Tools

Everything you can do here besides looking an animal up. Each tool works from the same sourced records as the species pages, and none needs an account.

What did I see or hear?

Narrow an unknown animal down to a shortlist.

What did I see?

Answer up to three questions (where you were, what kind of animal, roughly how big) and get a shortlist of animals that fit, best known first.

You need A rough idea of size or kind. Every question can be skipped.

Sound library

Listen to the recordings on file, filtered by group, and open the animal each one belongs to.

You need Nothing. Recordings play from Wikimedia Commons when you press play.

How do two animals compare?

Put recorded facts side by side.

Compare two animals

Shows two animals side by side: size, lifespan, classification, conservation status and countries on record, with the differences written out.

You need Two names, common or scientific.

Try Leopard vs jaguar

Size comparison

Draws up to six animals to one scale, by length and by weight, with an adult human for reference.

You need One or more names.

Try Lion, African bush elephant, northern giraffe

Where do I start looking?

Ways into 1.8 million species when you have no name in mind.

Browse and filter

Filter every species by group, classification, conservation status, size, country, photo or sound, and sort by name, weight or lifespan. Each filter mix has its own address you can share.

You need Nothing.

Tree of life

Open the classification branch by branch, from the animal kingdom down to single species.

You need Nothing.

Lists and rankings

Rankings by one recorded value, such as weight or lifespan, each with a note on how it was ranked. A list appears only when enough species have that value.

A to Z

Every species by the first letter of its name.

Random animal

Opens one animal with a photo and a name, chosen at random.

How much do I know?

Quizzes built from the same records as the pages.

Name the animal

One photo and four names from the same group. Pick the right one.

Which is heavier?

Two animals; pick the heavier. Answers come from the recorded weights.

Whose call is this?

A recording and four names. Pick the animal that made it.

How do I keep track of what I have seen?

Lists that live in your browser. No account.

My lists

Your life list, favourites, wish list and custom lists, with totals by group and country. Import a list of names or export everything as a file.

You need Nothing. It is stored in this browser and never sent to us.

Country checklists

A tick-off list of the best-known animals on record for a country. Ticks are saved to your life list, and the page prints cleanly.

You need Pick a country, then open its checklist.

Try Australia checklist

Can I quote it or put it on my site?

Cite a page, embed a card, or point an assistant at the text version. There is no public API.

Not sure which to use?

The guides walk through the common tasks step by step.

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.
How 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.
What 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.
How 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.
Why 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.
Keeping 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.
Citing 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.