-4f4b-a71a-76a6f5f243d3
https://digir.mcz.harvard.edu/ipt/resource?r=mczbase