GEOG345: Society, Economy, and Nature  

Jane Goodall, reknowned primatologist and author of an upcoming book - Hope for Animals and Their World: How Endangered Species Are Being Rescued from the Brink - in an interview from Time magazine, September 10, 2009:

"When I was doing the research for this book, I met so many extraordinary people who rescued species from the brink of extinction when everybody else laughed at them. One example is the California condor. At one time, there were just 12 of these birds left in the wild and one in captivity. Now there are 300. This bird would have gone but for a small group of people who would not give up. As long as we have people like that, there's hope for the future."

In biological clasifiction, rank is the level (the relative position) in a taxonomic hierarchy.  This hierarchy is regulated by the Nomenclature Codes which all names to be divided into an indefinite number of ranks.  However, there are seven main taxonomic ranks:

• Kingdom
• Phylum (for zoology) or Division (for botany)
• Class
• Order
• Family
• Genus
• Species

The genus/species name is usually italicised and the genus name is capitalized.  E.g. Uncia uncia

Use this guide to help you identify and obtain research materials for your Species Assessment Report. 

                                                                                             ~ Melanie

Use encyclopedias and dictionaries to obtain an overview of your species, an understanding of basic concepts, a summary of key issues, and definitions.  Articles frequently include bibliographies and may refer you to other entries on related topics.

Wikipedia

Only use Wikipedia for background information about your species.  Remember that it is an "open source" resource and may include inaccurate or delberately misleading information.  Always go to the original source for any Wikipedia reference - if there is no citing source, do NOT use the Wikipedia information!

Some other general sources for useful information:

• AccessScience (the online edition of McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology)
• Dictionary of Biology
• Encyclopedia of Biodiversity
• Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia
• McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical lTerms
• Oxford Reference Online
• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia