Commons:Identifying organisms

Simplified universal phylogenetic tree.

Identification of organisms is an important item when it comes to nominating images for one of the valuation processes on Commons. Of course we can not all be biologists and even the latter have their own specializations. This page aims at providing links and other means of support to those who want to know what organism exactly they have captured on their photograph.

Internet sites

Picture sites

Here you can compare your picture with pictures on the internet. Beware, this is not an infallible method.

Animals

• BugGuide.Net — Arthropods (insects, spiders, millipedes, etc.) from the United States and Canada.
• Atlas of ground beetles (Carabidae) of Russia.
• A database of bird species from the Oriental Region.

Plants

• Herbari Virtual del Mediterrani Occidental — Virtual herbarium of the eastern Mediterranean.
• Native Orchids of the United States.
• Plants of North America; includes links to regional webpages
• Flora de Murcia — Flora of Murcia (Spain).

Keys

Very reliable for those familiar with identification keys or willing to learn it.

Animals

• EUROHERP — Key to adult European amphibians and reptiles.
• European Limnofauna — Families of freshwater macro-invertebrates of north-western Europe.
• 1000 Insects — Over 1000 insects described from Belgium and the Netherlands, with key to the families.

Plants

• Acacias of South Australia — Dichotomous key for the Acacias of South Australia

Fungi

• NA Russulales — A synoptic key to the species of Russula in North America

Forums

On forums you can ask questions and (often) post pictures. Lots of knowledgeable people frequent these sites.

Animals

• Diptera.info — About flies and mosquitoes. Also the odd other insect will get some attention.
• What's That Bug?

Databases

Not really for identifications:

• BioLib — An international encyclopedia of plants, fungi and animals.
• Tree of Life Web Project. — A collection of information for every species and for each group of organisms, living or extinct.
• The reptile database. By the J. Craig Venter Institute.

Literature

Plants

• Delforge P. (2006). Orchids of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. A&C Black • London. 640pp.

Specialists

For specific groups it is hard to find information on the internet or in libraries. A proven solution is to look up a taxonomist via the internet and send him/her the picture concerned together with location and date. This is particularly handy when dealing with insects.