Guides
How to get the most from the catalogue, and how to read what it tells you. Each guide is about using the site and its data; facts about particular animals stay on their own pages, with their sources.
How to identify an animal you saw
A practical way to get from “something brown, about the size of a fox” to a short list of candidates, using the tools on this site.
11 November 2026How to read a species page
What each part of a species page tells you, where its facts come from, and what it means when a value is missing.
11 November 2026What conservation status means
The IUCN Red List categories in plain words, how many species on file fall in each, and what a status does and does not tell you.
11 November 2026How animals are classified
The ranks from kingdom down to species, how to read a scientific name, and how the site’s friendly groups relate to the formal classification.
11 November 2026Why a country list is not a range map
What the country lists and maps on this site are built from, why they have gaps, and how to read them without being misled.
11 November 2026Keeping a life list
How to record the animals you have seen, tick off a country checklist and keep your own copy. Everything stays in your browser.
11 November 2026Citing and reusing what you find
How to cite a species page, what you may quote or reuse and under which licence, and how to put a species card on your own site.
11 November 2026