Abstract:
Animal Diversity Web (ADW) is an online database of animal natural history,
distribution, classification, and conservation biology at the University of
Michigan
Animal Diversity Web Has
Thousands of species accounts about individual animal species. These may
include text, pictures of living animals, photographs and movies of specimens,
and/or recordings of sounds. Students write the text of
... these accounts and we
cannot guarantee their accuracy.
Descriptions of levels of organization above the species level, especially
phyla, classes, and in some cases, orders and families. Hundreds of hyperlinked
pages and images illustrate the traits and general biology of these groups.
Professional biologists prepare this part.
Animal Diversity Web Is
An Online Encyclopedia.
ADW is a large searchable encyclopedia of the natural history of animals. Every
day, thousands of classroom students and informal visitors use it to answer
animal questions. Other sites specialize in local, endangered, or particular
kinds of animals. We aim to be as comprehensive as possible.
A Science Learning Tool.
ADW facilitates inquiry-driven learning, that is, teaching about science by
leading students to use the methods of science. Our large database is
structured, providing consistent information for all species to foster
comparisons. An advanced search tool allows a user to call up species accounts
fitting any combination of descriptors. Students can explore for patterns and
relationships, learn how to frame and answer scientific questions and, with the
help of a good teacher, experience the excitement and satisfaction of doing
science. Our long-term goal is to create a database rich enough that students
can discover for themselves basic concepts in ecology and conservation biology.
A Virtual Museum
ADW provides a way to make the contents of research museums available globally
for teaching and research. So far, our efforts have been directed mainly at
mammals. Photographs of scientific specimens are available for representative
species from most mammal families. We've also included several hundred Quick
Time Virtual Reality Movies of skulls. These allow the user to "rotate" the
specimen, providing an excellent impression of its 3-dimensional structure.
We've written in depth about and illustrated many of the characteristics of
interest to students of mammals. An important goal for the future is to expand
to cover other groups of animals and include other media such as animal
behavior video.
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/about/overview.html