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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 315,020 articles Wikispecies is free, because life is in the public domain!

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Hypericum calycinum	Xenopsylla cheopis	Tockus leucomelas	Periplaneta fuliginosa	Canis lupus arctos

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 José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage   (1823-1907). A Portuguese zoologist and politician. He was the curator of Zoology at the Museum of Natural History in Lisbon. His work at the Museum consisted in acquiring, describing and coordinating collections, many of which arrived from the Portuguese colonies in Africa, such as Angola, Mozambique, etc. He published more than 200 taxonomic papers on mammals, birds, and fishes. In the 1880s he became the Minister of the Navy and later the Minister for Foreign Affairs for Portugal. The zoology collection at the Lisbon Museum is called the Bocage Museum in his honor. He was responsible for identifying many new species, which he named according to the naturalist who found them.

Species of the week Sumatran Orangutan Pongo abelii Pongo abelii Some facts on this ape: Head and body length: 0.75 to 1.5 meters. Weight: Males, 50-90 kg. females 30-50 kg. Range: Northern Sumatra. Habitat: Primary lowland tropical rainforest. Lifespan: Can reach more than 50 years. Diet: Mainly fruits (figs, jackfruits etc.) and insects. Surviving number: About 7,300. Conservation status: Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1). First described: By the French surgeon, naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist René Primevère Lesson in 1827. Pongo abelii is "the person of the forest". That's the meaning of the word "orangutan" in Malay. This ape has been observed using tools, once thought to be the exclusive domain of humans. It uses sticks to probe for termites or to extract seeds from fruits. This knowledge is passed to the next generation as the young watch and learn from the grown-ups. This primate is a very slow breeder, giving birth only once every eight or nine years. As a result of this and of the shrinking and fragmentation of its range, it is in serious danger of disappearing from the forest forever. The genus Pongo consists of two species, the other one being Pongo pygmaeus or "Bornean Orangutan".

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