ADW: About Us

<!DOCTYPE html> <html xmlns:og="http://ogp.me/ns#" lang="en" xml:lang="en"> <head> <title>ADW: About Us</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://animaldiversity.org/about/" /> <script type="text/javascript" src="//code.jquery.com/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//code.jquery.com/jquery-migrate-3.3.2.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/static/js/compat.js"></script> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="https://animaldiversity.org/favicon.ico" /> <link href="//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Gentium+Book+Basic:400,400italic,700,700italic" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=PT+Sans:400,700,400italic,700italic" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/static/bootstrap/css/bootstrap.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/pica.styles.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/pica.print.css" media="print" />  <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/pica.node.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/static/colorbox/colorbox.css" /> <script src="/static/js/jquery.media.js"></script> <script src="/static/js/pica.node.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/static/js/Hyphenator.js"></script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/social-likes/social-likes_birman.css" /> <style> .social-likes { margin: 0; } .social-likes__widget { margin: 0; } </style> <style> html { --logo-url: url("/static/img/small/ADW-Web-logo-production-4-02.png"); } </style>   </head> <body> <div id="outerwrap"> <div id="header" aria-role="header"> <h1> <a id="homelink" href="/">Animal Diversity Web</a> </h1> <div class="umlinks"> <div class="relative"> <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/ummz/" id="ummzlink">University of Michigan Museum of Zoology</a> <a href="https://www.umich.edu/" id="umlink">University of Michigan</a> </div> </div> </div> <div id="wrap" class="gradient"> <div class="container-fluid"> <div class="row-fluid"> <div class="span2 sidebar left"> <ul class="nav nav-tabs nav-stacked" id="sitemap"> <li> <a href="/">Home</a> </li> <li> <a href="/about/">About Us</a> </li> <li> <a href="/animal_names/">About Animal Names</a> </li> <li> <a href="/teach/">Educational Resources</a> </li> <li> <a href="/collections/">Special Collections</a> </li> <li> <a href="/glossary/">Glossary</a> </li> <li> <a href="/accounts/Animalia/">Browse Animalia</a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="span7_5 blahblahblah main" aria-role="main"> <h2>About Us</h2> <div class="inner-wrap"> <section> <p><a href="/">Animal Diversity Web (ADW)</a> is an online database of animal natural history, distribution, classification, and conservation biology at the <a href="http://www.umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a></p> <p>Animal Diversity Web has</p> <ul> <li>Thousands of <a class="taxon_reference" href="/accounts/Agkistrodon_contortrix/">species accounts</a> 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.</li> <li>Descriptions of taxa above the species level, especially <a class="taxon_reference" href="/accounts/Chordata/">phyla</a>, <a class="taxon_reference" href="/accounts/Mammalia/">classes</a>, <a class="taxon_reference" href="/accounts/Xenarthra/">orders</a> and <a class="taxon_reference" href="/accounts/Megalonychidae/">families</a>. Hundreds of hyperlinked pages and images illustrate the traits and general biology of these groups. Professional biologists prepare these pieces, for the most part.</li> </ul> <table> <tbody> <tr> <td> <a class="taxon_reference" href="/accounts/Elaphe_gloydi/"> <img border="0" height="88" src="/collections/contributors/james_harding/pcd3912_045/badge.jpg" width="150" /> </a> </td> <td><strong>Animal Diversity Web Is<br /> An Online Encyclopedia.</strong><br /> ADW is a large <a href="/search_guide/">searchable</a> 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.</td> </tr> <tr> <td> <a class="taxon_reference" href="/accounts/Caracal_caracal/"> <img border="0" height="107" src="/collections/contributors/corel_cd/caracal/badge.jpg" width="150" /> </a> </td> <td><strong>A Science Learning Tool.</strong><br /> ADW facilitates <a class="missing" href="/teach/">inquiry-driven learning</a>, 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. Our <a href="/quaardvark/">query tool</a> allows a user to find information on a set of species that you specify. Students can explore 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 organismal and conservation biology.</td> </tr> <tr> <td> <a href="/collections/contributors/anatomical_images/metathere_skull/didelphis_lowers/"> <img src="/collections/contributors/anatomical_images/metathere_skull/didelphis_lowers/badge.jpg" width="155" height="116" border="0" /> </a> </td> <td><strong>A Virtual Museum</strong><br /> 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 <a href="http://www.ummz.umich.edu/">scientific specimens</a> are available for representative species from most mammal families. We've also included several hundred <a class="missing" href="/collections/spinning_skulls/">Quick Time Virtual Reality Movies</a> 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 <a class="missing" href="/collections/mammal_anatomy/">mammals</a>. An important goal for the future is to expand to cover other groups of animals and include other media such as animal behavior video.