How to Browse Animals by Group on Animal Diversity Web

Updated

Animal Diversity Web (ADW) lets you browse animals by major taxonomic group directly from its homepage. The homepage lists groups such as Mammalia (mammals), Aves (birds), Insecta (insects), Reptilia (turtles, snakes, lizards, and relatives), Amphibia (frogs, salamanders, and caecilians), and others. Clicking a group name takes you to the page for that group. If you already know what you're looking for, the search box is a faster alternative.

Browse by group from the homepage

The ADW homepage presents the main animal groups as a list of names. Each entry pairs a scientific group name with a plain-language description, so you can identify the group even if you don't know the Latin term.

Groups listed on the homepage include:

Group name Common description
Actinopterygii ray-finned fishes
Amphibia frogs, salamanders, and caecilians
Annelida segmented worms
Aves birds
Chelicerata chelicerates
Chondrichthyes rays, sharks, and relatives
Cnidaria jellyfish, sea anemones, corals, and relatives
Crustacea crustaceans
Echinodermata starfish, sea urchins, and relatives
Insecta insects
Mammalia mammals
Mollusca bivalves, cephalopods, snails, and relatives
Nematoda roundworms
Platyhelminthes flatworms
Porifera sponges
Reptilia turtles, snakes, lizards, and relatives

Steps:

  1. Open the ADW homepage.
  2. Find the group you want in the list (use the common-name description if the scientific name is unfamiliar).
  3. Click the group name.
  4. You land on that group's page, where you can continue exploring its subgroups and species.

Expected result: You reach a page scoped to the group you selected, rather than a general search results list.

Search instead of browsing

If you already know the animal or group name, the search box on the homepage is more direct. ADW's search supports keywords and phrases:

  • Enter one or more keywords.
  • Use quotes to search for an exact phrase — for example, wombats or "gray wolves".
  • The homepage notes that more tips are available in the Search Guide.

When to search rather than browse: use search when you have a specific name in mind. Use the group list when you want to see what falls under a broad category, or when you're not sure of the exact name.

What the homepage controls

The homepage also includes a feature selector with options such as Everything, Information, Pictures, Specimens, Sounds, Maps, Topics, and Classification. These let you narrow what a search returns — for example, restricting results to pictures or sounds. This is separate from the group browsing list, which is organized by taxonomy.

Common sticking points

  • Scientific names look unfamiliar. Use the common-name description next to each group (for example, "Mammalia — mammals") to confirm you're clicking the right one.
  • You want a specific species, not a whole group. Go straight to the search box with the species name rather than clicking through the group hierarchy.
  • Phrase searches return too much. Wrap the phrase in quotes, as the homepage example shows with "gray wolves".

In short: click a group name on the homepage to browse that branch of the tree of life, or use the search box with keywords or quoted phrases when you already know your target.