The Encyclopedia of Life is a collaborative, web-based tool whose objective is to document all the living species in the world. Currently it has about 30,000 entries however it is aiming to collect data on all living species known to science (1.8 million) in the next ten years.

Using the site and finding information is relatively easy. There is a simple search bar at the top of the page where you can type in either the common or latin name of the species you’re interested in: otherwise alternatively, you can browse the collection using the classification scheme provided. On the home page they also provide a short listing of the most popular pages viewed so far.

It is intended that each species will have its own page. Here is an example of how a page is currently constructed for the species Pinus Strobus (Eastern white pine). A really neat feature with these pages is that you can choose the amount of detail/information you want shown; this is done by just adjusting the Detail bar to less or more.

Information on species are gathered from various sources, a major partner being the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Scientists and individuals are also encouraged to contribute their knowledge and information on how to do this is provided in the FAQs.

Interested in learning more? Take the video tour.