</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h3>Contribute to Animal Diversity Web!</h3> <p> An essential feature of the ADW is student authorship of species accounts. Students learn considerable detail about the biology of a species, then share their work with users worldwide by making it part of our permanent database. Our web-based template ensures a consistent format for accounts. Help pages suggest content and sources. The system checks that no one else is writing about the student's chosen species, checks spelling of scientific names, and fills in the scientific classification. Instructors and <a href="/about/staff/">ADW staff</a> review and edit accounts before they are added to the site. Classes at dozens of universities and colleges contribute to the ADW project. The resulting growth of the database makes us even better for inquiry learning.</p> <p>If you might be interested in having your students write accounts, please go to <a href="/teach/">Teaching Resources</a> and fill out the <a href="/feedback/contribute_request"><b>request to contribute</b></a>. We also welcome <a href="/feedback/comment_form">comments</a>, <a href="/feedback/error_form">corrections</a>, and <a href="/contact/questions_page/">questions</a>.</p> </section> </div> </div> <div class="span2_5 right sidebar"> <h2 class="offscreen">Search</h2> <div id="site-search"> <form action="/search/" method="GET"> <label for="q" class="offscreen">Enter search text</label> <input value="" id="q" name="q" class="span12" size="15" type="text" placeholder="Search ADW" /> <button class="btn"> <i class="icon-zoom-in"></i> <span class="offscreen">Search</span> </button> <p style="max-height: 35px"> <label for="feature-list" class="offscreen">Search in feature</label> <select size="1" name="feature" class="feature-list input-medium" id="feature-list"> <option value="INFORMATION">Taxon Information</option> <option value="COLLECTIONS">Contributor Galleries</option> <option value="TOPICS">Topics</option> <option value="CLASSIFICATION">Classification</option> </select> </p> </form> <ul class="unstyled"> <li> <a href="https://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/quaardvark/">Explore Data @ Quaardvark</a> </li> <li> <a href="/search_guide/">Search Guide</a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="well outline"> <h3> <a href="/about/">About Us</a> </h3> <ol class="unstyled"> <li> <a href="/about/use_conditions/">Conditions of Use</a> </li> <li> <a href="/about/technology/">Technology</a> </li> <li> <a href="/news/">News</a> </li> <li> <a href="/about/partners_funders/">Partners and Funders</a> </li> <li> <a href="/about/contributors/">Contributors</a> </li> <li> <a href="/about/awards_recognition/">Awards and Recognition</a> </li> <li> <a href="/about/staff/">ADW Staff</a> </li> <li> <a href="/about/privacy_policy/">Privacy Policy</a> </li> <li> <a href="/contact/">Contact Us</a> </li> </ol> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="footer" aria-role="contentinfo"> <div class="inner-footer"> <div class="page-citation"> <p class="content">To cite this page: Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2025. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed at https://animaldiversity.org.</p> </div> <div class="disclaimer"> <p class="content"><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> The Animal Diversity Web is an educational resource <strong>written largely by and for college students</strong>. ADW doesn't cover all species in the world, nor does it include all the latest scientific information about organisms we describe. Though we edit our accounts for accuracy, we cannot guarantee all information in those accounts. While ADW staff and contributors provide references to books and websites that we believe are reputable, we cannot necessarily endorse the contents of references beyond our control. </p> </div> <div class="footer-links"> <ul class="unstyled"> <li><a href="https://www.umich.edu/">U-M Gateway</a> | <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/ummz/">U-M Museum of Zoology</a></li> <li> <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/eeb/">U-M Ecology and Evolutionary Biology</a> </li> <li> 漏 2020 Regents of the University of Michigan </li> <li><a href="/feedback/error_form/">Report Error</a> / <a href="/feedback/comment_form/">Comment</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="thanks-links"> <p>This material is based upon work supported by the <a href="https://nsf.gov">National Science Foundation</a> Grants DRL 0089283, DRL 0628151, DUE 0633095, DRL 0918590, and DUE 1122742. Additional support has come from the Marisla Foundation, UM College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, Museum of Zoology, and Information and Technology Services. </p> <p> The ADW Team gratefully acknowledges their support. </p> </div> </div> </div> <script></script> </div> <script src="/static/js/jquery.colorbox.js"></script> <script src="/static/js/pica.popup.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? 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ADW: About Us