Research guides: Biology: Animals

Research Databases

Specialized
Multidisciplinary

Birds of the World
Comprehensive life histories for all bird species and families.
Coverage: Created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Birds of the World (BOW) content was amassed from four major works: _Birds of North America, The Handbook of Birds of the World, Neotropical Birds,_ and_ _ Bird Families of the World. Included is the Macaulay Library, which contains the world’s largest collection of animal sounds as well as a rapidly growing photo and video library of animal behavior.
Cold Regions Bibliography
Citations to journals, books, technical reports and conference proceedings on cold regions science and technology.
Coverage: 1996 - present
The Antarctic Bibliography (1950 - 2011) covers all disciplines related to the region including biological and geological sciences, medical sciences, meteorology, oceanography, atmospheric and terrestrial physics, expeditions, logistics equipment and supplies, and tourism. The Bibliography on Cold Regions Science and Technology (early 1900's - 2011) includes references to scientific and engineering research related to material and operations in a winter battlefield, the nature and impact of cold on facilities and activities, cold-related environmental problems, and the impact of human activity on cold environments.

Animal Diversity Web (AWD)
Animal Diversity Web (ADW) is an online database of animal natural history, distribution, classification, and conservation biology at the University of Michigan
BugGuide
From Iowa State University's, Department of Entomology, an impressive collection of photographs of bugs from the United States and Canada for identification and research.
Findings are summarized in guide pages for each order, family, genus, and species.
The North American Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Digital Reference Collection (NAAMDRC)
NAAMDRC was created by the USGS Aquatic Experimental Lab (AXL) to provide users with high-quality digital microscopy photographs to aid identification of aquatic macroinvertebrates. Freshwater.

BioOne
Indexes scholarly journals in the fields of biological, ecological and environmental science.
Coverage: Most 2001 - present
BioOne provides a unique aggregation of titles that are produced by societies and non-commercial publishers. Major areas of coverage include: entomology, crustaceans, ecology, botany, ferns, lichen, ornithology, mosses, reptiles, and microbiology.
CABI Digital Library
Subject coverage: agricultural, animal and environmental sciences; food safety; ecoterrorism; climate change; ecotourism; pharmacology; physiology; toxicology; occupational health; gerontology; and policy recommendations.
Coverage: 1900s - present
Colloquium Digital Library of Life Sciences
Published by Morgan & Claypool

An information service for the research, development and educational community in the life sciences.
Coverage: varies
Google Scholar
A search engine covering many disciplines and sources of scholarly literature.
Coverage: varies
Google Scholar is a search engine that emphasizes scholarly information, particularly in the sciences and technology. It draws from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities.

Note: Access To access materials paid for by your library, go to Google Scholar, then choose Settings and click "Library Links." The off-campus user will first need to login via "Get access from anywhere."
PubMed
Articles in medicine, life sciences, animal sciences, plant sciences, biomedical research, medical devices, nursing, biotechnology, the healthcare system, and the preclinical sciences.
Coverage: 1950 - present
PubMed is comprised of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher websites.
Web of Science
Articles and citations in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.
Coverage: Varies
Web of Science is comprised of several databases. The Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI) covers journals in the medical, physical and natural sciences, and engineering fields. The entire database extends back to 1899. The Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) covers journals in the social sciences. The entire database extends back to 1898. The Arts & Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) covers journals in the arts and humanities. It also selectively covers relevant items from science and technical journals. The entire database extends back to 1975.

Biodiversity Resources

Biodiversity Heritage Library
Provides natural history, biodiversity, and taxonomic literature.
Coverage: 1400s - present
A consortium of natural history and botanical libraries that cooperate to digitize and make accessible the legacy literature of biodiversity held in their collections.

GISD: Global Invasive Species Database
The Global Invasive Species Database is a free, online searchable source of information about alien and invasive species that negatively impact biodiversity.
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
GBIF was established by governments in 2001 to encourage free and open access to biodiversity data, via the Internet. Through a global network of 57 countries and 47 organizations, GBIF promotes and facilitates the mobilization, access, discovery and use of information about the occurrence of organisms over time and across the planet.
iNaturalist
An extensive database of field observations, iNaturalist is a joint initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society.
The IUCN Red List of Endangered Species
Established in 1964, The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species has evolved to become the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of animal, fungi and plant species.
Taxonomy [NCBI]
The Taxonomy Database is a curated classification and nomenclature for all of the organisms in the public sequence databases. This currently represents about 10% of the described species of life on the planet.
Zooniverse
Zooniverse gives people of all ages and backgrounds the chance to participate in real research with over 50 active online citizen science projects. Registration required.

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