The mammal collection (current holdings more than 36,000 specimens) is the largest of its kind in the Central Gulf region and among the 20 largest in the nation. The collection contains 23 holotypes (specimens representing species new to science). More than half of the specimens in the collection come from LatinAmerica and  no other collection of mammals in the U.S. has a larger proportional representation of Neotropical species . Especially well represented are Neotropical bats ,including rare species, such as Tomopeas ravus, from Peru, Mexican and Central American pocket gophers ,including several specimens of the rare species, Zygogeomys trichopus, from Mexico, and rare South American mammal species, such as the giant armadillo, Priodontes maximus.
More than 120 loans of mammal material (involving more than 2,500 specimens) have been made to outside researchers during the past five years. This represents the highest per-specimen rate of usage of any collection of mammals in the nation. The collection recently received a support grant from the National Science Foundation enabling improvement and expansion of its facilities.