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Species Search Help
1. What is the terrestrial vertebrate species database?The database is a compilation of all terrestrial vertebrate species in the biodiversity hotspots. This database allows a user to search for all terrestrial vertebrate species occurring in or endemic to the hotspots. For details on the data sources and taxonomies used, visit the Data Sources and Credits page. 2. How do I query the terrestrial vertebrate species database?The database is designed to allow the user to make searches as specific or as broad as needed, depending on the search parameters used. If your text search criteria are not specific enough, or if you use wildcards (see Question 9), the results will return multiple possibilities, and you will be asked to either select a preferred entry from the list or to refine your search. Search results can be returned at the species, genus, family or order taxanomic level. You may refine your search by specifying a specific species, genus, family, order or class; as well as restricting the search by endemism and to one or more hotspots. For instance, searching for species by specified order in a single hotspot will return a results list of species in that order in that hotspot only. Note that information on IUCN Red List status is not available above the level of species. For more specific information on types of searches, please refer to Questions 3-10.3. How do I search for all species in a particular class, order, or family occurring in or endemic to a particular hotspot?- Select the option for Class, Order, or Family at the top of the form.
- Enter the desired class, order, or family name in the text field (e.g., Mammalia, Carnivora, or Felidae).
- Select either “Endemic to” or “Occurring in” from the drop-down menu to the left of the map; select the hotspot of your choice from the list. Click search.
4. How do I retrieve genera, families or orders instead of species from my search?- By default, the top of the search form says “I want to search for species”. To search for results at another taxonomic level, click on the “genera”, “families”, or “orders” link, which will take you to the appropriate form.
- Select the order or class option; enter the desired order or class name in the text field (e.g. Carnivora or Mammalia).
- Select either endemic to or occurring in from the drop-down menu; select the hotspot of your choice from the drop-down menu; click search.
5. How do I search for all species occurring in or endemic to a particular hotspot?- While on the species search form, select either “Endemic to” or “Occurring in” from the drop-down list to the left of the map
- Select the hotspot you are interested in from the list below the drop-down.
- Leaving the text field at the top of the form blank and the check box below it unchecked will allow the search to return all species with no restrictions on Red List status. Click Search to retrieve the records.
6. How do I search for all species in two classes, families, or orders occurring in or endemic to a particular hotspot?This result is not possible to derive from a single search. To obtain the required results, the user will need to repeat the same search for each of the two classes, families or orders. Selecting Class on the search form and leaving the text box blank gives results for all Classes currently in the database. See Question 4 for details.7. How do I search for a particular species occurring in or endemic to one hotspot, or to the combined area of two or more hotspots?- Select the option for either Species Scientific Name or Species Common Name; enter the desired scientific or common name in the text field (e.g., Panthera leo or lion).
- Select either “Endemic to” (this could result in no results if the species you selected is not endemic to the hotspot(s)) or “Occurring in” (this could result in no results if the species genuinely does not occur in the hotspot(s)) from the drop-down list to the left of the map
- Select one or more hotspots from the list below the drop-down. Click search.
Note that if you select “Endemic to” two (or more) hotspots, this will give you species that are endemic to the first hotspot, species endemic to the second hotspot, and species that are not strict endemics to either hotspot but are endemic to the combined (i.e. larger) area of both hotspots. 8. How do I search for a particular species occurring in or endemic to any hotspot?Follow the directions in Question 6, but select “Any Hotspots” from the hotspot list (rather than the names or one or more specific hotspots). Note that if you select “Occurring in” the search will return all species occurring in each of the hotspots. Selecting “Endemic to” and “Any Hotspots” will yield a list of species that are endemic to one or more hotspots.9. How do I search for a particular species (or genera, family, order) occurring in or endemic to any hotspot if I don’t know the full name of the species (or genera, family, order)?Follow the directions in Question 7, but type in the portion of the common or scientific name that you know in the relevant text field. The database will automatically substitute a wildcard for the portion(s) of the name you do not know. For example, enter "Apterygi" if you wish to search for Apterygiformes but can't remember the full name of this order. 10. How do wildcards function in this database?If text is entered that does not immediately match a record in the database, wildcards will be automatically inserted. For example, if searching by common name, entering "dog" will return all possibilities in which the word "dog" appears in the common name (e.g. "African Wild Dog", "Bush Dog", "Black-tailed Prairie Dog", etc.).If the database finds an exact match, however, it will not automatically substitute a wildcard. For example, if you search for species by common name, and you specify the word "lion" in the text box, this will return the common name(s) that matches this clause exactly (in this case, "Lion"). However, you can force the database to return any common names that start with "lion" (e.g. Liontail Macaque) by entering "lion*". In this case, adding the asterisk (*) behind the word "lion" forces the database to use a wildcard. Similarly, if you want to return all possibilities in which the word "lion" appears anywhere in the common name (e.g. "Australian Sea Lion", "Liontail Macaque", and "Vermilion Tanager"), you should add an asterisk (*) before and after the word "*lion*". 11. How do I restrict my search to threatened species (Critically Endangered, Endangered, and/or Vulnerable species)?Select the desired combination of “Critically Endangered”, “Endangered” and/or “Vulnerable” from the list. This will automatically check the box to restrict your results to threatened species. Choosing “All Threatened” will automatically give you species in any of the three threat categories of Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable. 12. What can I do if I get an error message? - "Endemic to" is the default value for Hotspot Presence, meaning that if the taxa you are searching for is not endemic to the hotspot(s) you selected, it will return no results. Choose "Occurring in" to broaden your search.
- Make sure you have selected the correct radio button on the search page for the taxonomic group that you wish to search by.
- Check your spelling.
- Use wild cards—Account for variations in spelling by being less specific. For instance, Proteles cristatus is sometimes misspelled as Proteles cristata, so enter the portions "crista" or "Proteles". Note that the use of such wildcards (see Question 9) effectively broadens the search parameters, and could result in multiple results.
- Search by scientific name—Many species have multiple common names while others, including many amphibians, do not have common names.
- Use part of the scientific name—Enter only second half of the scientific name, since the first half can change (e.g. Athene blewitti is now known as Heteroglaux blewitti).
- Check to see if your taxonomy matches that outlined under Data Sources and Credits.
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