Animal Diversity Web http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/

Science

I think we've all seen cute little internet sites with pictures of dogs and cats.  Attractive little ditties but often delve no deeper in content than getting the perfect angle for a picture.

When you really need to research animal life, check out the Animal Diversity Web from the Museum of Zoology at the University of Michigan.  Here, you'll find a massive database of information dealing with animals.  The easiest way to get started is by doing a simple search and have the site return links sorted by relevance.  By following the links provided, you can zero in on the link that provides a wealth of detail.  Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species details let you know immediately where this animal fits into the big scheme of things.

All information is succinctly displayed on a single page.  Each animal contains the standard information about geographical location, physical characteristics, etc. but the content goes a great deal further as the economic value of the animal  to humans is described as well as conservation and ecology issues.

Above and beyond the content at the Animal Diversity site, related links are handled in a reference section with live links to other Internet resources.