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Welcome to Wikispecies The free species directory that anyone can edit. It covers Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Bacteria, Archaea, Protista and all other forms of life. So far we have 673,369 articles Wikispecies is free, because life is in the public domain! You can also check us out on Twitter: @Wikispecies or use the Android app sponsored by Wikimedia. We also have an IRC Channel #wikispeciesconnect

Taxon Navigation Superregnum Archaea Superregnum Bacteria Superregnum Eukaryota Regnum Protista Regnum Fungi Regnum Plantae Regnum Animalia Virus (classification still unclear)

Haloquadratum walsbyi	Sitta europaea caesia	Caloboletus calopus	♂Aphyocharax anisitsi
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♀Brachypelma smithi	Hippopotamus amphibius	Euphorbia leuconeura	Sarcophaga sp. with Tipulidae

Explore Wikispecies HELP Section – Detailed information on creating pages. Taxonomy – Information on the Linnaean classification of species. Village Pump – Discuss the project. Done and To Do – See references to very detailed areas and defined future targets Wikispecies FAQ – Check replies to common concerns. Image Guidelines – Our recommendation on where to upload illustrations Wikispecies PR – Help us by spreading the word of Wikispecies Collaboration with ZooKeys A collaboration between Wikispecies and ZooKeys has been announced. PhytoKeys also joined the collaboration in November 2010. Images of species from ZooKeys and PhytoKeys will be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons and used in Wikispecies. Distinguished author Georges Cuvier 1769–1832. Standard IPNI form: Cuvier Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier (most often published simply as "Georges Cuvier") was a French naturalist and zoologist. He is sometimes referred to as the founding father of paleontology. Cuvier was a major figure in natural sciences research in the early 19th century and was instrumental in establishing the fields of comparative anatomy and paleontology through his work in comparing living animals with fossils. Cuvier's work is considered the foundation of vertebrate paleontology, and he expanded Linnaean taxonomy by grouping classes into phyla and incorporating both fossils and living species into the classification. Cuvier is also known for establishing extinction as a fact: at the time, extinction was considered by many of Cuvier's contemporaries to be merely controversial speculation. He is also remembered for strongly opposing theories of evolution, which at the time (before Darwin's theory) were mainly proposed by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. Cuvier believed there was no evidence for evolution, but rather evidence for cyclical creations and destructions of life forms by global extinction events such as deluges (outburst flooding). Cuvier wrote hundreds of scientific papers and books. His most famous work is Le Règne Animal (1816–1817, four tomes; English title The Animal Kingdom). It sets out to describe the natural structure of the whole of the animal kingdom based on comparative anatomy, and its natural history. Cuvier divided the animals into four embranchements ("Branches", roughly corresponding to phyla), namely vertebrates, molluscs, articulated animals (arthropods and annelids), and zoophytes (cnidaria and other phyla). He is the author of thousands of new taxa, among them well over 5,000 species of fish and molluscs. In 1800 and working only from a drawing, Cuvier was the first to correctly identify in print, a fossil found in Bavaria as a small flying reptile, which he named the Ptero-Dactyle in 1809 (later Latinized as Pterodactylus antiquus). When the French Academy was preparing its first dictionary, it defined "crab" as "A small red fish which walks backwards." This definition was sent with a number of others to the naturalist Cuvier for his approval. The scientist wrote back: "Your definition, gentlemen, would be perfect, only for three exceptions. The crab is not a fish, it is not red, and it does not walk backwards." In 1819, he was created a peer for life in honour of his scientific contributions and is thereafter known as Baron Cuvier. See also: Distinguished authors of previous months.

Species of the month Common European Glowworm Lampyris noctiluca (Linnaeus, 1758) Some facts about this beetle: Average Size: The adult female is 12–20 mm long, while males rarely grow longer than 10 mm. The larvae are often only a few milimeters long. Protection status: Not assessed. Diet: Even though they are small in size the larvae are fierce carnivores, roaming leaf litter in search of tiny slugs and snails. Adults rarely feed at all. Range: From Portugal and Britain in the west, right across Europe and Asia to China in the east. It also survives further north than any other firefly, almost reaching the Arctic Circle. For example, it is fairly common in south- and central Sweden and southern Finland. Strange fact: The light of this firefly is actually cold light, producing very little wasted heat. When glowing only 2–10 percent of the energy is wasted as heat, while a whopping 90–98 percent of the energy is converted into light. This makes the process much, much more energy efficient than any light sources ever manufactured by humans.

Endangered species of the month Devils Hole Pupfish   Cyprinodon diabolis Some facts about this species: Total length: 2,3 cm (♀) 3,0 cm (♂, pictured above) Habitat: Subterraneous geothermal pools and caves with a constant water temperature of between 33.4 and 34.0 degrees Celsius. Distribution: This lively and energetic killifish is often described as the world's rarest fish. It's range is restricted to Devils Hole,(Wikipedia) a geologic limestone formation located within the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada, in the Southwestern United States. From a single opening at the surface that is approximately 1.8 by 5.5 meters wide (pictured above), Devils Hole branches into caverns and chasms at least 90 meters (300 feet) deep. Diet: Omnivore. They primarily feed on algae that grows on the limestone shelf in Devils Hole. The major food source during the winter and spring is Bacillariophyceae, while algae of the Spirogyra genus serve as the food source in the summer and fall. Academic autopsies have shown that at least some specimen of C. diabolis feed on small Tryonia snails as well as Dugesia triclads and tubularians. Predators: Cyprinodon diabolis is the largest known inhabitor of Devils Hole and does not have any predators. Surviving number: Since population surveys began, the wild population has not exceeded 553 individuals. From 1970 through 1996, the average population was 324. For reasons that are still unclear, the Devils Hole population began to decline in the mid-1990s. Since 2005, the population at Devils Hole has been below 200 individuals, although the population fluctuates depending on the season. In 2007, only between 38 and 42 fish remained in Devils Hole. In 2008, the National Park Service began to feed the pupfish a special food to attempt to restore the population. The Devils Hole pupfish count rose in the autumn of 2008 to 126, the first steady increase in more than 10 years. As of spring 2016, a periodic count found 115 of the fish living in the waters of Devils Hole. Conservation status: Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1), assessed August 27, 2014. First described: By the U.S. ichthyologist Joseph H. Wales in Copeia, 1930 (no. 3): 61–70.

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