Animal Diversity Web

Please remember that we are a non-profit site on a shoestring budget. We will NOT answer questions that can easily be answered by effective web searches or questions in subject areas where we do not have expertise, including pets, wildlife management, pest control, wildlife rehabilitation, and veterinary care. You may follow the 'ask a question' link below if you would like to find our help pages on these subjects, but please keep in mind that we cannot answer your email concerning these issues.

Nearly all questions can be easily answered by existing materials, either on our site or others. If you require an answer within one week, please visit your local librarian.

Here are a few things you should try first:

• Search our site
• Type your question or the scientific name of the species into Google.
• The University of Michigan Science Library site has an excellent set of linked resources for finding information on animal species (and on plants). Some links may not work for users outside of the UM network, but many will.
• If you're looking for maps or images, go to Google, click on the IMAGES tab and type in the scientific name of your animal.
• For an excellent guide on effective worldwide web searching please see this site: Internet Public Library, Effective Web Searching

Some common questions

• Population estimates are rarely available, especially for common species. We are very unlikely to be able to help you.
• Metric system? We use it because it is the international scientific standard.
• Want us to send snail mail or do an interview for your school project? We can't honor these requests.
• Food chain or web diagrams? You'll need to make them yourself once you know who eats whom.

Ask a question

Notify us of an error: Please use this form to indicate factual inaccuracies, writing errors, or missing information in our accounts. We are very grateful to astute users for helping us to improve site content. Because of staffing limitations we are unable to respond immediately to your mail, but we do strive to reply to all error reports.

Comments/compliments: Thank you for letting us know what you think of the Animal Diversity Web. Because of staffing limitations we cannot respond to all comments. We do review all incoming comments and thank you for taking the time to let us know what you think.

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