AmphibiaWeb Data
AMPHIBIAWEB

 

(Translations may not be accurate.)

AmphibiaWeb and its Data Sources

AmphibiaWeb strives to check and update its pages regularly, but cannot guarantee nor assumes responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of content. We integrate content from many partners and are not responsible for data accuracy from these sources. Please help us keep AmphibiaWeb updated and report any errors or inaccuracies.

Species Accounts:

We aim to have a web page for every species of amphibian in the world. A species account provides the basic details on its biology and conservation status and threats. These are researched from the primary scientific literature, written by experts and university students alike from herpetology classes around the US or from the UC Berkeley AmphibiaWeb apprenticeship. In addition, we compile and provide links to relevant resources and to our partners' databases as well.

For some accounts, we have agreements with publishers or data partners to display content directly from their books or web services, allowing us to offer in-depth perspectives or alternative languages. Current species account contributors include:

  • Amphibian Declines: The Conservation Status of United States Species, edited by Michael Lannoo, UC Press
  • Les Urodèles du Monde, 1st and 2nd editions, by Jean Raffaëlli - de français
  • Guia de Sapos da Reserva Adolpho Ducke, Amazonia Central by Lima, AP, WE Magnusson, M Menin, LK Erdtmann, DJ Rodrigues, C Keller, W Hödl 2005, INPA - em português
  • Crocodile Newts: The Primitive Salamandridae of Asia (Genera Echinotriton and Tylototriton) by Axel Hernandez, 2016, Edition Chimaira

    • We dynamically link species accounts to these partners:

  • AmphibiaChina, Dr. Jing Che - in Chinese
  • Bioweb Ecuador - Anfibios del Ecuador, formerly Amphibiaweb Ecuador, Dr. Santiago Ron, El Museo de Zoología de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (QCAZ) - en español
  • Frogs of Borneo, Dr. Alexander Haas, Dr. Indraneil Das - in English

    We reciprocate or share our species accounts with:

  • The IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species
  • Encyclopedia of Life

    • Above all, we have all the students and experts to thank who have given their time and expertise.

    What is a species account?

    A species account is a brief review that summarizes basic information about a species including life history traits, distribution, a general description, population trends and threats, etc. The purpose of a species account is to bring different sources of information together summarizing what is and is not known. Accounts are not intended to be exhaustive, but should be seen as a point of departure for those who wish to find more in-depth information. For most of the amphibians of the world, there is little to nothing known. However, we hope to have a web page and a species account for these amphibians because this will highlight our lack of knowledge and may help guide future studies.

    Taxonomy:

    1. Taxonomy is an evolving enterprise. We aim to keep up-to-date and track new species as they are formally described. The taxonomy in our database is available with crosswalks to IUCN and Amphibian Species of the World for downloading at any time and is updated nightly.

    Mapping data:

    1. We display species occurrences on the dynamic BerkeleyMapper widget for each species. From 2015-2020, species occurrences was provided by our partner VertNet, supplying amphibian data on a regular basis. In 2021, we started using the GBIF API displaying both preserved specimens and human observations (mainly from iNaturalist).

    2. For newly discovered species, holotype localities are often the only known sites of their distribution. We extract the locality data directly from the original description and enter those in our database to display on maps.

    3. When available, we show a range map for each species with the sites, which come from two sources: the IUCN Redlist and from our own research based on the primary literature, published accounts and checkslists and species occurrence data from GBIF. We may consult experts on species as well.

    4. In Spring 2017, we started including the Map of Life species range widget on each species page which displays spatial data from the Map of Life Project. The data that they display is currently independent from AmphibiaWeb's but we hope to coordinate and share our datasets in the future.

    Media:

    AmphibiaWeb stores or embeds video, sound and images from a variety of sources, which include:

    1. Sound files from FonoZoo (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), Madrid, Spain) and Western Soundscape Archive (University of Utah)

    2. Video and sound recordings directly from contributors, some are hosted on the AmphibiaWeb YouTube channel.

    3. Species Photos come from CalPhotos, which serves as AmphibiaWeb's photo repository site for our many contributors around the world.

    AmphibiaWeb's Data Use Policy

    Need to Access Data from AmphibiaWeb? Read more here

    Need to Access AmphibiaWeb Archives? Try the Wayback Machine

    The Internet Archive also allows a way to archive a web page for future citation-- try it with an AmphibiaWeb Species page.
    Simply copy and paste the URL of the target web page into their box to Save Page Now.